Were Propaganda Leaflets Effective in the War?

By Jared Tracy, U.S. Army

There was no significant operational precedent for leaflet drops before the First World War. For all belligerents, the practice of dropping printed messages was one of trial and error. Countries on both sides organized propaganda units to design and print leaflets, which were then dropped from balloons and airplanes or shot from artillery pieces in hollowed shells. If a letter written by Sergeant Morris Pigman (28th Division, American Expeditionary Force) provided any indication of the effectiveness of German leaflet operations, it is that they were largely negligible. He wrote, "I am sending to you a little sheet of German propaganda that has been dropped to our men on the front line by the Hun aeroplanes. They are trying to weaken the morale of our men. What a feeble appeal for us to give ourselves up to them. Our boys only laugh at it and gather them up for souvenirs. They come down every morning like rain and the ground is covered but no one bothers them." Using leaflets, Germany had even tried to convince the British that "England will sink to the position of a second-rate power" if the United States won the war. "America won't be satisfied with Germany's downfall," one leaflet stated, "but aims at controlling world commerce. World domination—that is what America is after."  Sowing rifts within the alliance was the only viable option for German psychological operations (PSYOP).  

An American Leaflet Distributed in 1918

The Aim of the Entente Powers and Growth of the
American Army in Europe to September 1918

In contrast, the United States conducted its PSYOP from a position of military advantage. For its own leaflet operations, the U.S. Army established the Psychological Warfare Subsection in the War Department and the Propaganda Section within the General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces. While accurate information concerning total leaflet output is unknown, some have estimated that by the end of the war, the United States and the Allies had disseminated some 50 million leaflets urging capitulation. 

Colonels Frank Goldstein and Daniel Jacobowitz postulated that in the final months of the war "surrenders occurred with a positive correlation to PSYOP activities." Indeed, dropping massive amounts of surrender leaflets also established an important precedent for future conflicts. Though the practice of aerial leaflet drops was in its infancy, many Allied and enemy observers noted its effectiveness after the war. German Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff both conceded later that Allied leaflets played "a major part in destroying the morale of their troops."

Source: Psywar.org

The Chinese Labour Corps Cemetery on the Western Front

Noyelles-Sur-Mer at the basin of the Somme River was the base depot of the Chinese Labour Corps in France, the site of their largest camp and of No.3 Labour (originally the Chinese) General Hospital.

Chinese Laborers at Mealtime

The Chinese Labour Corps was the outcome of an agreement made between the United Kingdom and Chinese governments on 30 December 1916 for the employment of Chinese labour in France. The men were recruited in north China, and the first contingent arrived in France in April 1917. By the end of 1917, 54,000 were in France and Belgium. At the Armistice, the Corps numbered nearly 96,000 and even in May 1919, 80,000 were still at work. Nearly 2,000 died during the war and when the cemeteries were constructed after the war was over, the headstones for these men were engraved in Chinese characters by a selected group of their comrades.

Appropriately, a Dragon Guards the Cemetery

There are now 841 First World War burials in the cemetery.

Sources: Commonwealth War Graves, Tony Langley Collection

100 Years Ago Today: Kitchener Arrives at Gallipoli

In October, with the campaign once again stalled, Hamilton was relieved of command. He was replaced by Sir Charles Monro, who immediately recommended that the Allies should evacuate. War Minister Horatio Kitchener needed to inspect the situation himself.

At about 1:40 p.m. on 13 November 1915 a small boat arrived at North Beach. From it stepped Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, commander-in-chief of the British Army. He had come to Anzac to see the positions there for himself. As he walked up the pier with other generals, he was recognized and men came running from all over towards the pier where they surrounded the great man. Charles Bean watched Kitchener walk up from the pier:

Kitchener Arrives at North Beach, Anzac Sector

The tall red cap [Kitchener] was rapidly closed in among them-but they kept a path and as the red cheeks turned and spoke to one man or another, they cheered him–they, the soldiers—no officers leading off or anything of that sort. It was a purely soldiers’ welcome. He said to them, ‘The King has asked me to tell you how splendidly he thinks you have done—you have done splendidly, better, even, than I thought you would.’

Kitchener spent just over two hours at Anzac surveying the Turkish line from Australian trenches inland of the Sphinx and at Lone Pine. Two days later, after a similar visit to Cape Helles and further consultation with senior commanders, he recommended to the British War Cabinet that Gallipoli–Anzac, Suvla and Helles–be evacuated. Without significant reinforcement and the bringing in of considerable artillery resources, little progress could, in his opinion, be made against the strengthening Turkish trenches. This was especially so at Anzac where a further surprise attack, such as had been conducted in August against Chunuk Bair and the hills around Suvla Bay, was virtually impossible. Moreover, local commanders were extremely worried about the problems of supplying Gallipoli throughout the winter with its many severe storms.

Kitchener Escorted by General Birdwood Visiting the Battlefield

Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay were evacuated in December 1915 and the Helles area was emptied of troops by 9 January 1916. Only a handful of lives were lost, an ironic end to a campaign which had cost the lives of almost 36,000 Commonwealth, 10,000 French, and around 86,000 Turks.

Sources:  Commonwealth War Graves and Gallipoli and the Anzacs Websites

The German Expressionists Go to War

The late Robert Hughes once said (I wish I could find the full and accurate quote) something akin to: "The German Expressionists went to war in 1914 and all came home nuts."  These five images from MoMA's collection, presented here with commentary from the museum's website seem to support that.  

