100 Years Ago: The Great Halifax Tragedy (A Roads Classic)

One hundred years ago today, by most measures, the greatest non-nuclear explosion in history occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The approximate casualty estimate was 2,000 killed and 9,000 wounded and blinded. More Nova Scotians died in the Halifax explosion than were killed in World War One. Out of 60,000 inhabitants, 25,000 were left homeless. So many people suffered eye injuries that the science of treating damaged eyes was advanced significantly by the newly established Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Halifax would become known as a center for caring for the blind. That story within a story is one worth recounting.

The Damage at Halifax

“City in danger. Explosion. Conflagration.” The alarm was sent by telegram to areas surrounding Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. Relief expeditions organized from Nova Scotia, Boston, Toronto, and Montreal did not know the cause of the explosion, or the extent of the damage. Had the Germans invaded? Was the city destroyed? Reports of casualties varied from 50 to 50,000 people. 

In the fourth year of the First World War, Halifax was a seaport of 47,000 people, a base from which Canadian troops were sent overseas. Warships gathered in Halifax Harbor to be refitted and supplied before sailing in convoys to Europe. For this reason, Halifax was a prime target for the Germans, and many believed that they had attacked. However, the explosion was caused by an accidental collision between two vessels.

The Mont Blanc Explodes

At 08:48 hrs a French freighter, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Imo, a Belgian relief ship, as a result of navigational error in Halifax Harbor. The Mont Blanc carried 3,121 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of trinitrotoluene, 35 tons of benzol, and 10 tons of gun cotton. The benzol drums ignited, with flames and smoke rising 2,000 feet into the sky. Women and men went to their windows, and children walking to school stopped on the street to watch the blazing fire. After 17 minutes the ship blew up with a force that launched the hull over 10,00 feet into the air, destroying everything within a 2.5 km radius and shattering every window in the city. The force of the explosion was estimated at three kilotons. A great number of the spectators—especially those watching what they thought was another ship fire from behind glass windows in their homes on the hill overlooking the harbor — received shards of glass in their eyes. Thus, an extra tragic dimension was added to the disaster—its huge number of ophthalmic injuries. 

Finding the injured was the initial challenge. George H Cox, an eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) specialist from New Glasgow, a town 100 km away, joined the relief expedition. Eleven Nova Scotian doctors with nurses and volunteers reached Halifax that evening to find the city in ruins. “We had to make our way along streets and tracks blocked and covered with debris of all sorts...every here and there dead men on piles of black stuff. The whole area was darkened by smoke or lit up by flames from the burning debris.”

In the ruins Dr. Cox and his colleagues discovered that an inordinate number of penetrating eye injuries occurred. The severity and the overwhelming number of eye injuries sustained that day made it impossible for lengthy eye‐saving procedures to be performed. Enucleation,  the removal of the eye that leaves the eye muscles and remaining orbital contents intact, was often the only option. Twelve ophthalmologists treated 592 people with eye injuries and performed 249 enucleations. Sixteen people had both eyes enucleated. Most of the eye injuries were caused by shards of shattered glass. 

The Halifax explosion sparked an outpouring of community support for survivors who were blind or partially sighted and served as a catalyst for the formation of one of Canada’s oldest charities, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind

Sources: Mostly excerpted from "The Halifax disaster (1917): eye injuries and their care," British Journal of Ophthamology, June 2007; "Halifax: December 6, 1917" by Andrew Melomet, St. Mihiel Trip-Wire, April 2010 .

.

Curse of the Narrows The Halifax Disaster of 1917 Reviewed by James M. Gallen

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

by Laura M. MacDonald

Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 2005

The trenches, barbed wire and no-man's-land were Over There, but on 6 December 1917 the Great War reached Canada. Laura M. Mac Donald tells how that came about in Curse of the Narrows The Halifax Disaster of 1917. Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a major port on Canada's Atlantic Coast whose prosperity has ebbed and flowed with the tides of commerce and war. The withdrawal of the Royal Navy in 1906 brought an ebb, but the war and the return of the Royal Navy activity came surging back. Soldiers, sailors, and commercial freighters crowded the streets, businesses, and the harbor as men, foodstuffs, munitions, and manufactured goods passed through on their way to aid Britannia. By 1917 Halifax was at high tide. Business bustled on both the Halifax and Dartmouth sides of the harbor.

The French vessel Mont Blanc had been loaded with high explosives in Brooklyn. The ship's carpenters had been ordered to line every inch of the hold with wood and to use copper nails that would not spark when struck. Stevedores wearing canvas slippers loaded the cargo that, with a storm or shift, could have destroyed everything within reach. Mont Blanc with its volatile cargo was ordered to proceed to Halifax to join a North Atlantic convoy.

Mont Blanc spent the night of 5–6 December outside the submarine nets of Halifax Harbor. A late coal delivery had kept the Belgian relief ship Imo (which should have already left for New York) in harbor overnight. The morning of the 6th, the pilots arrived and Imo and Mont Blanc began moving toward their rendezvous with history. As Mont Blanc was approaching the harbor, Imo began to move toward its exit. They were about three-quarters of a mile apart when Pilot Francis Mackay aboard Mont Blanc noticed Imo proceeding at an unusually fast pace within the harbor. As they closed, a collision became inevitable. Although impact with the TNT hold was avoided, a gash in the no. 1 hold sent Mont Blanc drifting toward Pier 6 in Dartmouth, one of the most populated areas along the northern stretch of wharves.

Memorial to the Dead of the Halifax Explosion at St.  Paul's Church

As the pilot and crew endeavored to minimize damage, the citizens watched as black and white smoke rose from Mont Blanc. Recognizing that nothing could prevent the impending explosion, the captain gave the order to abandon ship. The crew's warnings went unheeded as they paddled to shore and assembled under spruce trees, except for one crewman who did not stop running. Flames gave way to a series of explosions until 9:04:34  a.m., when Mont Blanc erupted in the largest, man-made, non-nuclear explosion in history. The heat evaporated water in the harbor, the tsunami threw ships inland and it and the air blast flattened blocks of the city, observers were blinded by the fireball, the sound was heard hundreds of miles away and communications to the outside world were largely cut. The following day Halifax was hit with minus-20 degrees Fahrenheit and a blizzard with gale force winds.

