s, viz; Pierre,
Louis, Marie, Marcelle and Anna, the oldest 15 and the youngest 6
years.

These children were in a truly lamentable plight. Their father was
a farmer but on such a small scale that what he got from his small
piece of land was insufficient for the needs of his family. He was
conscripted but sent back because he was the father of six children.
He had never been strong, and during the prolonged stay at the front
tuberculosis developed, from which he died on May 18, 1917.

Unfortunately his wife contracted this terrible illness. But before
she realized her plight she had taken over a neighboring farm, for she
was anxious to shoulder her burden as well as possible. This overtaxed
her strength and hastened her decline.

These are passing incidents of the period the battery spent in Benoite
Vaux. Other incidents of import to the battery were the erection of
stables and the conduct of horse shows.

When the outfit arrived at Benoite Vaux there were stable
accommodations for some of the batteries encamped out in the woods but
Battery D, stationed in the village, was without accommodation for the
horses. For the first few weeks of the stay the horses were kept out
in the open on picket lines. The weather and the mud became very
severe and temporary stables were secured in a wooded section near
where Battery C was stationed. These stables were about two kilometers
from the battery billets. While the horses were stabled there the
soldiers had to hike the two kilometers three times a day and drive
the horses to the watering troughs in the center of the village.

Orders were soon issued for the battery to build stables in the
woodland on the opposite side of the road from the battery quarters.
The ground selected as the site was very muddy. The first duty,
therefore, was the opening of a stone quarry and the hauling of many
loads of cracked stone to form the base of the new stable. Between the
work of building the stables and preparing for the horse shows, the
time of the troops at Benoite Vaux was well occupied.

On February 21st, the 2nd Battalion of the 311th conducted a Horse
Show to pick entries for the regimental Horse Show which was
announced. In this show Battery D carried off a good share of the
ribbons. John E. Jones, of Hazleton, Penna., was awarded the blue
ribbon and a cash donation of francs, as first prize winner for
individual mounts. Concetti Imbesi, of Scranton, Penna., captured the
second pl