When World War I broke out in August 1914 many Expressionists initially believed it could be the apocalyptic event that would at last overthrow the self-satisfied materialism of the nation’s monarchy and bourgeoisie. Many artists enlisted for active duty or were drafted; others avoided the front lines by volunteering for the medical corps. But the misery and destruction went on far longer than most had ever anticipated, destroying millions of lives and shattering the sense of vitality and optimism that originally gave birth to Expressionism.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
"Evening Patrol"
(1915)

Created shortly after his discharge following a nervous breakdown, "Evening Patrol" refers to the riding instruction Kirchner received in the military. The anxiety of his service is conveyed in the nervous energy of his gestural style. Kirchner suffered from medical and psychological problems for the rest of his life as a result of the war.

Erich Heckel
"Wounded Sailor"
1915

Heckel was stationed in Belgium with the Red Cross medical corps. This woodcut depicts one of the injured sailors in his care. Turning away from us, with eyes lowered in resignation, his head is placed against a white cruciform shape, as if to imply martyrdom.

Max Beckmann
"Morgue"
(1922, published 1924)

Beckmann served in the medical corps in Belgium but was discharged following a nervous breakdown in 1915. The memory of corpses laid out anonymously on tables still affected him seven years later, when he made this print.

Otto Dix
"Skin Graft (Transplantation)" from "The War" (Der Krieg)
(1924)

Appearing ten years after the conflict began, Otto Dix's monumental portfolio Der Krieg ("The War") neither glorifies World War I nor lionizes its soldiers but shows, in 50 unrelentingly graphic images, the horrible realities experienced by someone who was there. 

George Grosz
Explosion
1917

Grosz's image of a burning, shattered Berlin is an allegory of destruction created shortly after he was discharged from the German Army as "permanently unfit."

Source: MoMA Webpage, http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/ge/themes/war#

Remembering a Veteran: Bugler Wayne DeSilvey, 28th Pennsylvania Division, Wounded on the First Armistice Day

Of Course, It's Armistice Day, Too

For Veteran's Day, I thought it was fitting to remember someone who was fighting and was twice wounded just before the Armistice that ended the war, 97 years ago.

Bugler Wayne DeSilvey

Company I, 112th Infantry, 28th Division

112th Infantry on the March, Sometime Before the Armistice

His Diary Entry: Monday 11 November [The first Armistice Day]

From midnight until 11 o'clock absolutely the worst shell fire I have ever been under. Seemed as though every gun ever invented in the world was turned loose. Cap't. delayed in attacking until 10:40 when ordered by the Maj. to go over. Shells with gas. Gassed – insufficient to go to the Hqs. Rec'd 1st Aid. 

More men killed in these last 20 minutes than in any other day in the War. Returned to Co. again only to be wounded by a shell fragment near the end of the War. Laid on the field until after 1 o'clock before I was given aid. 

Guns ceased as quick as they started. Did not know what had happened. Germans came out of the woods and threw up their hands shouting in German, "Go back it is Not Good." 40 minutes later we learned why; they were busy blowing up mines of every description and everywhere between our lines. Did not or could not believe that the Armistice had been signed until we heard a band coming through the wood playing some good old American music. 

Grave Marker, Camp Hill, PA
DeSilvey Died an Early Death, It's Not Known If the Cause Was War Related

For Veteran's/Armistice Day Tomorrow

Don't let Veteran's/Armistice Day go without making a conscious, active effort to remember the fallen.

Here are five suggestions:

1. Wear a red poppy.

2. Pause for a minute, whatever you are doing, at the 11th hour and think of all of those in uniform, who are defending us and our freedom around the world .

3. Recite John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" with your family and friends.

4. View a classic World War I movie like All Quiet..., Sgt. York, or Dawn Patrol.

5. Visit you local veteran's cemetery and lay a wreath or a single flower on a random grave.

Share your ideas on our Comments feature.

British Art and the First World War 1914-1924 reviewed by Jane Mattisson Ekstam

British Art and the First World War 1914–1924

by James Fox

Cambridge University Press, 2015

British Art and the First World War 1914–1924 sheds new light on the role of art in a nation at war, demonstrating that the war forged a much closer relationship between the British people and their art not only during the war itself but also up to the 1920s. Fox shows that the war had an overwhelmingly positive effect on art because artists and their institutions increasingly operated within society as a whole and no longer in the self-contained sphere of the art world. As a result, art was brought into a more intimate relationship with national life than it had experienced before because it was used to raise morale and recruit, to inform as well as entertain, to remember and to console, and also to fight. Art reached out to the country, the country reached out to art, concludes Fox. Artworks were used by the British government, its press, and civic institutions. Art became an important means by which to come to terms with the unusual conditions of war.

John Nash, "Over the Top – 1st Artists' Rifles at Macoing" (IWM Collection)

Unlike previous art critics, who have focused on the experiences of young, male soldier-artists, the national propaganda campaign and the fate of modernism after 1914, Fox adopts a wider stance, incorporating amateur watercolor painters, popular illustrators, provincial engravers, academicians, and memorial sculptors, all of whom have been neglected but who were nonetheless much affected by the war. Fox also makes the point that it is these artists who became so popular with the British public.

Fox points out that art is produced by networks of individuals and organizations. These constitute "art worlds" that include collectors, dealers, curators, administrators, critics, scholars, and publishers. By relating the activities of museums, galleries, schools, and other institutions where art was produced to government policies and public discussions, Fox demonstrates how the war changed forever the social position and reputation of the art world.