After an interlude about explosions, the focus of Curse of the Narrows shifts to the resulting damage to property, injuries, and the immense relief efforts that followed. Over 2,000 were dead or missing, over 6,000 injured, 9,000 rendered homeless with 41 fully and 249 partially blinded. Temporary hospitals were set up, naval vessels brought supplies and provided medical services, and physicians were dispatched from Montreal and Ottawa. A relief train from Boston fought the weather to bring supplies and medical personnel. Boston's generosity to Halifax was repaid when Halifax sent physicians to aid Boston during the Spanish flu epidemic and continues to this day as the official Boston Christmas Tree on the Boston Common is a gift from the people of Halifax.

Author Laura M. MacDonald had the advantage of many recorded interviews and testimonies taken during investigations from which to draw the facts of the case and the human-interest stories related to the explosion. She followed individuals and families who lived through or died in the tragedy. Perhaps the most touching story and photo is that of 18-month-old Annie Liggins who was found under a stove the day after. Originally misidentified as Olive Henneberry she was later nicknamed "Ashpan Annie."

The story of the Halifax explosion is a tragic disaster that should be known by anyone interested in North American involvement in the Great War. Curse of the Narrows is an excellent source from which to learn about the explosion and the human lives that it unalterably changed.

James M. Gallen


Photo of St. Paul's from Steve Miller

The Same Gun Fired the British Commonwealth's First Shots - In Both World Wars

Australia was the first Commonwealth nation to fire shots in both World War I and World War II. What's even more interesting is that both times they were fired by the same gun at the same fort for the same purpose, that is, artillery at Fort  Queenscliff, Point Nepean, attempting to prevent German merchant vessels from escaping through Port Phillip Heads, Melbourne Harbor. On 5 August this 6-inch gun at the fort fired on the German vessel SS Pfalz, which was later converted to an Australian troopship. On 4 September 1939 another battery fired on what they thought was another German ship. That turned out to be mistaken, but it was still the Commonwealth's first shot fired in anger in WWII.

Source: The Geelong Advertiser

Doughboy Basics: What Did the Doughboys Contribute to the Allied War Effort?

Let me form this posting around several blanket statements.

1.  America Did Not Win the War Single-Handed, but Its Entry Probably Prevented a German Victory.

The second part of this statement might seem controversial, but consider the following facts. Even with America on board, by the end of 1917, the Central Powers (discounting the food shortages on their home front briefly) appeared to be winning the World War. Russia and Rumania had been defeated and Italy required major reinforcement by its Allies to stay in the war. Salonika was a manpower-draining sore. Lloyd George—after Passchendaele—had no wish to provide replacement forces for a new offensive for General Haig's Army. Pétain's French Army was incapable of large offensive operations.  

This would have been the state of affairs whether or not America was in the war.  But, absent the U.S. involvement, Germany would have had a good chance of winning the war with a highly advantageous negotiated settlement. Its optimal strategy would have been to go on the defensive in the west and use the men who were not needed to garrison the newly won territories in the east to restore its agricultural and food distribution systems. The Allies (absent the American reinforcements) simply would not have had the offensive power to push the German Army out of Belgium and France. Maybe fighting would have continued into 1918, even 1919, but at some point a settlement would have been reached. Germany would have held on to all its occupied territory in both the east and west and we would be living in a different world today (maybe better,  who knows?). But in any case, this strategy was not available, because they HAD gotten the Americans involved by fatally opting for unrestricted U-boat warfare a year earlier. This discussion continues in Point 3 below. 

2.  The AEF and U.S. Navy Did Provide Almost Immediate Critical Support for the Allies in Several Areas:  (This Was Before the AEF Was Substantial Enough to Fight)

     a. An expanded port-warehousing-railroad infrastructure benefiting all the     

         Allied Powers

     b.  Medical and nursing personnel for the French and British forces

     c.  Sufficient escort ships to make the convoy system viable

    d.  Boosted Allied morale, especially for the French, rejuvenating both the 

         citizenry and soldiery for the brutal 1918 campaign

3. The Threat of Millions of Americans Arriving on the Western Front Forced the Germans to Launch Their Spring Offensives, Which Gave the Allies an Opportunity for Victory

We made the point above that at the end of 1917, the Central Powers appeared to be winning the war. However, as with all the major combatants, they were simply running out of men. Toward the end of 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff saw that—despite the promises of the German admirals—there was no stopping the flow of U.S. troops  across the Atlantic. Millions would be arriving by mid-1918 and millions more in 1919. At some time in the future, their forces in the west would simply be swamped.  As 1918 opened, they had the choice to negotiate for a settlement, which by that time would have involved considerable concessions, given the Allies strengthening hand with the Yanks arriving, or throw the dice for a chance to win a much more advantageous position in post-combat negotiations.  They chose the latter and eventually lost the war.

4. When the AEF Was Ready to Fight, Pershing's Forces Fought in Ten Major Battles, Six of Which—Had the Allies Lost—Could Have Changed the Outcome of the War.

     a.  The Defense of the Marne River Line in May and June 1918

     b.  The Defense Against German Champagne-Marne Offensive of July 1918

     c.  The Offensive Phase of the Second Battle of the Marne, 

          July–September 1918

     d.  The St. Mihiel Offensive, September 1918

     e.  The Breaking of the Hindenburg Line, September 1918

     f.  The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, September–November 1918

The Last World War I Panzer

Mephisto, Then and Now

The British Army was the first to use tanks, deploying them at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The Allied forces used tanks in even larger numbers in 1917. The potential of this new weapon was realized perhaps too late by the German Army. In late 1917 the Germans produced 20 A7V Sturmpanzerwagens, which were deployed in combat the following year. Crewed with 18 men, the cumbersome war machines clambered into action in April 1918. The German tanks were engaged in actions at such places as Villers-Bretonneux, a small French village that was recaptured by Australian soldiers at the cost of 1,200 lives. The A7Vs were involved in the first tank-versus-tank action. 

