The North Atlantic is cold and stormy in October and November, and it loomed as a dreaded specter to thousands of members of the 42nd Rainbow Division at Camp Mills who had never seen the ocean much less taken a twelve day journey across it. Furthermore, in 1917 all shipping routes to Europe from America were patrolled by German submarines. The danger was clear, but so was the need for American troops in Europe. The adoption of the convoy system by the British and United States Navies was a counter to the U-boat threat, but unpreparedness for war found America severely lacking in merchant shipping to get its men to France and it led to early difficulties in the alliance. This podcast will discuss the incredibly difficult transport of the 27,000 men of the Rainbow and its complement of draft animals to France during the winter of 1917. The journey was a nightmare for many, but the 42nd would arrive in France at a critical moment in the war.

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