Art fulfilled a number of functions. It enabled the British public to experience the war, but it also provided a means of escape. As a result, by the 1920s, British art and British society were more conscious of one another than they had been only ten years earlier. Art became indeed an important part of national reconstruction after 1918 as British artists advised on and designed memorials throughout the country. Artists also set up regional organizations to bring art closer to the people, making art more democratic and more accessible.

British Art and the First World War 1914–1924 is divided into six chapters: "The Outbreak of War and the Business of Art"; "Perceptions of Art"; "The Arts Mobilize"; "War Pictures: Truth, Fiction, Function"; "Peace Pictures: Escapism, Consolation, Catharsis"; and "Art and Society After the War". Each chapter is accompanied by detailed notes and references, many of which have not appeared in print before.

Order Now

Chapter Five is particularly innovative. The numerous black-and-white as well as color illustrations and black-and-white photographs demonstrate clearly Fox's central theme for the chapter — the new art that emerged after the war could not have been more different to the bellicose art of 1914–18 because its purpose was completely different, namely to "escape and overcome" (109) the hardships of war. The pastoral landscapes, mass-produced prints, private portrait commissions, and amateur sketches forged a new relation between the British public and their art and created "novel channels through which art-works could be disseminated and experienced. It deepened the psychological resonances of pictures for nearly all who interacted with them. And, at the very end of the conflict, it even suggested a model of how the community as a whole might recover from war" (110). A new mode of portraiture, for example, was devised that "wanted the most precise, sober and understated likenesses that money could buy" (121), helping families to come to terms with the loss of a loved one.

The bibliography to British Art and the First World War 1914–1924, covering 31 pages, bears testimony to the extraordinary depth and breadth of Fox's research. It also provides valuable references to documents rarely consulted. British Art and the First World War 1914–1924 is eloquent and highly readable. Its numerous illustrations are carefully chosen and beautifully reproduced. Fox's study is about art by the people for the people. He helps us to understand war art and to appreciate it for what it is — an integral part of society and of our heritage. This is a must read for historians and art critics alike.

Jane Mattisson Ekstam

How Many Drowned in Trenches?

Every account that looks at the life of the troops in the trenches mentions the danger of drowning in flooded trenches. There was a major flash flood disaster in the last stages of the Gallipoli campaign during which some sources state there were hundreds who drowned or froze to death. (See description below.) However, I never seen any authoritative statistics or analyses on the subject. I'd appreciate any readers who have seen such material posting the source on our comments section. Looking at the photos below, its quite credible to me that it's a very large number. The image from Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, is from after the flooding described.

On the Western Front

________________________

At Suvla Bay, Gallipoli

Shortly before the evacuation [from Gallipoli] a storm had swept over the Peninsula.  First it had rained for two days, the third day it snowed, and the next it froze.  A torrent of water had poured down the mountain side, flooding the trenches, and carrying with it blankest, equipment, rifles, portion of the parapet, and the dead bodies of men who had been drowned while they were sleeping.

Text from Trenching at Gallipoli  by John Gallishaw, image from the Canadian, Newfoundland & Labrador Heritage Site.

Mustafa Kemal at the Decisive Moment

After a fumbled opening to the landings at Suvla Bay and the Turks' strong resistance to the push from Anzac, things were looking more promising for the Allies. New Zealand troops had finally reached the peaks of strategic Chunuk Bair. A big push in support was starting to move out from Suvla Bay. With the situation desperate, the German commander of the Turkish forces sent his best man to the scene. Robert Rhodes described what happened then:

To take charge at Chunuk Bair, the Turkish high command now dispatched Colonel Mustafa Kemal, a senior officer who led from the front. On 9 August, Kemal routed the British as they advanced across the Suvla plain. In the evening he rode up to Chunuk Bair where the Turks were faltering under the British naval bombardment and the strong stand of the New Zealanders. Convinced that the time had come for an all-out counter-attack, Kemal ordered his men forward at dawn on 10 August in a bayonet charge. [Meanwhile] the New Zealanders finally left Chunuk Bair. In their place stood soldiers of the British 6^th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and the 5^th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment.

Mustafa Kemal at Gallipoli

As planned, Kemal ordered his men forward at dawn on 10 August in a bayonet charge. He later recounted his actions that morning:

The blanket of night had lifted. Now was the hour for the attack. I looked at my watch. It was nearly 4.30 am. After a few minutes it would become quite light and the enemy would be able to see our troops. Should the enemy infantry open fire with his machine guns and should the land and naval guns open fire on our troops in our close packed formation I didn't doubt the impossibility of the attack .... I greeted the men and addressed them:

"Soldiers! There is no doubt that we can defeat the enemy opposing us. But don't you hurry, let me go in front first. When you see the wave of my whip all of you rush forward together!"

Then I went to a point forward of the assault line, and, raising my whip, gave the signal for the assault. 

Side-by-Side Atop Chunuk Bair Stand Monuments to
Mustafa Kemal and the New Zealanders Who Had Captured the Peak

The Turks rushed forward and swept the British from the heights of Chunuk Bair and had regained Chunuk Bair and no British Empire soldier ever again beheld the Dardanelles from that peak.