The A7V Sturmpanzerwagen known as Mephisto (shown above) was immobilized in an area close to Villers-Bretonneux called Monument Wood. In July 1918 a detachment of soldiers from the 26th Battalion, mainly comprised of Queenslanders, helped recover the abandoned tank and drag it back to the Allied lines. It was sent to Australia as a war trophy, arriving at Norman Wharf in June 1919, where it was towed by two Brisbane City Council steamrollers to the Queensland Museum, then located in Fortitude Valley. It remained at the Queensland Museum for 70 years. After a 2-year loan spell at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Mephisto is at present in the process of being returned to Brisbane.*  Mephisto remains the sole surviving A7V tank in the world.

Sources: Queensland Museum and Reader Charles Bogart

* Clarification added 2 December 2017

Between Sedan and Dreyfus: The French Officer Corps and Politics

General Boulange in His Prime

The defeat of the French Second Empire at German hands led to the creation of the Third Republic, a governmental system that placed power within the legislature and was plagued by ministerial instability and bureaucratic ineffectiveness. Most French officers, disproportionately Catholic, rural, and conservative, disliked and distrusted the anticlerical and pro-Parisian leanings of the government. The Third Republic, in their eyes, was a bastard child of the bloody Paris Commune and would, in all likelihood, last not much longer than the four years of the Second Republic (1848–1852). Then France could go back to a more authoritarian, conservative, and effective government that would support the army and promote traditional French values.

Joffre, 1889

The Third Republic was also rife with scandals, political intrigue, and persistent rumors of military-led coups. General George Boulanger's political movement of the late 1880s was the most famous but far from the only one of its kind. Boulanger combined right-wing authoritarianism and left-wing populism to build a movement that terrified the French government into a series of extreme measures that included ordering government employees to vote against the general and, eventually, exiling Boulanger himself. The threat only ended in 1891 when a love-sick Boulanger shot himself on the grave of his mistress, who had recently died of consumption.

Thus, French officers in the late 19th century often felt that they had more to fear from fellow French than they did from the Germans. Officers had to learn how to play the system and curry favor with politicians in order to survive the turmoil and intrigue of the Third Republic. Some, like Joseph Joffre and Maurice Sarrail, developed ways (albeit very different ways) to deal with political realities. Others, like Paul-Marie Pau, had promotions denied to them on the basis of their politics. In 1907 then prime minister Georges Clemenceau had to intervene personally to give Ferdinand Foch command of the French War College; a report shown to Clemenceau had accused Foch of giving higher grades to Catholics, and Foch had a Jesuit brother, but Clemenceau decided to back Foch anyway.

Foch Before the War

When French officers weren't worrying about politics in Paris, they were looking overseas. The way to make a career in the late nineteenth-century French Army was by distinguishing oneself in the empire. After the Franco-Prussian War, France looked to Indochina, Madagascar, Senegal, and, above all, Algeria, to recover lost glory. The Germans, for their part, did all they could to encourage French imperial interests, both to turn French attention away from the continent and in the hopes that imperial endeavors would keep France and Britain in constant conflict.

Virtually all of France's best known and best regarded generals had made their names in the colonies. Joffre, Hubert Lyautey, Charles Mangin, Joseph Gallieni, and countless others became French heroes for their work extending French influence to the corners of the globe. Given enormous powers, they learned to manage resources over tremendous distances, conquer problems of logistics, and balance military responsibilities with economic and political ones. To many of them, most notably Lyautey, the prospect of a war with Germany was infinitely less important than the expansion and solidification of the empire.

Source:  Over the Top, March 2007

U.S. Monument to the Victims of the Tuscania and the Otranto Sinkings

This American First World War Monument is located on a 429 feet (131 meters) high cliff near the southern most point of  the Oa Peninsula on the Isle of Islay.  It was dedicated  in 1920 by the American Red Cross, and was designed by architect Robert Walker. The monument commemorates the loss of two troop ships in 1918, the Tuscania and the Otranto and the location overlooks the very spot where the Tuscania sank. The monument is built in the shape of a lighthouse and is visible from many areas on Islay.  

The Tuscania, a passenger liner, was on its way from New Jersey to the coast of France with 2,000 American soldiers and a crew of more than 300. At Halifax, Nova Scotia, they joined a convoy and entered the British waters between Islay and Northern Ireland on the 5th of February. The convoy was followed by a UB-77 German submarine which torpedoed the Tuscania. The direct hit on the Tuscania resulted in heavy damage, and she sank after a few hours, seven miles off the Islay coast near the Oa peninsula. An estimated 230 lives were lost in this tragedy.

Eight months later, on 6 October 1918, another tragedy occurred only a few miles from the place where the Tuscania sank. The HMS Otranto was carrying troops from New York to Glasgow when it collided with the steamship HMS Kashmir during a heavy storm. This tragedy took place not far from Machir Bay on Islay's west coast. Over 400 lives were lost, both British crew members and U.S. servicemen. 

The monument has two plaques. A large one on the east side of the monument, which looks like an entrance door, contains the following text:

Sacred to the immortal memory of those American Soldiers and Sailors who gave their lives for their country in the wrecks of the transports Tuscania (February 5th 1918) and Otranto (October 6th 1918). The monument was erected by the American Red Cross near the spot where so many of the victims of the disasters sleep in everlasting peace.

On Fame's Eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread
While Glory keeps with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead

This smaller plaque on the seaside in front of the monument reads:

A Tribute from Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America. To the memory of his fellow citizens who gave their lives for their country in nearby waters, 1918.

