The Lost Battalion of WWI            in the Argonne Forest October 2nd thru 7th, 1918

This page was last updated on:
December 10, 2001

The Crossing Timeline

Rumors were rampant that they were going to ship out. March 15th seemed like it, and some started shipping out on March 27th, 1918. Then in the beggining of April orders to be ready in 36 hours were issued, and soon after they boarded trains to Long Island City, took ferries around the Battery and boarded boats at the North River Piers. Family, friends and onlookers cheered them during this part of the journey, and searched for a last glimpse of each other, perhaps forever.           The boats came together at Halifax, and then the convoy started out for Europe. The fear of submarines never materialized during the 10 day trip. The first land they saw was Ireland, and then they pulled into Liverpool. Surprisingly, the next day they crossed England by train and took small boats to Calais, France.           After seven long months for some of them they had finally arrived.

03/27/18                    First troops leave Camp Upton           04/06/18                    308th boards trains at dawn to Long Island City, takes ferries to North River Piers, departs for Europe                      04/08/18                    308th arrives in Halifax Harbor, Canada 04/09/18                    308th departs Halifax Harbor in convoy for Europe at sunset 04/17/18                    British ships take over escorting convoy with 308th 04/19/18                    308th's convoy spots Ireland, anchors in Liverpool Harbor 04/20/18                    308th disembarks in Liverpool , boards train or Dover, England 04/21/18                    Half of 308th regiment crosses to Calais 04/21/18                    304th, 306th and 152 Headquarters leaves Camp Upton           04/22/18                    Other half of 308th regiment crosses to Calais 04/23/18 (Approx)  305th and 302nd leaves Camp Upton           04/24/18                    304th, 306th and 152 Headquarters depart NY Harbor           05/02/18                    304th, 306th and 152 Headquarters arrives in Brest, France                     05/04/18                    305th and 302nd arrives in Brest, France                     05/06/18                    305th and 302nd disembarks

Maps of 77th's route from New York to Calais, France

Ferries from Long Island City to North River Piers Boats from there, past Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island and on to Halifax

Trains from Camp Upton to Long Island City

Boats from Manhattan to Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada past Ireland to Liverpool, England

Trains from Liverpool to Dover small boats to Calais, France

This will have been the first time my grandfather saw the land his parents emigrated from!!

SS Cretic, one of the three boats that brought the 308th Infantry to Liverpool