Sources: Robert James, Gallipoli and the Anzacsite.gov.au Website

The Daily Telegraph Affair

The recent entry on the Kaiser reminded me that we had done a related article on the anniversary of the Kaiser and the Daily Telegraph Affair years ago. Here it is:

A notable event in the run-up to the Great War occurred in 1908. An October interview of Kaiser Wilhelm II published in Britain's Daily Telegraph  polarized the sentiments of the British public against Germany at a pivotal time when the German naval buildup already had the island nation worried. This was not the result the Kaiser had in mind. He intended the interview as yet another olive branch offering to Britain, but it turned out to be entirely counterproductive.

Among the Kaiser's talking points:

*  The German people, in general, do not care for the British, who are "mad as March hares," but HE was a friend, nevertheless.

* Clarify his ALLEGED  role in raising opposition against the British during the Boer War.

* The German naval buildup would continue, but WAS NOT aimed at the Royal Navy.

Some Excerpts:

"You English," he said, "are mad, mad, mad as March hares. What has come over you that you are so completely given over to suspicions quite unworthy of a great nation? Falsehood and prevarication are alien to my nature. My actions ought to speak for themselves, but you listen not to them but to those who misinterpret and distort them. . .I repeat that I am a friend of England, but you make things difficult for me. My task is not of the easiest. The prevailing sentiment among large sections of the middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to England. I am, therefore, so to speak, in a minority in my own land.

"Again, when the [Boer] struggle was at its height, the German government was invited by the governments of France and Russia to join with them in calling upon England to put an end to the war. The moment had come, they said, not only to save the Boer Republics, but also to humiliate England to the dust. What was my reply? I said that so far from Germany joining in any concerted European action to put pressure upon England and bring about her downfall, Germany would always keep aloof from politics that could bring her into complications with a sea power like England.

"''But,' you will say, 'what of the German navy? Surely, that is a menace to England! Against whom but England are my squadrons being prepared?' . . My answer is clear. Germany is a young and growing empire. She has a worldwide commerce which is rapidly expanding and to which the legitimate ambition of patriotic Germans refuses to assign any bounds.

(Adapted from an article by the late Michael Iavarone); photo from Tony Langley

Recommended: World War I and Modern Liberalism

Found in the online magazine City Journal, 22 November 2009 issue.

The editor does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these "Recommended" articles but does believe that they are thought provoking and worthy of our readers' attention.

1919: Betrayal and the Birth of Modern Liberalism
by Fred Siegel

President Wilson at a Preparedness Day Parade

Disillusionment with Woodrow Wilson changed the American Left forever.

Today’s state-oriented liberalism, we are often told, was the inevitable extension of the pre–World War I tradition of progressivism. The progressives, led by President Woodrow Wilson, placed their faith in reason and the better nature of the American people. Expanded government would serve as an engine of popular goodwill to soften the harsh rigors of industrial capitalism. Describing the condition of his fellow intellectuals prior to World War I, Lewis Mumford exclaimed that “there was scarcely one who did not assume that mankind either was permanently good or might sooner or later reach such a state of universal beatitude.” After the unfortunate Republican interregnum of the 1920s, so the story goes, this progressivism, faced with the Great Depression, matured into the full-blown liberalism of the New Deal.

But a central strand of modern liberalism was born of a sense of betrayal, of a rejection of progressivism, of a shift in sensibility so profound that it still resonates today. More precisely, the cultural tone of modern liberalism was, in significant measure, set by a political love affair gone wrong between Wilson and a liberal Left unable to grapple with the realities of Prussian power. Initially embraced by many leftists as a thaumaturgical leader of near-messianic promise, Wilson came to be seen—in the wake of a cataclysmic war, a failed peace, repression at home, revolution abroad, and a country wracked by a “Red Scare”—as a Judas. His numinous rhetoric, it was concluded, was mere mummery.

One strand of progressives grew contemptuous not only of Wilson but also of American society. For the once-ardent progressive Frederick Howe, formerly Wilson’s commissioner of immigration, the prewar promise of a benign state built on reasoned reform had turned to ashes. “I hated,” he wrote, “the new state that had arisen” from the war. “I hated its brutalities, its ignorance, its unpatriotic patriotism, that made profit from our sacrifices and used it to suppress criticism of its acts...I wanted to protest against the destruction of my government, my democracy, my America.”

Making a decisive break with Wilson and their optimism about America, the disenchanted progressives renamed themselves “liberals.” The progressives had been inspired by a faith in democratic reforms as a salve for the wounds of both industrial civilization and power politics; the new liberals saw the American democratic ethos as a danger to freedom both at home and abroad. . .

Read the full article here:

http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon1122fs.html

Remembering a Veteran: Captain Vernon W. Castle, RFC

Contributed by James Patton

Vernon and Irene Castle

Vernon Castle was born Vernon W. Blythe in 1887 in Norwich, England, part of a theatrical family. As a youngster he performed in music halls; he could sing, play the piano, dance, conjure, and joke. He briefly studied electrical engineering but left for New York in 1906, where he was an immediate hit in vaudeville. He changed his name because his sister was a successful actress. He often played the "second banana" in comedies and, tall (for his era) and rail thin, he was a smooth dancer. In June 1910 Vernon was teamed up with dancer Irene Foote, the 17-year-old daughter of a Long Island physician. In just a few years they became pop superstars as the inventors of modern-style ballroom dancing. The secret to their success was that their new dances were socially "modest" and yet worked with the popular syncopated rhythms. They were young, rich, and famous, and they authored books, starred on Broadway and in silent movies, and sold their names and faces to everything from record players to shoes to cigars.