Source: Islay Tourism Website

Our 1918 Centennial Recommended Reading List

Recommended Centennial Books

The Great War in 1918

Germany's Last Gamble: The Five Ludendorff Offensives The German Offensives of 1918: The Last Desperate Gamble  by Ian Passingham	American Expeditionary  Force's Battles in WWI American Armies & Battlefields in Europe from the ABMC
Turmoil in Russia:  Revolution, Civil War, Intervention Russia in Flames, War, Revolution: Civil War 1914–1921 by Laura Engelstein	The British Army's Final  100-Day Campaign Hundred Days: The Campaign That Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd

Remembering a Veteran: Lt. Edouard Izac, USN, MOH

Naval Academy graduate and naval officer Edouard Izac’s remarkable odyssey began on 31 May 1918 when a German submarine torpedoed his ship, the USS President Lincoln, as it sailed near the coast of France. Most of the crew managed to escape, but Izac was captured and taken aboard the U-boat for the journey back to Germany. Unbeknownst to his captors, Izac was the son of German-speaking immigrants, and he used his knowledge of the language to collect vital information on German submarine operations.

Determined to get this intelligence to the Allies, Izac later made several failed escape attempts, including once diving out the window of a moving train. He finally pulled off a successful jailbreak in October 1918, when he scaled the barbed wire fence of his prison camp, stopping along the way to draw fire from the guards to allow other prisoners to flee. Izac spent the next several days sneaking through hostile territory and living off the land before swimming the Rhine River into the safety of neutral Switzerland. Though his information ultimately proved of little use so late in the war, he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1920. Izak became a journalist in San Diego after the war and went on to serve several term as the district's congressman. At the time of his death in 1990, he was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War I.

Medal of Honor Citation: 

When the USS President Lincoln was attacked and sunk by the German submarine U-90, on 21 May 1918, Lt. Izac was captured and held as a prisoner on board the U-90 until the return of the submarine to Germany, when he was confined in the prison camp. During his stay on the U-90 he obtained information of the movements of German submarines, which was so important that he determined to escape, with a view to making this information available to the U.S. and Allied naval authorities. In attempting to carry out this plan, he jumped through the window of a rapidly moving train at the imminent risk of death, not only from the nature of the act itself but from the fire of the armed German soldiers who were guarding him. Having been recaptured and re-confined, Lt. Izac made a second and successful attempt to escape, breaking his way through barbed-wire fences and deliberately drawing the fire of the armed guards in the hope of permitting others to escape during the confusion. He made his way through the mountains of southwestern Germany, having only raw vegetables for food, and at the end, swam the River Rhine during the night in the immediate vicinity of German sentries.

Sources:  History Magazine Website; Home of Heroes

Doughboy Basics: What Are the True Casualty Statistics for the AEF

For at least the last 10 years, in my publications and public talks about the American Expeditionary Forces in that Great War, I've made the point that the statics of American killed in the war  in official sources are understated, subject to misinterpretation, and used by some historians to downplay the contribution of U.S. forces to the final outcome..  When I say "official sources" there are three Federal agencies that  publish these numbers:  the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Congressional Research Service,  and the Defense Casualty Analysis System of the Department of Defense.  They all agree on the numbers for the First World War, and they array the numbers in a  fashion similar to the format as they use for all of the nation's wars, although sometimes with different notations. Below is the VA's version of the numbers with reference points for my ensuing discussion in brackets [ ].

World War I (1917-1918) [4]

• Total U.S. Service Members (Worldwide): 4,734,991 [2]

• Battle Deaths: 53,402   [3]

• Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)  [1]: 63,114  [3]

• Non-mortal Woundings: 204,002 

 [1]  "Non-Theater" is simply an error. Nearly 30,000 of this number were in the combat zones. About 82,000 to 83,000 of the Americans deployed overseas died in or en route to the European  or Russian Theaters in WWI.  My estimate is derived from the American Battle Monument Commission's records of how many individuals are buried or remembered as missing in their European cemeteries (35,429) vs. the number that families chose to have returned home for burial (46,000 to 47,000).  This latter figure is my own rough estimate, since there is no authoritative list of all the Americans, who died in the war.  (But help is on the way to pin down all these numbers more precisely and to develop a master ROLL OF HONOR listing all the American fallen in the war. More on this below.)

[2]  This grand total of those in uniform does not make clear how many of these men were deployed to the war's fighting zones. This contributes to some misinterpretations about where the wartime deaths occurred. For instance, a major confusion over American deaths in the war revolves around the Spanish Influenza Pandemic. A significant source of WWI casualties was the military training establishment stateside, where over 2 million men were still training for deployment overseas when the  Armistice occurred.  These camps would be the largest source of the 46,000 American military killed by the Spanish Influenza during the war.  And a question which follows is the extent of the flu casualties at home vs. on the battlefields.  It's only by anecdotal evidence and accounts that one can infer that the larger share of these deaths were stateside rather than overseas.

[3] These categories suggest that  the first number includes all the people that were killed fighting and that the "Other Deaths" were all due to non-combat issues, such as illness, accident, or suicide. This breakdown works for the men in the camps back home, since there was no combat involved, but it does not allow for cases such as these for the troops who saw combat.:

a.  A wounded man is successfully treated for his wounds, but develops an infection in the hospital and dies afterward. (battle or other?)

b. A soldier is gassed (71,345 Doughboys were gassed) and later develops flu (which attacked respiratory systems) and dies.  (battle or other?)

c.  After the front moves on, an engineer clearing the battlefield is killed "accidentally" by a previously unexploded shell.  (battle or other?)

[4]  These significance of these 1917-1918 dates are expanded upon in one of the accompanying notes:  "Includes air service. Battle deaths and wounds not mortal include casualties suffered by American forces in northern Russia to August 25, 1919, and in Siberia to April 1, 1920. Other deaths cover the period from April 1, 1917, to December 31, 1918."   In plain words, these compilations ceased counting any deaths (except for the men in Russia) after 31 December 1918.  This, of course,  excludes counting anyone who died of their wounds or war connected illness afterward.

