1918-1919 Diary of an Intelligent, Witty US Army Medic Exploring France While Stationed in Rumaucourt as the War Drew to its Close

On offer is an excellent, intensely detailed World War I diary kept by a bright, well-written young man named Harold Edmund (sometimes Edwin) Drake (1897-1987), who would become a well-respected dentist in his home state of Ohio following his time in the service. 

Military records show that Drake was trained for service at Camp Crane. He was in the Camp Crane Unit #17 August Automatic Replacement Unit (Medical). Camp Crane was a World War I United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) training camp, located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Its mission was to train ambulance drivers to evacuate casualties on the Western Front in France. In September 1918, Drake was deployed to France, sailing on the USS Maui. 

When Drake commences this diary (which he clearly states is his second since entering the service; his first entry begins “Continued from Book 1”) he is stationed in Rumaucourt, France. Rumaucourt is in the Pas de Calais region. This region was in the heart of the WWI conflict and one of the principal theatres of the war. Many major battles took place between 1914 and 1918, including Vimy Ridge, Arras, Artois, and Cambrai. 

Drake recounts his day-to-day existence at Rumaucourt, sometimes with a very wry sense of humour.

"My diary as a US Soldier ( I wasn’t really a soldier, just being attached to the army for rations, etc but it sounds swell)" [Inside front cover]. 

He does not identify his unit but context confirms that he is a Sergeant, later promoted to Sergeant-Major. Context also suggests that he is serving in one of the many Convalescent Hospitals near the front.

What makes Drake’s diary special is the level of detail in which he writes, both about his experiences as a soldier overseas and of his experience as a bright and engaged young man taking advantage of this accidental travel opportunity. His entries are long and he writes with wit and, sometimes, poetically. His entries take a turn after the Treaty of Versailles is signed in June, 1919, and he discovers he will not be immediately returned to America. His disdain for the army in which he is committed to serve is palpable. Some excerpts follow, to give a sense of how Drake wrote about his work and his play:

“12:20 AM and I am sitting at an oil-cloth covered table in the Red Cross hut at Is-Sur-Tille. Our instructions are to be at Rumaucourt station in time to catch the American Rocade for Chaumont. Well we arrived at about 12:45 and started to wait. When it was about time for the train to arrive, the RLO announced that it would be a very crowded train so he would put us on the 3:29 ‘Frog’ train. So we started in to wait once more. Time is the most abundant thing a French railroad possesses. 3:29 came and passed…” [Feb 18, 1919]. 

“Walked around the grounds in bright sunshine and climbed out on the cliffs, where we had a fine view of the cape and the town on the other side of the harbor. The sea of deep blue with the villas of white [together?] with the red tile roofs made a most beautiful picture. On the shore to the left was the mountains with their tops enveloped in clouds. After dinner we caught the first car into town to take the trip there. The “Old City” and “Chateau Hill” which started from the “Y” at 2:15pm. Saw a hotel in which Napoleon and a Pope or two had stopped, the Hotel de Hills or City Hall, and the ancient palace of the Duchess of Savoy, an ancient church which was begun about the 15th century. Very beautiful inside…” [Feb 20, 1919 - this is a brief excerpt of his four page account of a vividly detailed description of a guided evening tour of town that he took. On May 30, he travels to Versailles for another guided tour and writes another three vividly detailed pages about the history, sights and sounds of the place amidst war]. 

"…BH [Base Hospital] 52 and 58 left this afternoon on the first lap of their trip home. They were delayed a bit at the depot as their train of “ Hommes 40 Chevaux 8 “ was believed a wreck. This wreck was caused in a wood very near St. B... The pilot of an airplane fell from his machine at quite a height and fell near the track His machine flew for about a mile and then crashed onto the train smashing in and derailing a car of men Two men were injured and the observer is not expected to live. The pilot was found dead along the track. Probably first time in history that a plane has wrecked a train" [Mar 8, 1919]. 

“Work about as usual. Peace signed at 3 P.M. [he refers to the Treaty of Versailles]. Parade tonight - Lebanon can put on a better parade than that” [June 28, 1919]. 

“...No liberty for anyone. A grand and glorious fourth! From the news at present it looks as tho we would be here for a while. Am disgusted with the army and all pertaining to it” [July 5, 1919].

For a historian, this is a superb, first-hand account of a soldier’s daily life at the close of WWI. In plain but well-written English he describes events and circumstances that never make it into the history textbooks but are the all-too-real experiences of life in the army during wartime. This is a fine addition to any collection of first-hand accounts of WWI and is an excellent example of primary-source documentation

BIO NOTES ON HAROLD E. DRAKE: Harold Edmund (sometimes called Edwin) Drake (1897-1987) was born to parents Frank and Ida in Lebanon, Ohio. He enlisted to the US Army on July 20, 1918 and was honourably discharged on October 2, 1919. Upon returning to Ohio from his service, Drake became a dentist. Dr. Harold Drake married Dolla Pauline Spencer in 1947. Sadly, Spencer’s father passed away shortly before the wedding, so it was an understated affair. The couple had no children. Harold was accepted as a member of the Sons of the American Revolution as the direct ancestor of Private Joseph Drake (b. 1744) of New Jersey. Joseph Drake was his great-great-great paternal grandfather. 

This diary measures 5.5 inches by 3.5 inches. It is a standard-issue pocket notebook, a precursor to today’s Field Message Pad (FMP). Each page is printed with a faint grid pattern overlay. The notebook has 100 pages and is about 90% complete. . The cover is in good condition save for some chipping and loss of leather at the spine. The binding is intact and the pages present age toning that does not interfere with readability.. The handwriting is legible. Overall G.