In 1915 Vernon took flying lessons in Virginia and left for Europe in January 1916, walking away from a hit Broadway show. Strings were pulled and he was commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) on 4 March. Soon he joined No. 1 Squadron, an observation unit based at Bailleul in the Ypres salient. His celebrity was quickly noticed. From his letters: 

"The officers here have been making me teach them the Fox-Trot, etc., and now every evening they have dances and dance with one another. At any other time it would seem terrible to see two men dancing together, but when you know that every one of them is a real man and faces death pretty nearly every day, it doesn't seem at all out of place that they should dance, and they welcome me as a Godsend."

Much of his service was on photographic, bombing, or gun-spotting missions, flying a Nieuport 12. Again from his letters: 

Royal Flying Corps Badge
(from author's collection)

I had to get up at 3.30 so that I could fly and drop some bombs on a railroad before it got too light. It wasn't a very nice morning, but I went up, and then it came over very cloudy, and I got lost in the clouds. I couldn't see a speck of ground, so after flying a bit I shut off the engine and dived down, but on coming out through the clouds I was immediately shelled. Having no idea where I was except that I was not over a friendly country, I climbed back into the clouds again. I decided that I had been flying for about twenty-five minutes, so I pointed my machine due west and flew for about thirty-five minutes. When I came down again, by a great stroke of luck, I was almost over our own aerodrome. I landed, but not without a great deal of fear, because I still had under the machine the bombs that I was supposed to drop on the rail road.   I enclose a sketch showing you the position of the bombs, and as they are exploded by contact, you will see that it was no fun landing with them. 

More from his letters:

It was a terribly cold day, and I was detailed to go up on a patrol. I had just got into my machine and started up the engine when I suddenly realized I hadn't my little prayer around my neck. Of course I am far too superstitious to go up without it, so I stopped my engine, got out of the machine, and went to my hut where I found it. I was too bundled up and had no time to undress, so I tied it round my wrist. Well, I got up in the air about 10,000 feet when I suddenly spotted four Huns. Then I was glad I had gone back for my prayer, because I thought to myself: 'Here's where I get it.' I beetled off after the Huns, who were well over our side of the lines and only a few miles from the aerodrome. I gradually caught them up, and when they saw me the two behind turned on me, and as they were higher, they started to dive at me, one from the front and the other from the back… 

Capt. Castle & Jeffrey
in front of a Curtiss JN-4

My observer opened fire at the one diving at the back and apparently frightened him away or wounded him, because he beat it. The Hun in front of me had me cold, really, because I couldn't tilt my machine up enough to get range on him, but I fired my gun anyway, and he like a fool turned off, which gave me the opportunity I wanted, which was to get under his tail. Now we were like this:   He was going for all he was worth for Hun land, I after him, both blazing away. Presently he stopped firing, and I guess I must have either hit the observer, or his gun just jammed. Then the Hun pilot tried to turn and shake me off his tail, but he couldn't, and every time I could get the light on him I blazed away. By this time we were across the lines on his side, and the Hun Archies were firing at me, but I was so darned excited both blazing away that I didn't notice anything. Well, we kept on for some time when suddenly his machine tipped over sideways and downward, and then started spinning like a top. I knew I had hit him. He fell right through some clouds, and I lost sight of him forever. "When I came home I reported it, but of course as I didn't actually see him hit the ground, I couldn't very well claim him as a certainty; but while I was at lunch one of our pilots who was working with the artillery in that vicinity said he saw the machine come through the clouds and crash into the ground. So after it was verified I got full credit for it. It was very exciting because all the chaps on the aerodrome could see the fight. I don't like killing things, as you know, but I certainly saw red that time. Gee, I was excited.

In all, Castle logged over 300 hours in combat in over 150 sorties, was credited with two German planes downed and was shot down twice by AA fire. He was injured twice and received a Croix de Guerre. 

After his second crash in March 1917 he was assigned to instructor status in Canada. When he left No. 1 Squadron after about nine months, there was only one pilot with longer service. 

Following the U.S. declaration of war, the RFC agreed to train U.S. Army pilots in Canada, and in return, the U.S. Army agreed to construct three fields near Ft. Worth, Texas, for joint use. 

The fields became known as the "Flying Triangle" and were named Taliaferro, Barron, and Carruthers. The RFC arrived in November 1917, bringing with them 254 Canadian-built Curtiss JN-4s and instructor Captain Vernon Castle. Barron and Carruthers were used by the RFC, while Taliaferro was U.S. Army except for the RFC School of Aerial Gunnery. 

On 15 February 1918, a JN-4 carrying Castle and a student was landing at Carruthers when another cadet-piloted plane took off in front of them. Castle attempted an Immelmann turn, but the plane stalled and crashed nose-first. Castle was in the front seat and was killed. The student and Castle’s pet monkey, Jeffrey, were slightly injured. This was Castle’s second crash as an instructor; his first was in Canada, where the student was killed. It is said that Carruthers Field had the most fatal crashes of any training field in the U.S. during WWI. 

Irene’s mother also wrote a tribute to Vernon:

Tulips and lilies on a sunny slope
Hide now the spot where your dear form is laid, since Easter Day. 
Encased in stone, protected from the horrors of the earth, 
And wrapped in the great glory of your flag. 
My selfish heart protests against "God's way.

