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CHRISTOPHER MASSA REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Waterbury native Charles Fallowell poses in his U.S. Army uniform beforebeing sent overseas to serve as a runner on the front lines in France inWorld War I.

BY ANDREW LARSONREPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERTOWN — A sus-pected drug manufacturingoperation, hidden in plainsight in a building acrossfrom Town Hall and the Wa-tertown Public Library, wasseverely damaged by fire lateFriday.

Firefighters responded to429 Main St. at 10:37 p.m. andsaw heavy fire burning

through the windows androof, said Fire Chief Larry R.Black.

One person was injured inthe blaze and transported byambulance to the ConnecticutBurn Center at BridgeportHospital. The injuries did notappear to be life-threatening,Black said.

The mixed-use buildingcontains five apartments on

Fire uncovers drug factoryOne injured in blaze that damages Watertown building

SundayRepublicanFINAL $2

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APRIL 9, 2017

P

PART IV: OUR BOYS

Letters home

BY MICHAEL DEGIROLAMO JR.REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

I nside the scrapbook’s marbledcover, attached to large pagescrisp with age, are documents,newspaper clippings, telegrams,

photographs and a collection of lettersdated between March 1917 and August1923.

They tell the story of Charles WalterArthur Fallowell, a typical Waterburyboy who grew up at 29 Catherine Ave.Born June 24, 1895, he was the older ofhis family’s two children, with just a yearand a half between him and his brotherBill. They were the sons of William Fal-lowell, an English immigrant whoworked as a machinist in Waterbury, andhis wife, Ellen.

Charles Fallowell attended St. Mary’sParochial School. By 1916 he was a brassroller at the Benedict & Burnham branchof The American Brass Co. and Bill wasa draftsman at Scovill Manufacturing Co.

Within a year, Charles Fallowell wouldgo from crafting brass to dodging shrap-nel in the trenches in France.

A devoted, worried mother, Ellen Fallowell of Waterbury kept a

scrapbook when her son went off to war. A century later, her

carefully clipped memories, now in the collection of the

Mattatuck Museum, tell the story of how one family and its

community served and suffered through The Great War.

At rep-am.com: Watch a video report with

Katharine Anthony, a guest curator at the

Mattatuck Museum, discussing the museum’s

World War I exhibit.RA 100TH ANNIVERSARY

The Great War

See SCRAPBOOK, 2A

BY TRACEY O’SHAUGHNESSYREPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

On March 20, QuinnipiacUniversity announced thatone of its professors had beenawarded a $7,876 grant tostudy whether there is a linkbetween the Naugatuck Riverand the “high number ofbreast and reproductive can-cer cases in the NaugatuckValley.”

The news was reportedthroughout the NaugatuckValley.

There was one problem. There are not an “unusual-

ly high number of reproduc-tive can-cer cas-es” in theV a l l e y ,a c c o r d -ing to thestate De-partment

of Public Health. Naugatuckhas a breast cancer incidencerate that is “significantly low-er” than the state rate, said adepartment spokesman.

The state’s Tumor Reg-istry, the oldest in the coun-try, reports that breast can-cer, uterine (endometrial)cancer and ovarian cancerwere no greater in the Nau-gatuck Valley towns of Anso-nia, Beacon Falls, Derby,Harwinton, Litchfield, Nau-gatuck, Seymour, Thomaston,Torrington, Waterbury andWatertown than elsewhere inthe state or the Northeast.

The Connecticut Commu-nity Foundation grant, theHamden university reported,

Professorto studychemicalsin riverTeam to focuson cancer links

STEVEN VALENTI REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

The Naugatuck River runsthrough Thomaston onWednesday.

