riod in the spring defensive of the Archangel-Vologda Railroad,
this American wireless crew was the sole reliance of the force, as the
Obozerskaya station went out of order for a time, and the various
points, Onega, Seletskoe and Archangel were kept in communication by
this small unit at Verst 455. "H" Company men will recall that out of
the blue sky from the east one day came a message from Major Nichols
asking if their gallant leader, Phillips, had any show of recovering
from the Bolo bullet in his lung. The message sent back was hopeful.

The record of the signal platoon under Lieutenant Anselmi, of Detroit,
shows also that several of these signal men rendered great service as
telegraphers. One of the pleasant duties of the doughboy buzzer
operators one day in spring was to receive and transmit to Major J.
Brooks Nichols the message from his royal majesty, King George of Great
Britain and Ireland, that for gallantry in action he had been honored
with election to the Distinguished Service Order, the D. S. O.

But it is the field telephone men who really made the signal platoon its
great reputation. General Ironside's letter of merit is included later
in this account. Here let us record in some detail the work of the
American signal platoon.

Thirty men maintained nearly five hundred miles of circuit wire that lay
on the surface of the ground and was subject in one-third of that space
to constant disruption by enemy artillery fire and to constant menace
from enemy patrols. The switchboard at Verst 455 was able to give thirty
different connections at once at any time of day or night; at 448, ten;
and at 445, six. This means a lot of work. The writer knows that the
field telephone man is an important, in fact, invaluable adjunct to his
forces whether in attack or in defense. For when the attack has been
successful and the officer in command wishes to send information quickly
to his superior officer asking for supplies of ammunition or for more
forces or for artillery support to come up and assist in beating off the
enemy counter-attack, the field telephone is indispensable. Hence the
doughboy who carries his reels of wire along with the advancing skirmish
line shares largely in the credit for doing a job up thoroughly. At the
capture of Verst 445 the signal men were able to talk through to Major
Nichols at 448 within four minutes of the time the doughboys' cheers of
victory had sounded! And within fifteen minutes a line