 Dear Heart! I should not grudge to you this sudden rest, 
For you are honored more than any king; 
And all the world proclaims you Hero now. 
While your brave spirit inspires fighting men 
To give their all — as you gave everything. 
What joy there must have been in that great space 
That we call Heaven — to see you come 
On glorious wings of Duty and great love; 
Taking your place among the countless dead 
Who hover o'er this sad and blood-stained earth, 
Beseeching us to lift our eyes above. 
I was your mother only in the law; 
But I adored you always; and could feel
Each ray of happiness that lit your mobile face 
Reflected in my heart; as did each creeping shadow 
Leave on me its trace. 

How proud I was you chose my family tree for yours; 
For I could read your heart, and tell 
That all your manly traits were gentle-born 
And all your faults were those of over-tenderness to every living thing. 
How few could walk the path of fame so well! 
This bed of blossoms thru' my tear-dimmed eyes 
Spreads out and up to the horizon's rim. 
And when I cross it — who can tell how soon? 
I'll look for you among my beloved dead; 
Sure of the outstretched arm and tender smile 
you always gave to me — your "Mother Dear."

Castle was buried under a small Doric-style temple in historic Woodlawn Cemetery (left), near Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Irene posed for a nude, life-size bronze of herself kneeling in mourning, sculpted by Sally James Farnham, which is atop Vernon's tombstone. A marker (right) was also erected at the Texas site of Castle’s death in 1919 and replaced by the current monument in 1966, a concrete pylon topped by a small sculpture of a metal biplane by local resident David Crutchfield. The monument is incongruous in this mid-20th-century housing development and is dwarfed by a large water tank almost directly behind it. Another local resident named Ruth Finley penned an ode in 1918 which is quoted on the monument. The first stanza reads: 

He danced and gave his dearest gift; 
That little children yet unborn; 
May dance with gay, unshackled feet; 
To tunes not piped by Battle's horn.

Who Was Talaat Pasha?

Talaat Pasha (Mehmed Talaat, 1874–1921) was one of the great monsters of the First World War. He was one of the earliest leaders of the Young Turk movement, spending time in prison for subversive activities. After the revolution of 1908 he was elected as a deputy to Parliament and subsequently held progressively important ministerial posts. With Jemel Pasha and Enver Pasha he eventually formed the triumvirate that would bring Turkey into the war and lead it to defeat.  

Talaat's Program in Action

Talaat gave up his hopes to form an alliance with Russia and, after delaying as long as possible, turned to the Germans and worked with  Enver to enter the war on their side. During the war, as Minister of the Interior, he ordered and served as the principal driving force behind the deportation of the Armenian Christians, which was a barely disguised, well planned genocidal extermination program. At war's end he was Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) and after the surrender, like Enver and Jemal, fled the country. Three years later, he was assassinated by an Armenian in Germany.

The First World War reviewed by Jim Gallen

The First World War

by John Keegan

Vintage, first published in 1998

The Great War Centennial is spawning a plethora of books focusing on one or another aspect of the war, but sometimes readers want the whole scene in a good one-volume work. John Keegan's reputation suggests that his The First World War would fit that bill, and it does not disappoint. Keegan has crafted a thorough exposition of all fronts: Eastern, Western, Gallipoli, colonial, maritime, and aerial. Each facet is examined in its military, political, and personal components. Out of necessity he moves quickly so as to cover everything without becoming bogged down in details.

Mobilization in Paris, August 1914

Keegan begins by setting the war in perspective as Europe's tragic and unnecessary conflict. Unnecessary because it could have been stopped by a voice of reason and good will in the five weeks leading up to the commencement of hostilities. If Germany had stayed out of the buildup the assassination of Grand Duke Franz Ferdinand might have just sparked another Balkan War, this one between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. It was tragic due to the lives lost to war and pestilence but more so for the undermining of civilization and culture. The dead and wounded, as numerous as they were, were fewer than in the next war and physical damage was restricted to fairly small geographical areas. Often families were reunited intact, population was restored by natural increase and most lands remained as verdant and productive as before.

However, confidence in constitutionalism, the rule of law and representative government, was shaken with disastrous consequences for the following century. The moral initiatives of Christendom that had ended slavery and begun to protect the rights of labor were weakened. The businesses and railroads that united the continent were derailed. The Ottoman massacre of Armenians provided a precedent against which subsequent atrocities could be justified. Germany was left defeated and vengeful with Corporal Hitler in its midst while Russia was covered by a glacier of repression.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of this book is the way it deftly leads the reader from battlefield to battlefield, switches fronts, takes to the seas and air while always weaving the narrative into the overall story of the war. Keegan helps us comprehend how the war of movement morphed into life in trenches and then explains that life in words that paint pictures in the mind's eye. His description of the use of gas enables its nature and effects to emerge from the fog of a war that seemed so unearthly.

This tome helps pull disparate facts together. I had heard of the Schlieffen Plan, but Keegan tells how it was changed by Moltke, was not executed properly and, therefore, failed to bring the swift victory against France on which its success hinged. Battles that were just places to me — Ypres, Tannenberg, Verdun, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, St. Mihiel, all became pieces in the great puzzle of the Great War. Mere names: Joffre and Pétain, French and Haig. Ludendorff and Hindenburg became people. By the time I reached the end I had a much greater understanding of the Great War as a whole, its origins, its flow, and its conclusion.

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I picked up a few facts of which I was unaware — that Emperor Franz Joseph was initially against the war, that French generals had ordered the Eiffel Tower to be prepared for demolition in the event of imminent capture, that a sickening enthusiasm initially existed in the armies, and that the Marines were the most professional part of the Doughboy forces (but any Marine would have told me that).

