March 13, 1918 - Don Martin gets pass for month at front

Don Martin diary entry for Wednesday, March 13, 1918:

Have become a regular sightseer. Went around alone this forenoon for a couple hours. Got a pass for a month at the American front. Can get it extended if necessary. Met [Burn] Price [Paris Herald Manager] at the Crillon at 3 and took a taxi ride through the poorer sections down to the Bastille and the quays along the Seine. Bought a captain’s hat to go with my correspondent’s uniform. Had dinner with McKerney of Trenton (and his daughter) at Prunier’s. Went with them to the Hotel Meurice to have a look and returned to the Crillon. Visited with them till about 11. Then I went down to the lobby for a short time. Was deserted. Came to my room about 11:30 to read and write a letter or two. Got lot of letters forwarded from London. Bennett wired again about working the trip with Baker. It can’t be done. Looks now as if I shall go to the front next Monday.

Weather superb. About like June in Washington.
This map, taken from "American Armies and Battlefields in Europe" [American Battlefield Monuments Commission] gives an overview of the Western front in 1918. It shows Southampton and le Havre, where Don Martin has just come through, and Paris. Also indicated, in relation to the front line in July 1918 and November 1918, are Chaumont, site of AEF Headquarters, and Toul, St. Mihiel, Verdun and Reims, places that Don Martin will be reporting from and about.

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