See STUDY, Page 10A

Sunny and delightful;partly cloudy andcool tonight. Page 6D

JUSTIN ROSE SHARES LEAD WITHSERGIO GARCIA AFTER THREEROUNDS AT MASTERS, PAGE 1B

Ganim to run for governor?Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim took atentative step toward a possible campaignfor governor, seeking clearance from theElections Enforcement Commission. PAGE 1C

Cleaning up a landmarkMore than 60 student volunteerscommitted their Saturday morning tocleaning up Holy Land after the landmarkwas vandalized in February. PAGE 4A

Lawyer faces drug chargeA former Waterbury-based attorney onprobation for stealing from his ex-client isnow facing charges of selling heroin to aninformant, according to police. PAGE 4A

High 63Low 44

TIED AT THE TOP

OPINION OF THE DAY: “The real reason fewRepublicans get elected outside of Litchfield County is thatprogressive, unaffiliated voters like me are afraid they wouldturn the clocks back to 1950 if they were put in charge.” — J.D. Norris, Southbury. READ THE FULL LETTER ON PAGE 15A

Bonus features at rep-am.com/webextra>> VOLUNTEER EFFORT Watch a video on a group ofstudent volunteers from Apex International Education Partners cleaningup Holy Land in Waterbury on Saturday.

>> DERBY DAY See a photo gallery from the 68th annualRiverton Fishing Derby on Saturday.

>> WORLD WAR I EXHIBIT Watch a video report onKatharine Anthony, a guest curator at Mattatuck Museum, discussing themuseum’s World War I exhibit.

>> HEALTH STUDY Visit rep-am.com to see a breakdownof breast and reproductive cancer rates by town in the Naugatuck Valley.

>> LAWYER WOES Watch a video report on a Waterbury-based attorney on probation for stealing from an ex-client who is nowfacing charges of selling heroin to a police informant.

WEB EXTRASTODAY AT REP-AM.COM

AUTUMN CICCARELLA

SCORES IN POMPERAUG’S

16-3 WIN OVER FITCH,

PAGE 5B

ON THE WAY HOME

Around the towns 13AArts beat 3EBirths 4ABook reviews 4EBusiness 7-8CClassified 1-4DCrossword 8EDear Annie 5E

Editorials 14-15AEngagements 5EHoroscope 5EJumble 8ELetters 15ALottery 2AMovie theaters 2EObituaries 5-6C

Pets 7EPublic notices 4DPublic record 2ASocial moments 6ESports 1-8BStocks 7CSudoku 8ETelevision 8E

66 pages. © 2017 The Sunday Republican

Established 1906, Waterbury, Conn.

All rights reserved

Read today’s editions online at rep-am.com 6 34373 31950 8

These letters from home to Water-bury native Charles Fallowell wereamong those returned to senderafter Fallowell was killed in actionin France in World War I.

>> See a chartlisting reproduc-tive cancer ratesby town in theNaugatuck Valleyat rep-am.com.

CONTRIBUTED

Firefighters knocked down a blaze at this mixed-use build-ing in downtown Watertown on Friday night.See FIRE, Page 10A



Copy Reduced to 51% from original to fit letter pageP A R T I V : L E T T E R S H O M E

APRIL 9, 2017THE SUNDAY REPUBLICAN L M12A

IN THE SPRING OF 1917,America was on the brink ofentering what many be-lieved would be the war toend all wars. The nation —and the Fallowells — pre-pared. Ellen Fallowell start-ed her scrapbook.

The earliest dated item is-n’t about Charles. His broth-er Bill, then 20, was appoint-ed as a military census agentfor the city of Waterbury inMarch 1917. He would aid inregistering men who wouldqualify for the draft if andwhen the time came.

It did, and quickly. Ameri-ca entered the war April 6and instituted a nationwidedraft by May 18. All thosewho were eligible to enrollwere asked to do so on regis-tration day, June 5, 1917.

Charles Fallowell was oneof those men. The scrapbookpreserves his draft registra-tion certificate and noticefor a physical examination.Glued on the same page ishis notification of being se-lected for military service.

He reported Sept. 11,1917, and was taken to theArmy’s mobilization camp atCamp Devens in Ayer, Mass.Near the end of October, af-ter spending almost the en-tire month training at CampDevens, he was sent home,deemed unable to withstandlong marches as a result ofan earlier operation.

Clippings in the scrapbookshow he was devastated. Hehad become accustomed tothe Army and wanted to an-swer the call to service.

Fallowell told his motherthat he was determined toserve. He truly believed thathe would be called uponagain, and that when thathappened he would not besent home a second time.

THAT CALL CAME with theturn of the new year, and inJanuary 1918 his motherresumed collecting memo-ries. Saved in the scrap-book is Fallowell’s secondnotice to appear for physi-cal examination. Soon af-terward he was approved toserve.