The First World War was first published in 1998. With years of additional study, archives opened, letters found, and the last veterans feted and interviewed, why should we still value a book of this vintage? Each era interprets history in its own lights. As our world view changes so too does the way we appreciate the past. Trying to understand an historical event the magnitude of the Great War solely through contemporary works is like gazing at the sun only at noon and thinking that you have seen the whole day. Any serious student of the First World War must explore it through the eyes of the many people who have looked back on it. Thus Keegan's The First World War has a crucial part in any Great War study.

Jim Gallen

Evaluating Allenby

Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby

"He has been everywhere and is the most energetic commander I have yet come across…He is just the kind of man we wanted here."

Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Chauvel describing Allenby’s impact in Palestine.

Claim to fame: Led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force to victory in Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918. He successfully pioneered the combined use of infantry, cavalry, and aeroplanes at the Battle of Megiddo.

Nickname: "The Bull"

Allenby (1861–1936) was commissioned into the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons in 1881, serving in South Africa before returning to Britain to attend Staff College. By 1898 he was a brigade-major with the 3rd Cavalry Brigade. During the Boer War (1899–1902) he served with General French’s Cavalry Division, earning himself a reputation as a bold and resourceful commander, particularly during the anti-guerrilla operations.

Allenby returned home in 1902 to command the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. Promoted to brigadier-general, Allenby assumed command of the 4th Cavalry Brigade in 1905. In 1909 he was promoted to major-general and appointed Inspector-General of Cavalry. During this period he encouraged a re-assessment of the cavalry’s role in modern warfare, steering a path between the traditionalists and those who favored the use of mounted infantry.

During World War One Allenby commanded the British Expeditionary Force’s Cavalry Division, winning praise for his leadership during the retreat from Mons (1914). He later commanded the Cavalry Corps and in 1915 led the 5th Corps during the 2nd Battle of Ypres (April–May 1915). In October 1915 he took charge of the 3rd Army. Like many other generals, Allenby struggled to come to terms with the new technological warfare. At Arras (April–May 1917), his forces failed to exploit a breakthrough and he was replaced by General Byng, although his removal and transfer owed much to his feud with Field Marshal Haig, whose judgements he had ceased to trust.

Allenby's Most Memorable Moment —
Entering Jerusalem at the Jaffa Gate, 11 December 1917

Allenby took command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) in June 1917 and set about improving its organization, efficiency, and discipline. He also embarked on morale-boosting visits to the front, something his predecessor had neglected. Allenby also encouraged irregular warfare, increasing support for Colonel T. E. Lawrence’s revolt. These changes revitalized the campaign. Victory during the 3rd Battle of Gaza (October–November 1917) was followed by the capture of Jerusalem (December 1917), an event that made him a national hero. The need to reinforce the Western Front during the German Spring Offensive meant that Allenby lacked the troops necessary to push on, but in August 1918 enough men had arrived to resume the offensive. Victory at Megiddo (September 1918) secured the decisive breakthrough and the EEF quickly advanced, taking Damascus and Aleppo, before the Turks sued for peace in October 1918.

Made a field marshal in 1919, he remained in the Middle East as High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan until 1925. Allenby was often abrupt with his subordinates and a stickler for presentation and discipline, traits that combined with his physical stature led people to nickname him "The Bull." Nevertheless, he can be regarded as one of the most successful commanders of the war, using strategies in Palestine that he developed from his experiences in South Africa and on the Western Front. His leadership at Megiddo in particular, with its skillful series of maneuvers and use of aeroplanes, artillery, infantry, and cavalry, is considered by many to be a forerunner of the German Blitzkrieg tactics of 1939–40.

Sources:  National Army Museum, London, and Tony Langley's Collection

Was Douglas Haig Promoted Because He Was Well Connected?

King George V and Sir Douglas Haig Sometime After the Battle of the Somme

Not according to Haig biographer, Gary Sheffield, who has stated:

Haig was a thoughtful, hard-working and professional soldier, though by 1899, after 14 years in the army, he had only achieved the rank of captain. But thanks to an outstanding performance in the Boer War, Haig moved up the army hierarchy where he excelled in a number of demanding posts. [Editor's note 2.] He impressed Richard Haldane, the great reforming war minister, who would have seen through a well-connected duffer. [Editor's note 2.] Haig's reputation was enhanced on the battlefield in 1914–15, meaning he was the obvious candidate to take command on the Western Front when Sir John French's credit was exhausted. Like many officers, Haig had connections with the British royal family including King George V, but this was a minor factor in his rise.

Source:  BBC

Note 1.  In South Africa, Haig became chief of staff to General French, who would later command the British Expeditionary Force, and whom he would replace in 1915..

Note 2. Haldane's statement about Haig's abilities was quite specific: "Haig had a first-rate General Staff mind." It raises the question whether his estimation included Haig's ability for supreme command. 

Did the U.S. Have Food Rationing in World War I?

During World War I, a voluntary policy of food conservation was devised by the United States Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover. Food was necessary not only to feed America’s growing army, but to help relieve famine in Europe, in part to prevent the overthrow of European governments and the spread of communism. Hoover wrote: “Of course, the prime objective of the United States in undertaking the fight against famine in Europe is to save the lives of starving people. 

“Food Will Win the War” was Hoover’s slogan. This was the moment when Hoover became a household name in America: To “Hooverize” entered the vocabulary as a synonym for economize. Rationing of foods such as sugar, meat, and flour were suggested, not mandated. "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays" were recommended. Americans were also encouraged to grow their own food and eat less to ensure a steady food supply.