Temporary Cemetery for U.S. 147th Infantry

These figures–by my understanding–leaves out  anyone who died of wounds after the cut-off date. Recall, the hero of Little Round Top, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, died of his war wounds in 1914, 49 years after the end of the Civil War.  Surely there were a significant (maybe huge) number of soldiers who died of wounds after leaving the service for both the Civil War and Great War. Maybe tracking down comprehensive data about such cases is simply impossible.  However, the accounting problem for the First World War has an error compounding factor. It has a sub-category of war wounded that exists for NO OTHER American wars — Gas Casualties. See [3]a above.  Fully 1/3 of the "Non-Mortal Woundings Category (71,345 of 204,002) suffered from gassing and survived past the 31 December 1918 statistical cut-off date.  Interestingly, only 1,462 deaths from gassing during the war were reported by the AEF's Surgeon General.

I am convinced after reading or being informed of dozens of cases of WWI veterans, who were gassed and later died premature deaths due to respiratory illness, that this is an ignored category of major losses that is unrecognized and, therefore, not included in casualty summaries.  The most famous such case is baseball great Christy Mathewson, who was gassed in a drill during the war and contracted tuberculosis and died after his return home.  I know such evidence is anecdotal and there are lots of potential statistical fallacies I can fall into, but I believe these numbers to be significant.

So, what is then answer to the question raised at the opening, "What Are the True Casualty Statistics for the AEF?"

My answer is that they cannot be finally determined exactly, but what has been presented as the final word on the matter needs a lot qualification.

1.  Forget about the Battle Deaths vs Other Deaths division. The distinction is foggy at best, and for the Great War, is further complicated by the singular use of gas as a weapon and by the Spanish Influenza.

2.  For historical clarity the more important distinction is Overseas vs. At Home.  The lives of the men who died stateside were just a precious as those who died on the Western Front.   It is important, however, to accurately report the degree of sacrifice of the AEF and the intensity of the fighting and adversity they faced.  I recall a documentary "talking head" saying something very close to: "Well the Americans didn't make much of a dent militarily in the war, they only lost 53,000 men, versus the millions of the other combatants."  (Forgive my imperfect memory, but I think I represent his point accurately.)  My response to him would be: "Well  professor, actually they lost over 80,000 men, mostly in the last six months of the  war when it was at its most desperate. And, by the way, they lost another 30,000+ back home who were getting ready to go Over There to fight but weren't needed.

3.  The postwar deaths from war-related causes, are by now probably undiscoverable, but should not be ignored. Possibly this is a structural issue in the way that America reports deaths in all its war. But, my instincts—for whatever they're worth tell me this could be an especially significant figure for the Doughboys.

To redo the table above in my style:

World War I (1917-1918) 

Total U.S. Service Members (Worldwide): 4,734,991
Deaths in War Theaters: 82,000-83,000 est. *
Deaths in Continental U.S.: 33,000-36,000 est.*
Non-mortal Woundings 204,002 

______________________________

* Deaths due to service-connected wounds, illness, injury 

after 31 December 1918  not included in most cases 

Note:  The photo at the top of the page is of your editor at the grave of Nurse Helen Fairchild at the U.S. Somme Cemetery, Bony, France.

Postscript:  Help Is On the Way

San Antonio based author and World War One historian Scott R. Schoner is completing a 20-year project that will honor the men and women of the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. This listing of the  80,000+/- overseas war dead will span 3 volumes, and will be the first comprehensive record of its kind ever published. Previously prepared typewritten lists by the U.S. Army following the war were never published, and these lists also omit the sacrifices of the nearly 3,000 U.S. Marines who died in service in the 4th Marine Brigade, fighting alongside their Army compatriots. Schoner’s work will finally publish the names, units and dates of death of all known fatalities of the A.E.F.

With the centennial upon us, Scott is trying to get this work into print, and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to get some funding help.  Below is a link.  Please consider making a contribution to make this invaluable work available to research facilities and the American Public.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1536334560/honor-roll-of-the-american-expeditionary-forces?ref=dwsces

Recommended: A Proper Slaughter by Tim Cook

By: Tim Cook, Canadian War Museum 
From: Canadian Military History, Vol. 8, Issue 2

...This article will offer a case study to understand better the Canadian policy of raiding; piece together the fragmented narrative of the raid itself, which has previously been examined without a proper understanding of the integral component of poison gas; and attempt to analyze why the raid was such a failure. Unrealistic expectations, a break-down in command, an absence of doctrine, and most important, the inability of staff officers to understand and adequately employ poison gas, culminated in the most self-destructive Canadian raid of the war. The interplay of technology and soldiers is a tenuous subject, but it is the key to understanding the failure of the Gas Raid of 1 March 1917.

After losing 24,000 casualties in the grisly fighting on the Somme, the Canadian Corps under the command of Sir Julian Byng turned in the winter of 1916–17 to rebuilding its shattered battalions and integrating new troops into the formations. Despite their losses, and during this period of recuperation, the Canadians continued to harass the German lines by trench raids. Long had the Canadians been regarded by the British as elite soldiers and their refinement of trench raiding in the last month of 1915 had led Sir Douglas Haig, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, to congratulate the colonials for their skill and elan. 

The Canadians transformed trench raiding to a deadly art, which wore away at the enemy's morale and strength as he was kept taut and nervous whenever opposite the "wild colonials." The raids were conducted in the dead of night and centered on the principle of destroy and retreat. They were not meant for holding ground in the enemy trench, simply to wreak havoc. The chaos of night fighting, false attacks and barrages up and down the enemy front line, disrupted communications, and the inherent confusion of ascertaining where the exact attack was being launched, left the defenders momentarily vulnerable. Yet trench raiding was not without its costs, and the intricate plans could degenerate into mad, vicious battles with high casualties to both sides. Casualties notwithstanding, the success of the Canadians in winning control of no-man's-land, as well as recognition in the language of the trenches as "fire-eaters," further pressed their commanders to organize larger more innovative assaults. 

After a series of daring raids, the 4th Division planned a larger and riskier operation than anything carried out by its more experienced corps companions. It was to be launched against the heights of Vimy Ridge, a position which dominated Canadian lines and included the unmarked graves of thousands of Frenchmen from two previous failed but more formal assaults. As a result of the particularly strong position held by the Germans on top of the ridge, the planners decided that poison gas would be employed to suffocate the dug-in garrison. Components of four battalions would raid the enemy lines. This policy of raiding was not born in a vacuum, however, and there was a gradual evolution culminating in the massive chemical raid.

