The Automobile in World War I

 "No windshields, no side curtains, and you carried either eight patients sitting up or for on litters . . . if you were second and third you just were feeling your way because of the dust and so forth. You had no clear vision of the road . . . No windshields, no - none of that. If it rained, it rained in on you, and you put your poncho in front of you to keep water off your legs and feet." 

John Pavlik is a West Allis, Wisconsin native, who served as an ambulance driver with the 32nd Division in France and Germany during World War I. Pavlik enlisted at the age of 16 because he did not want to wait two more years to be drafted and wanted to server his country, specifically as an ambulance driver. The war gave Pavlik the chance a chance to drive a motorized ambulance, instead of using mules and wagon ambulances. 


Rides in an motorized ambulance instead of a horse drawn carriage were certainly faster, however, the ride did not feel any different. Horses and mules were still used to pull artillery, but also would eventually be replaced by automobiles as well. Pavlik served in a unit that used motorized ambulances, and horses to pull artillery, and recalls soldiers being trained to take care of their horses before taking care of themselves if a gas attack were to occur. 

"As you know, all of our guns were moved up by horses. The horses and the guns were moved up sometimes very fast, and we would be in the area where when we would get shelled they would drop shells which were filled with gas. We would then hear the Kalxon horn go 'oo-ah, oo-ah, oo-ah,' whereby meant that you put your gas mask on. Well, the boys that were taking care of the artillery, the horses, their job was to put the gas mask on the horse first before they put their own mask on themselves. Horses were very valuable and we needed that." 

The motorization of military vehicles helped save the lives of soldiers. Automobiles made the transportation of wounded soldiers to field hospitals faster, and made the entire war effort more efficient, as men would now take care of themselves first when the Klaxon horn sounded.