HISTORY of the 17Th ARTILLERY Compiled from Different Sources and References, Edited by Thomas R
Updated June 2020 COAT OF ARMS HISTORY OF THE 17th ARTILLERY Compiled from different sources and references, Edited by Thomas R. Kurtz In compliance with War Department directive dated May 14, 1917, the 17th Field Artillery Regiment was activated, by the transferring a cadre of officers and enlisted men from the 1st Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas to Camp Roberson, Wisconsin to form the nucleus of the new regiment. The 17th Field Artillery Regiment was officially activated on June 6, 1917 and entered on the official roles of the U. S. Army. WORD WAR I 17th Field Artillery Regiment After five months of intensive training the Regiment was ordered to the port of embarkation in New York. On December 14, 1917, the Regiment embarked on the U.S.S. Covington for Brest, France arriving on December 27. On December 31, 1917 the Regiment disembarked at the port of Brest and traveled to Camp Du Valdahon for addition instruction by French and American Officers. Here the Regiment was issued the French Schneider 155mm Howitzers. In March, the Regiment fired its first rounds near Rupt. On June 1, 1918, the regiment moved to the vicinity of Chateau-Thierry, were on June 4 the batteries went into positions and aided materially in stopping the German drive on Paris. After a month of severe fighting in this sector during which the Seventeenth Field Artillery participated in the successful assaults on the Bois de Billoua, Bourochos, Vaux and Hill No. 4, the regiment marched to the vicinity of Villers Cortes, where on July 18, 1918, it participated in the great Soissons offensive, the turning point of the war.
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