...After several months of trench raids gathering in scope and size, the 4th Division planned to launch the largest Canadian raid of the war to date. It was labeled "a reconnaissance in force," and the operation was to consist of 1,700 men from the 54th, 72nd, 73rd, and 75th Battalions.  Their objective was the highest point on Vimy Ridge, Hill 145 (where the Vimy Memorial now stands), a fortified series of interlocking machine gun nests, wire belts, and deep dugouts. The danger and complexities of attacking uphill where the Germans would have the advantages of their fixed defences as well as the heights, when combined with the difficulty of accurately laying down counterbattery fire on the enemy guns, resulted in the plan being conceived as a surprise attack. Because of the strong defensive position, it was necessary that poison gas smother the enemy before he realized what was occurring.

Stretcher Bearers Returning Wounded from the Raid

The concept was flawed from the start, and the division's staff officers planning the raid had little understanding of how chemical agents worked in battlefield realities. Ever since the British disaster at Loos in 1915, canister released gas clouds were seen as a fickle weapon, to be used only by specialists who were seen more as chemists than soldiers. There was simply very little understanding of this weapon by senior commanders, who hoped that any release of gas would emulate the first gassing at 2nd Ypres when two whole divisions were routed. Although gas was still a fearful weapon, better anti-gas discipline and respirators ensured that no such rout would occur again. 

Equally detrimental, the staff officers and commanders had neglected training their soldiers in any doctrine—or set of common, accepted instructions or guidelines—about how to work with this weapon. Yet, because of the formidable position of the Germans on Vimy, gas was needed for the very reason that other more conventional weapons could not guarantee success. Gas was not the weapon of choice, but of desperation. Ill-placed faith created delusions which outweighed all logical assumptions.

Moreover, the heights of Vimy were ill suited for a gas cloud release. Being heavier than air, poison gas sinks into low-lying trenches, dugouts, and shell holes. Gas was an useful weapon for ferreting the enemy out into the open, but it had to reach his lines first. For gas to move uphill would require a very strong breeze, and without it the gas would pollute the craters and depressions that pocketed the Vimy battlefield—the exact positions that the attackers would have to pass over to reach their destination. Without a forceful breeze the operation would be fiasco.

The 85th Battalion took part in carrying hundreds of gas canisters into the trenches in preparation for the gas attack; its regimental history notes that "fifteen tons of gas was to be sent over to strike terror into the black heart of the enemy. The first wave was to be of deadly poisonous gas that would kill every living thing in its path: while the second would corrode all metal substances and destroy guns of every description. When complete all our men would have to do would be to walk into the enemy trenches, throw out their dead bodies and take possession."

Such assumptions must have sounded fanciful to some of the veterans, but as this was the official line, and it accorded with the constant rumours that percolated at the front with regard to new, lethal gases being introduced, it is little wonder that the "poor bloody infantry" placed so much faith in their gas clearing the enemy trenches...

Read the full article here:

http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol8/iss2/2

The Unique Caudron R.XI Escort Fighter

Daylight bombing required the collaboration of the bombing aircraft with fighters for protection against German interceptors. In November 1916, specifications were drawn for a three-seat long-range escort fighter to accompany formations of medium bombers.  The aircraft was well armed with twin 7.7mm Lewis guns in the nose and rear fuselage, and there was an additional machine gun below the nose position to enable that gunner to fire downward. Later aircraft were equipped with dual controls so that if the pilot was wounded the R.XI could be flown by the observer. Three hundred and seventy R.XIs were built by Caudron and its subcontractors by the Armistice, with 54 making it into service. They were most effective when used in combination with more maneuverable SPAD fighters providing top cover and the R.XIs providing close-in escort.

Specifications

Production Model Caudron R.XI, Three-Seat, Long-Range Fighter

• Engine: Two 215-hp Hispano-Suiza
• Span: 17.92 m
• Length: 11.22 m
• Empty Weight: 1442 kg
• Loaded Weight: 2165 kg
• Ceiling: 5,950 m
• Range: 600 km
• Endurance: 3 hours
• Armament: Five 7.7 Lewis guns
• Maximum Speed:
   183 km/h at 2000 m
   164 km/h at 5000 m
• Rate of Climb:
   To 2000m — 8 min, 10 sec  

   To 5000m — 39 minutes

100 Years Ago: America's First Thanksgiving in the Great War

Over There:

The troops who had arrived made the best celebration they could. If it wasn't great food, apparently it was plentiful.  Here's the Thanksgiving Day meal for Company F of the 16th Engineers, Somewhere in France:

At the recently installed American Base Hospital #5 in   Boulogne, a full day's events were planned that got a little out of control.

The Mess Hall at Base Hospital #5 Set Up for Thanksgiving Dinner

Here on of the unit's histories records what happened that memorable day:

The first Thanksgiving in France was properly celebrated by all members of the unit. Turkey dinner with all the fixings was served in E hut. Food Controller "Pop" Steffens told everyone that "all youse need is a knife, fork and spoon, tres bon." After-dinner speeches were made by Sergeant Donovan, Butch Hall and others. When the festivities of the dinner hour were concluded an old-fashioned "horrible parade" was arranged for the entertainment of the patients. Later in the day the D.D.M.S. attempted to stop the parade in the downtown streets, because it attracted too much attention. The astonished medical director failed to account for such antics and inquired of Colonel Patterson over the telephone what sort of a holiday the men were celebrating.

Over Here:

As presidents do, Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation to the nation:

Thanksgiving Day, 1917

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

It has long been the honored custom of our people to turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His many blessings and mercies to us as a nation. That custom we can follow now even in the midst of the tragedy of a world shaken by war and immeasurable disaster, in the midst of sorrow and great peril, because even amidst the darkness that has gathered about us we can see the great blessings God has bestowed upon us, blessings that are better than mere peace of mind and prosperity of enterprise.

