Father Duffy's story

Father Duffy's story is told in the first person by Francis Patrick Duffy, who writes of his Irish National Guard regiment. Chapter I, Preparations at Home, is dated from the rectory of the Church of Our Saviour in the Bronx, June 1917. War with Germany was declared on April 6th, 1917, and the regiment recruits quietly, sending machine-gun trucks through the city streets with a placard.

Other passages give portraits of company commanders, among them Anderson, Captain Michael Kelly, a County Clare man who served in the British Army and is a Captain of the 69th, and Captain James Archer. Another names men of the Machine Gun Company who fell under shellfire on the night of the 27th and 28th, and mentions Lieutenants Connelly and Carter. The book also prints a message from General DeGoutte of the 6th Army and a message to the officers and men of the 42nd Division dated August 13, 1918. Photograph captions mention General Pershing, Camp Mills and Baccarat.