This photo is of the quay (wharf) in Brest harbor, France. Captain Hughes took this photo at 10 a.m., July 18, 1919. This is the departure place for many of the soldiers who had been in the Army of Occupation and were returning to the United States. Hughes was a member of the 13th Field Artillery of the 4th Division at this time in 1919. James C. Hughes, as part of the 35th Division, left Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and traveled to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he boarded the troop ship "Ceramic" on May 18, 1918. Hughes arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 1, 1918 and then landed at Le Havre, France, on June 9, 1918. Hughes fought in the battles of St. Michael and the Meuse-Argonne. He was at Verdun on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. He took no photos of the actual fighting. He did take many photographs after the war as part of the Army of Occupation until he left France on July 18, 1919. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available at the link below to Kansapedia.

Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: July 18, 1919