One piece of information I have been looking for in my research is where did my great-grandfather serve when he arrived in France in October of 1918. From what I have found, I know that he arrived at St. Nazaire, France on October 7, 1918 and that he was assigned to Co. F, 9th Infantry Regiment in November of 1918 and participated in the March to the Rhine and the Army of Occupation in Germany in 1918 and 1919. However, where was he assigned when he first arrived in France in October of 1918? I had always assumed that he was completing basic training and then assigned to Co. F, 9th Infantry Regiment following his arrival over there. Today, I now have some more answers.
Family Search is now beginning to publish the indexed monthly roster rolls from the end of 1912 through the end of 1939. These records have taken more than a year to index. I am excited to finally begin to search the indexes for my ancestors, whereas back at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 I had to scour these previously unindexed records for my ancestors. I found most of the roster lists for grandpa Jim, including when he was stateside during basic training. Today, I searched by name the available index (right now there are approximately 20 million names that have been indexed. I can only imagine how many tens, or even hundreds, of millions more names will be published in the upcoming days and weeks) and I was not disappointed. I finally found grandpa Jim in October of 1918 in the roster lists.
Following his arrival to France, Jim was assigned to Company C, 162nd Infantry Regiment. This regiment was stationed at Contres, France, roughly 125 miles south-southwest of Paris. The 162nd Infantry Regiment was part of the 41st Infantry Division. From what I have found, the 41st Division was used a replacement division and did not see combat. This means that those soldiers assigned to this Division were assigned temporarily before being reassigned to other divisions. Most of the soldiers assigned to this Division ended up being reassigned to other divisions, including the 2nd Infantry Division.
Below is a copy of the Roster for Company C, 162nd Infantry Regiment from October 1918. Grandpa Jim is listed near the bottom of the page. It doesn't reveal on what date he was assigned to this Company, but to finally know where he was in October of 1918 following his arrival in France is a another piece to the puzzle of his military service. As a side note, the National Archives in St. Louis houses the morning reports for this, and many other, infantry regiments. I don't know when the National Archives will open again (to date, they have been closed since March of 2020), but once they open again, I will have to inquire about morning reports to see if any additional information can be obtained, such as which date he was assigned to this regiment and on what date he would have been transferred to Co. F, 9th Infantry Regiment.
