40 Hommes et 8 Cheveaux
ST. NAZAIRE, FRANCE (March 7-8, 1918) -- The men of the 126th Infantry Regiment, including my grandfather 1st Lt. Joseph L. Bachus, quickly discovered the meaning of "40 Hommes et 8 Cheveaux." In English this translated to "40 Men or 8 Horses," but in Doughboy parlance these words stenciled on the side of French boxcars translated into endless jokes and hours of uncomfortable traveling.
Soon after arriving in France, soldiers were herded into these small cattle cars and taken to St. Nazaire to work and train. According to History of the 126th Infantry in the War with Germany:
(Source: http://www.rgcrompton.info/crompton/1805info8k.html)These French trains were a revelation, and the locomotive and cars afforded no end of amusement and jokes on account of their miniature size as compared to the engines and coaches in the United States. The engines are about one-fourth the size of an American engine; the largest box cars are twenty feet long by eight feet wide, and each are stenciled with the now familiar phrase, "40 Hommes et Cheveaux": (40 men or 8 horses). Most of the passenger coaches are small affairs compared to our Pullmans, and all are divided into compartments with side entrances. All the cars have only four wheels. While waiting to entrain, one humorous Michigan boy instituted a search for the key to wind it up, while the officers were busy preventing the boys from purloining the cars for watch-charms or souvenirs.
The journey to St. Nazaire required about eighteen hours, which necessitated spending a night on the trains. The soldier's box car Pullmans were so small that only a few of the men could lie down at a time, and the officers' cars were no better; on account of the crowded condition, sleep could only be secured while in a sitting position.
St. Nazaire was originally established to house incoming French Colonial troops before sending them off to the front, and the conditions were still pretty rough by the time St. Nazaire also became the chief American Supply Base. Weapons, material, and ammunition came into the growing port of St. Nazaire, but troops mostly came in through Brest and had to be sent down the coast by train to St. Nazaire.
NEXT TIME: Avoiding Bloodshed on Sentry Duty
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