He arrived back at CampDevens for training in Feb-ruary, but was there onlytwo weeks. Telegrams to hismother updated her on hisrapid progress.

He was transferred toCamp Upton on Long Island,where he would stay for an-other two weeks. Aftersqueezing in a visit home,Fallowell was sent to Franceto fight with Allied Forceson the Western Front.

He was assigned to Com-pany H, 307th Infantry, 77thDivision of the AmericanExpeditionary Forces of theUnited States Army. The“Metropolitan Division,” asthe 77th was known, mainlyconsisted of New Yorkdraftees. They would be thefirst draft division to enterthe front line on the Bac-carat sector.

By the end of the war, thedivision would be known forthe Lost Battalion of the308th Infantry, their fiercefighting on the Vesle River

and the Battle of the Ar-gonne Forest, and their par-ticipation in the Oise-AisneCampaign and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

FALLOWELL ARRIVED inFrance April 9, 1918, as arunner, a messenger whodelivered important militarydispatches on the battlefieldunder the heaviest of cross-fire.

To a mother, though, themost important dispatchesare the letters to and fromhome. Son and mother wrotemany letters about his warexperiences and their home-town.

By July, Fallowell becamethe talk of Waterbury thanksto a chance encounter hewrote home about. Clippingsfrom all the local newspa-pers cover pages of thescrapbook. In France, he raninto a dear hometown friend,Army Cpl. John Saunders ofthe Department SupplyCompany Q.M.C., No. 3.

Saunders, from 27Spencer Ave., and Fallowellhad attended the sameschool. Both worked for Wa-terbury brass mills, andwere both originally reject-ed from military service be-fore coming back to serve asecond time.

One of the newspapers re-published the letter Saun-ders had sent to his motherabout meeting his buddy inFrance: “Guess who I metthe other day. None otherthan Charley Fallowell. Weran across each other purelyby accident while walkingalong the street ... He is sta-tioned in the same town I ambut I don’t know for howlong. If you happen to see hismother let her know that Ihave met him.”

The friends never metagain. Cpl. John Saunderstelegraphed his mother onFeb. 12, 1919, from Alencon,Normandy, France, that, af-ter a quick illness, he wasgoing to a hospital. He diedof pneumonia 72 hours later,just days before he wasscheduled to sail home.

THE NEXT ENTRY in thescrapbook is a telegram ad-dressed to Mrs. Ellen Fal-lowell, dated Oct. 10, 1918,sent from the War Depart-ment in Washington, D.C.The telegram required onlyone sentence. Charles hadbeen killed in action a monthearlier.

He died in the line of dutyon Sept. 11, 1918, exactlyone year after he was firstdrafted and only two monthsbefore the signing of theNov. 11 armistice that endedthe war. Fallowell was killedin the trenches on the VesleRiver during the Oise-AisneCampaign. He was 23.

The American Red Cross,which provided medical aidto troops and services to mil-itary families in World WarI, wrote to his brother Billthat they would try to finddetails. Months later, a fol-low-up letter included ashort report based on ac-counts from members of hiscompany.

Fallowell was asleep in afunk hole — a one-mandugout in the side of the

trenches — just outside ofFismette, France, in theearly morning of Sept. 11when a dud shell fired bythe enemy came throughthe top of where he wassleeping. He instinctivelyran out of his funk hole andwas instantly killed by asecond enemy shell thatburst near him.

Those were the only ene-my shells that fell in the areathat night.

The scrapbook picks upwith pages of newspaper re-ports, condolences and let-ters sent to Mrs. Fallowell.Her son’s death meant muchto the city, which not onlymourned one of its own, butalso received rare news fromthe front. In the infancy of ra-dio broadcasts and with in-frequent war correspon-dence, news from the trench-es was fragmentary at best.

Here at last was validationthat the hundreds of soldiersfrom Waterbury were nowon the front lines.

Months after the notice ofher son’s death, Ellen Fal-lowell, now widowed, waswaiting to receive any wordabout his remains.

It eventually came in aDec. 13, 1918, letter from the

Graves Registration Service.Charles’ body had been re-covered and buried at theAmerican Military Ceme-tery in the Commune ofFismes, Fismes (Marne),France.

