Private Chester K Newlin
Chester K Newlin was born on September 16th, 1894 in Brooklyn, New York to Charles Newlin and Sarah Beardsly. After completing school, Chester was employed by Remington Arms Company as a chemist, which would play a role in what unit he was assigned to when he was suddenly drafted on September 30th, 1917, shortly after America entered World War One. Newlin was immediately sent to Camp Upton to join other new draftees who later formed the newly constituted 302nd Engineer Regiment of the 77th Infantry Division. It was here that Pvt Newlin was taught military tactics and how to clear land, build structures, and other skills that would be crucial for their deployment to France with the AEF. This long awaited day finally came on March 29th, 1918 when Pvt Newlin boarded the RMS Carmania and left New York with the rest of the 302nd Engineers. For the 302nd Engineers, their first sight of war would not happen on dry land. While passing in the channel between Scotland and Ireland on April 11th, a German submarine sighted in the RMS Carmania and launched a torpedo that barely missed the ship but slammed into the stern of the King Alfred that was sailing three hundred yards to their starboard. Immediately, the surrounding destroyers pinpointed the submarine’s location, dropping depth charges and effectively destroying it. One day later, Pvt Newlin and his unit finally reached their destination of Liverpool without further incident.
Preparing for the front From here, the regiment would be transported to Calais on April 14th, becoming the first National Army regiment to step foot into France. If the ruined landscape of Calais wasn’t a wake up call to Newlin and the men of the 302nd, the immediate issuing of gas masks and steel helmets to everyone in the regiment definitely was. Shortly after, British officers were attached to the unit as advisors who began teaching the men skills to help them when they were deployed to the front, which was sooner than expected. With the German surprise attack in Ypres, Pvt Newlin’s 2nd Battalion were mobilized to Merckeghem to build trenches and wire entanglements for the British positions in front of Watten. This continued until May 30th, when the regiment was ordered from the British Sector to begin their journey to the front where the 77th Division would relieve the battered 4th Infantry Division on the Vestle River. Vestle Sector On the night of August 11th, Pvt Newlin’s Company E and the 2nd Battalion entered the front line attached to the 154th Infantry Brigade on the right half of the Vestle Sector. In the center of the sector was their objective, Bazoches, which was strongly held by the enemy. Newlin and the 302nd began building bridges between the front line and the support and reserve positions under enemy shellfire. In late August, Company E was specifically tasked with building a footbridge across the Vestle, which lay in front of the allied line. This was completed in three hours under heavy gas and machine gun fire in preparation for the allied attack to cross the Vestle. Thankfully, the Germans had decided to leave their positions themselves, and the allies advanced across the river on September 4th, with Pvt Newlin’s company following close behind to repair an old German bridge and clear a portion of the Rheims-Rouen Road. For their continuous work near the Vestle, the 302nd Engineers were awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm. On the 6th of September, Newlin’s Company E was given the dangerous task of clearing caves north of the Vestle, which the Germans had booby trapped. The worst incident occurred when clearing a cave filled with mustard gas. Due to the risk of booby traps in dimly lit areas of the cave, the operation had to be conducted without the use of gas masks, and as a result, over seventy men of the company were gassed so severely that they had to be evacuated, and nine later died. Soon after, the regiment was relieved from the Vestle to participate in the largest attack of the war in the Argonne Forest. Meuse-Argonne Offensive On the night of September 20th, Pvt Newlin’s regiment marched to the front line sector and relieved the French engineering units. In the days leading to the attack, the 302nd Engineers scouted the terrain ahead and cut the barbed wire in front of the allied trenches. For the attack, Company E and the 2nd Battalion would advance with the brigade to the left of them with the task of opening four routes over the allied and enemy wire fortifications to allow the infantry to pass through. In the morning of September 26th, the allied assault began, and thousands of troops poured over the top to attack the enemy fortifications. By the end of the day, Company E’s objectives had been completed and the allied advance had been successful. However, from mid October to November 1st, little to no advances were made due to the difficulty of bringing supplies to support the massive offensive. It was up to the engineers to repair roads, build bridges, and fill in trenches to allow supplies to rapidly reach the front. After all these preparations were made by the end of October, the Second Phase of the Meuse Argonne Offensive was ready to begin. The attack kicked off on November 1st, with the 77th Infantry Division’s objective being to capture the village of Champigneulle. The town was finally entered the next day only after the 302nd Engineers worked tirelessly and under heavy German fire to repair the only bridge leading into the town. Pvt Newlin and the 302nd Engineers closely followed the allied advance, erecting more bridges and clearing roads to enable the rapid advance of the American forces to continue until the Armistice was called on November 11th, 1918, effectively ending World War One. Although their combat history had come to an end, Pvt Newlin remained in France with his unit repairing roads until April 27th, 1919 when they boarded the New Amsterdam for their return to the United States. Shortly after arriving home, Private Newlin and the regiment participated in the 77th Infantry Division parade on May 6th up Fifth Avenue to Central Park. Four days later, Newlin was honorably discharged after experiencing two campaigns and nearly a year overseas. Returning to New York, he married Loretta McMahon on August 23rd, 1919 and moved to Queens, where they had two children; Shirley and Kenneth Newlin. He worked for Adolph Gobel Inc, a food company until passing away on March 22nd, 1973 and was buried in Kew Gardens, New York. |
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