We have been given the opportunity to serve mankind as we once served ourselves in the great day of our Declaration of Independence, by taking up arms against a tyranny that threatened to master and debase men everywhere and joining with other free peoples in demanding for all the nations of the world what we then demanded and obtained for ourselves. In this day of the revelation of our duty not only to defend our own rights as nation but to defend also the rights of free men throughout the world, there has been vouchsafed us in full and inspiring measure the resolution and spirit of united action. We have been brought to one mind and purpose. A new vigor of common counsel and common action has been revealed in us. We should especially thank God that in such circumstances, in the midst of the greatest enterprise the spirits of men have ever entered upon, we have, if we but observe a reasonable and practicable economy, abundance with which to supply the needs of those associated with us as well as our own. A new light shines about us. The great duties of a new day awaken a new and greater national spirit in us. We shall never again be divided or wonder what stuff we are made of.

And while we render thanks for these things let us pray Almighty God that in all humbleness of spirit we may look always to Him for guidance; that we may be kept constant in the spirit and purpose of service; that by His grace our minds may be directed and our hands strengthened; and that in His good time liberty and security and peace and the comradeship of a common justice may be vouchsafed all the nations of the earth.

Wherefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday, the twenty-ninth day of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the people throughout the land to cease upon that day from their ordinary occupations and in their several homes and places of worship to render thanks to God, the great ruler of nations.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done in the District of Columbia this 7th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seventeen and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-second.

WOODROW WILSON

Eyewitness: A German Soldier Marches into Belgium, August 1914

From:  A German Deserter's War Experience

By B. W. Huebsch

A German Unit Marches from Its Barracks Upon Mobilization

At the end of July our garrison at Koblenz was feverishly agitated. Part of our men were seized by an indescribable enthusiasm, others became subject to a feeling of great depression. The declaration of war was in the air. I belonged to those who were depressed. For I was doing my second year of military service and was to leave the barracks in six weeks' time. Instead of the long wished-for return home, war was facing me.

Also during my military service I had remained the anti-militarist I had been before. I could not imagine what interest I could have in the mass murder, and I also pointed out to my comrades that under all circumstances war was the greatest misfortune that could happen to humanity.

Our sapper battalion, No. 30, had been in feverish activity five days before the mobilization; work was being pushed on day and night so that we were fully prepared for war already on the 23rd of July, and on the 30th of July there was no person in our barracks who doubted that war would break out.  Moreover, there was the suspicious amiability of the officers and sergeants, which excluded any doubt that any one might still have had. Officers who had never before replied to the salute of a private soldier now did so with the utmost attention. Cigars and beer were distributed in those days by the officers with great, uncommon liberality, so that it was not surprising that many soldiers were scarcely ever sober and did not realize the seriousness of the situation. But there were also others. There were soldiers who also in those times of good-humor and the grinning comradeship of officer and soldier could not forget that in military service they had often been degraded to the level of brutes, and who now thought with bitter feelings that an opportunity might perhaps be offered in order to settle accounts.

The order of mobilization became known on the 1st of August, and the following day was decided upon as the real day of mobilization. But without awaiting the arrival of the reserves we left our garrison town on August 1st. Who was to be our "enemy" we did not know; Russia was for the present the only country against which war had been declared.

We marched through the streets of the town to the station between crowds of people numbering many thousands. Flowers were thrown at us from every window; everybody wanted to shake hands with the

departing soldiers. All the people, even soldiers, were weeping. Many marched arm in arm with their wife or sweetheart. The music played songs of leave-taking. People cried and sang at the same time. Entire strangers, men and women, embraced and kissed each other; men embraced men and kissed each other. It was a real witches' Sabbath of emotion; like a wild torrent, that emotion carried away the whole assembled humanity. Nobody, not even the strongest and most determined spirit, could resist that ebullition of feeling. But all that was surpassed by the taking leave at the station, which we reached after a short march. Here final adieus had to be said, here the separation had to take place. I shall never forget that leave-taking, however old I may grow to be. Desperately many women clung to their men, some had to be removed by force. Just as if they had suddenly had a vision of the fate of their beloved ones, as if they were beholding the silent graves in foreign lands in which those poor nameless ones were to be buried, they sought to cling fast to their possession, to retain what already no longer belonged to them.

German Soldiers Departing for the Front on a More Comfortable Train
Than Described Below

Finally that, too, was over. We had entered a train that had been kept ready, and had made ourselves comfortable in our cattle-trucks. Darkness had come, and we had no light in our comfortable sixth- class carriages.  The train moved slowly down the Rhine, it went along without any great shaking, and some of us were seized by a worn-out feeling after those days of great excitement. Most of the soldiers lay with their heads on their knapsacks and slept. Others again tried to pierce the darkness as if attempting to look into the future; still others drew stealthily a photo out of their breastpocket, and only a very small number of us spent the time by debating our point of destination. Where are we going to? Well, where? Nobody knew it. At last, after long, infinitely long hours the train came to a stop. After a night of quiet, slow riding we were at--Aix-la-Chapelle! At Aix-la-Chapelle! What were we doing at Aix-la-Chapelle? We did not know, and the officers only shrugged their shoulders when we asked them.

After a short interval the journey proceeded, and on the evening of the 2nd of August we reached a farm in the neighborhood of the German and Belgian frontier, near Herbesthal. Here our company was quartered in a barn. Nobody knew what our business was at the Belgian frontier. In the afternoon of the 3rd of August reservists arrived, and our company was brought to its war strength. We had still no idea concerning the purpose of our being sent to the Belgian frontier, and that evening we lay down on our bed of straw with a forced tranquillity of mind. Something was sure to happen soon, to deliver us from that oppressive uncertainty. How few of us thought that for many it would be the last night to spend on German soil!