On March 17, 1919, a let-ter from the War Depart-ment presented her with adifficult choice. His remainscould stay where they were,they could be moved to an-other cemetery of an alliednation or to a local cemeterynear the battlefield where hehad been killed, or theycould be brought stateside toa national cemetery or a lo-cal American cemeteryclose to the family.

Ellen Fallowell chose tobring her son stateside tobe buried in their familyplot in St. Mary’s Cemeteryin Norwich, which tookplace on June 8, 1921. Re-porters from many newspa-pers covered the event, andthe clippings of their arti-cles would be among thelast items preserved in thescrapbook.

News librarian MichaelDeGirolamo Jr. can bereached by email at [email protected].

SCRAPBOOK: Paper trail to a hero’s graveContinued from Page One

ASSOCIATED PRESS

American troops parade in St. Nazaire, France, on June 26, 1917, after arriving in the country to join Allied forces inWorld War I. Charles Fallowell of Waterbury was among the U.S troops sent to France, assigned to Company H, 307thInfantry, 77th Division of the U.S. Army. He died in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 1918, during the Oise-Aisne campaign.


Draft documents and Charles Fallowell's orders for a physical exam are part of the scrapbook at the MattatuckMuseum in Waterbury that tells the story of the Waterburyman's deployment and death in World War I.


The family scrapbook now on display at the Mattatuck Mu-seum in Waterbury contains this posthumous certificatefrom the state, signed by Gov. Marcus Holcomb, acknowl-edging Waterbury native Charles Fallowell's military serviceand sacrifice during World War I.

CHRISTOPHER MASSAREPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

The gravestone at Water-bury native Charles Fallow-ell’s final resting place in St.Mary's Cemetery in Nor-wich. Fallowell was killed inWorld War I and was firstburied in France.

The Mattatuck Museum’sWorld War I exhibit willbe on display throughApril 23 during regularmuseum hours, Tuesdaythrough Saturday 10 a.m.to 5 p.m., and Sundaynoon to 5 p.m.

In addition to theCharles Fallowell scrapbook, the exhibitalso has 28 rare WorldWar I posters from themuseum’s collection andan authentic World War Iuniform worn by Waterbury’s Fredrik W.Chesson.

The exhibit is includedwith the general price ofadmission. Admission isfree for Waterbury residents who present avalid ID thanks to a dona-tion from MacDermidPerformance Solutions.

IF YOU GO

REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

The collection of letters saved by Charles Fallowell’sfamily provides personal insights into the thoughts of afamily separated by war. Here are four samples.

From Charles Fallowell, May 24, 1918, shortly after ar-riving in France: “I was put through the course of a run-ner. You see the runner has a big job in the line, underfire, delivering notes from one officer to another. Some-times I won’t get a note, but will be told something to tellanother officer. If I make a mistake in only one word it

may bring a slaughterto the men but Iknow I can do itand will do it.”

From CharlesFallowell, Sept. 1,1918: “Yes I’vebeen in the front

line twice andmother thefirst time Ihad some ex-perience; itwas about twoo’clock onFourth of Julymorning butfor now I won’ttell of it till Iget me somemore paper.”

That waswritten daysbefore hewas killed onSept. 11, butw a r t i m e

correspon-dence being what it was,

the family would not learn of his death until a monthlater. Meanwhile, his mother Ellen Fallowell and broth-er Bill continued their news and advice.

From Ellen Fallowell, Sept. 23, 1918: “I don’t wantyou to feel peeved at me saying that I do hope you willnot get any intoxicating drink. I have no fear of you, butmothers like I must advise.”

From Bill Fallowell, Oct. 1, 1918: “Next month wehave the continued drive for the Knights of Columbus,Y.M.C.A. etc. for the boys in the service so you lads justremember we are all backing you up to the limit. Wehave loads of men and money & all else that we need fora Big Victory.”

Charles Fallowell, killed in action, never got to enjoythat intoxicating drink or see the Big Victory. The en-velopes, now in the scrapbook, were eventually sentback stamped “RETURN TO WRITER.”

‘I have no fear of you ... butmothers like I must advise’


A scrapbook on display at the Mattatuck Museum inWaterbury contains this letter Waterbury nativeCharles Fallowell wrote home to his mother while hewas stationed in France during World War I. Aboveare letters from home to Fallowell that were returnedto sender after Fallowell was killed in action in Francein World War I.

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