Borrowed Soldiers: Americans Under British Command in 1918 (Video)

 

In this highly informative 48-minute documentary from the Western Front Association, Mitchell Yockelson, senior archivist at the U.S. National Archives and an instructor at the Naval Academy, presents the story of the AEF's II Corps, which served exclusively under British command for their entire period of training and combat during the war. Despite General Pershing's misgivings and the contrasting temperaments and experience of the Tommies and Doughboys, the 60,000 man formation served effectively on the cutting edge of General Haig's 100-day victory advance. The illustration above by artist Frank Schoonover, shows soldiers of II Corps in their most notable effort, the capture of the St. Quentin Canal in September 1918.