A subdued signal of alarm fetched us out of our "beds" at 3 o'clock in the morning. The company assembled, and the captain explained to us the war situation. He informed us that we had to keep ready to march, that he himself was not yet informed about the direction.  Scarcely half an hour later fifty large traction motors arrived and stopped in the road before our quarters. But the drivers of these

wagons, too, knew no particulars and had to wait for orders. The debate about our nearest goal was resumed. The orderlies, who had snapped up many remarks of the officers, ventured the opinion that we would march into Belgium the very same day; others contradicted them. None of us could know anything for certain. But the order to march did not arrive, and in the evening all of us could lie down again on our straw. But it was a short rest. At 1 o'clock in the morning an alarm aroused us again, and the captain honored us with an address. He told us we were at war with Belgium, that we should acquit ourselves as brave soldiers, earn iron crosses, and do honor to our German name. Then he continued somewhat as follows: "We are making war only against the armed forces, that is the Belgium army. The lives and property of civilians are under the protection of international treaties, international law, but you soldiers must not forget that it is your duty to defend your lives as long as possible for the protection of your Fatherland, and to sell them as dearly as possible. We want to prevent useless shedding of blood as far as the civilians are concerned, but I want to remind you that a too great considerateness borders on cowardice, and cowardice in face of the enemy is punished very severely."

After that "humane" speech by our captain we were "laden" into the automobiles, and crossed the Belgian frontier on the morning of August 5th. In order to give special solemnity to that "historical" moment we had to give three cheers.

Resting on the March in Belgium

At no other moments the fruits of military education have presented themselves more clearly before my mind. The soldier is told, "The Belgian is your enemy," and he has to believe it. The soldier, the workman in uniform, had not known till then who was his enemy. If they had told us, "The Hollander is your enemy," we would have believed that, too; we would have been compelled to believe it, and would have shot him by order. We, the "German citizens in uniform," must not have an opinion of our own, must have no thoughts of our own, for they give us our enemy and our friend according to requirements, according to the requirements of' their own interests. The Frenchman, the Belgian, the Italian, is your enemy. Never mind, shoot as we order, and do not bother your head about it. You have

duties to perform, perform them, and for the rest, cut it out!

Those were the thoughts that tormented my brain when crossing the Belgian frontier. And to console myself, and so as to justify before my own conscience the murderous trade that had been thrust upon me, I tried to persuade myself that though I had no Fatherland to defend, I had to defend a home and protect it from devastation. But it was a weak consolation, and did not even outlast the first few days.

A Whispered Name Reviewed by David F. Beer

A Whispered Name

by William Brodrick

Little, Brown, 2008

If you like mystery novels based on the First World War you'll find A Whispered Name both challenging and enjoyable. Willam Brodrick has written a handful of novels in the "Father Anselm Thriller" Series, and this one won the Crime Writers' Association's Golden Dagger Award in 2009. Also, the author was an Augustinian friar before leaving the order to become a lawyer and author, so it's not surprising that the settings for A Whispered Name are largely the modern monastery of an order of Gilbertines, the killing fields of the war around the time of Passchendaele, plus a remote island off the coast of Ireland.

When a woman and an old man come to see Brother Anselm while he's tending the monastery's beehives, they have questions about a deceased and greatly revered monk, Brother Herbert. Their questions set in motion a "hive" of suspicion, doubt, responsibility, guilt, and secrecy. These themes surround Brother Herbert, who had lived at the monastery for a great many years after having founded it with the help of another brother. Unknown to almost everybody, Herbert had been an officer in the Northumbrian Light Infantry during the war and had taken part in a desertion trial. The slow, gradual unraveling of events in Herbert's life at that time is painfully but meticulously carried out by Brother Anselm, who had nothing but love and respect for Herbert—who had himself greatly influenced Anselm's own vocation.

The plot and timeline for this novel is complex, as is the situation that gradually emerges. Flashbacks are plentiful and there are several names that need to be sorted out and remembered. (I made a list of the prominent ones inside the book's cover). Brother Anselm's quest for the truth leads him to various places such as the Public Records Office and old schools to research the past and to try, with the help of his Prior, to unravel a convoluted mystery involving confused identities, guilt, and much else. Aspects of memory, conscience, sacrifice, and redemption are never far from the central plot and provide a sort of spiritual cloud in which the main characters move. Anselm's dogged search into the past reflects in a strange way the response he received when, many, many years earlier as a layman, he had asked Brother Herbert what they did in a monastery: "We tend a fire that won't go out."

The author, William Brodrick, is an accomplished writer. You only have to read the opening paragraph of the novel to realize this. Also, Brodrick brings to his novels a background that is varied and widespread, from England, Ireland, Canada, and Australia. He spent six years as a friar in Dublin before leaving at the request of Cardinal Hume to set up a charity for homeless people. He then studied law, became a barrister (lawyer), and now lives in France with his wife and three children. He has written seven mysteries in the Father Anselm series. My aim now is to find time to read the rest of them.

David F. Beer

Ten Facts About the Forts of the First World War:

Forts played key roles in many of the most important battles of the Great War. 

1. At Liège, Belgian forts initially set the Schlieffen Plan behind schedule but also showed their vulnerability to modern siege artillery.

The Ring of Forts Guarding Liège in 1914

2. At Antwerp, Belgian forts bought time for King Albert to evacuate his army down the coast and join the other Allies.

3. Fort Troyon on the Meuse River prevented the Crown Prince's army from crossing and compromising General Joffre's position at the critical moment of the Battle of the Marne. 

4. Turkish forts at the Dardanelles were the initial obstacle to the naval assault.

Mecidiye Tabyalari, the Strongest and Most Modern Fort Guarding the Dardanelles in 1915

5. The first shots fired on the Italian Front were by the Italian fortress line in the Altopiani.

6. Przemyśl's network of forts proved to be the key to the Galician campaign of 1915.

Fort Geschichte at the Przemyśl Fortress Zone, Galicia

7. The role of the Verdun forts in the battle of 1916 is well known. 

8. In  July 1918, Fort Pompelle played a vital role in the defense of Reims. 

9. The design of forts were closely guarded secrets before and during the war. 

10. The success of forts for defensive purposes during the First World War, especially at Verdun, helped inspire the Maginot Line.