Admin/Biog History	Otto B. Sells was the son of William and Carrie Prine Sells. He was a member of Company B, 2nd Wisconsin National Guard during the Mexican Border War and Company B, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division during World War I. He was killed by an artillery shell near the town of Fisme, France on August 4, 1918.
Collection	World War I Small Collections
Dates of Accumulation	1918
Abstract	Letter from Otto Bernanrd Sells, Company B, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division to his sister in Oshkosh, WI. Somewhere in France July 21, 1918 My Dear Sister, I just received your letter O.K. and sure was glad to hear from you. We just got out of the trenches and sure did have some time in there. The Boche started to make a advance and when they reached our first line we sure did snipe them off, what I mean. The Boche started to bombard with their big guns at twelve o'clock at night and they shot some over that tore holes big enough to put our shanty in and you wouldn't be able to see the top of it. There sure was some slaughtering done. All you could see was arms and legs of the Germans flying in the air. And about two days after the drive there sure was some smell of all the dead horses and men lying around. There were about a hundred horses killed. They sent quite a bit of gas too. We had our gas masks on for four hours. I was pretty lucky I had my tent put up in the trench and in there until the bombardment started. Then I got up and we took our gun down and took it in the dugout. And just about an hour after I left the tent, a shell hit it square in the center and exploded, tearing every thing up that was in there. So I think I'm pretty lucky at that. Our water hauler was killed and two men wounded and four men gassed. That sure was some battle. The Dutch, they were going right straight through, they captured a German who was only eleven years old. He said they shot his mother because she didn't want to leave them go. Well my letter is getting long will write more about this next time. Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain your same brother. Otto. OK. Lt. Aug. G. Wolf Co. C 150 M G Bn.
Event	World War I
Category	8: Communication Artifact
Legal Status	Oshkosh Public Museum
Object ID	SC411.10.18.9
Object Name	Letter
People	Sells, Otto Bernard
Subjects	World War I Soldiers 127th United States Infantry 32nd Division Casualties Trench warfare Artillery (Weaponry) Gas warfare
Title	Letter

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Last modified on: December 12, 2009