Sources: The Gale Group Virtual Library, Hoover Institution 

The Face of France

A great brow, almost graceful in design, an expression at once profound and child-like, a dimpled chin, a proud mustache, a bitter gaiety about the mouth I shall recollect you, face of France, even though it is only for the single second that I saw you, in the flare of a match.

The train that went from Chalons to Sainte Menehould, that autumn night, was on the way up again, with all lights extinguished. It was in 1916. The face of Champagne, calm just then, was sleeping at our left, the sleep of the craters, a sleep full of nightmares, sudden starts, and flashes of lightning. We cut through the darkness, making our way slowly through a wretched country which we could see was disfigured with the hideous raiment of war. The little train hobbled along,panting, slightly hesitant, like a blind man that knows his way.

I was coming back from a furlough. I was feeling ill and had stretched myself out on a bench. In front of me three officers were talking. Their voices were those of young men; their military experience was that of veterans. They were on their way to rejoin their regiment.

"That sector,"said one of them, "is calm just now." 

"That's certain," said another. "We shan't have any trouble there until spring."

A sort of silence followed, torn by the clatter of the rails under the wheels. Presently a keen, youthful, laughing voice said, quite low:

"Oh! They'll be sure to get us into some sort of tomfoolery before spring."

Then, without transition, the man who had just spoken added:

"This will be the twelfth time that I've gone into action. But I'm always in luck: I have never been wounded but once."

These two phrases have remained in my ears ever since, because the man who uttered them struck a match and began to smoke. The flare gave me a fleeting glimpse of a charming face.

The man belonged to a famous corps. The insignia of the highest honors that can be granted to young officers glittered on his light-brown jacket. His whole presence radiated a sane and tranquil courage.

Still the Face of France
Two Participants in the 2015 Battle of the Marne Reenactment

The night again took possession of the compartment.  But will there ever be a night black enough to rob me of the image glimpsed in that flash of light? Will there ever be a silence heavy enough to stifle the echo of those two little phrases murmured amid the humming of the train?

I have often thought of them since, whenever, as on this evening, filled with anguish and love, I have turned my mind, now to the past, now to the future of these Frenchmen, my brothers, who in such great numbers have accepted death without forgoing the expression of what their hearts contain, those Frenchmen of whose grandeur of soul, indomitable intelligence, and touching naiveté the world knows too little.

Could I help thinking of this now, at the consummation of the martyrdom of a wonderful people which in the midst of a night that has no shore seeks for nothing but the boon of order and self-preservation?

Introduction from Civilization, 1914–1917 by Georges Duhamel

Observing the Kaiser

In this prewar photo that perfectly captures the Kaiser's militaristic enthusiasms, he is inspecting a Guards detachment, probably at Potsdam. As Wilhelm marches past, each of the soldier's heads snaps forward from the "eyes-right" position. Like their British equivalents, the "Old Contemptibles," most of these men were probably killed or wounded in the coming war. 

In November 1908 British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey  captured this same disposition of Germany's ruler and foresaw its consequences:

[The Kaiser] is like a battleship with steam up and screws going, but with no rudder, and he will run into something some day and cause a catastrophe. He has the strongest army in the world and the Germans don't like being laughed at and are looking for somebody on whom to vent their temper and use their strength...Now it is 38 years since Germany had her last war, and she is very strong and very restless, like a person whose boots are too small for him. I don't think there will be war at present, but it will be difficult to keep the peace of Europe for another five years.

In May 1910 Theodore Roosevelt was America's representative at the funeral of Edward VII in London. This brought him into personal contact with almost all the monarchs of Europe including the Kaiser and Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He later reported:

Not only all the kings I had met, but the two or three I had not previously met, were more than courteous, and the Kaiser made a point of showing his intimacy with me and of discriminating in my favor over all his fellow sovereigns. The only man among the royalties who obviously did not like me was the Archduke Ferdinand, who is an ultra-montane, and at bottom a furious reactionary in every way, political and ecclesiastical both.  

Later at a reception for the kings and various ambassadors he encountered Wilhelm at his rudest.

Well, the Czar and the Archduke came to London on the same express train. The Czar’s private carriage was already on it, and the archduke had his put on at Vienna. Each wished to have his carriage ahead of the other, but the archduke triumphed and had his placed nearest the engine, the czar’s carriage coming next, and then the dining car. The archduke was much pleased at his success, and rode next the engine in purple splendor; and all went well until dinner time, when he sent word to the czar saying that he should like to walk through his carriage to the dining saloon, and the czar sent back word that he could not! Accordingly, breathing stertorously [sic], he had to wait until a station came, get out and get into the dining saloon, and after eating his dinner wait until another station was reached, get out again, and pop back into his own carriage. This struck all his brother royalties as a most serious matter, and the German Emperor had heatedly sided with the Austrians. Accordingly, while I was talking to the Czar, the Emperor suddenly walked up to us, thrust himself in ahead of the Czar, turned his back square to him and said to me: ‘Roosevelt, my friend, I want to introduce you to the King of Spain'; (then with a sudden ferocious glance over his shoulder at the Czar) ‘he is worthwhile talking to!’”

Afterward, Roosevelt continued on to Berlin as part of the lecture series he had begun when Edward VII had died. The Kaiser not only attended his lecture but invited the president to attend military maneuvers. Roosevelt was greatly impressed by the Kaiser's zest for things military. He later explained why he had strongly encouraged America's preparedness effort after war broke out in 1914.

At the invitation of Kaiser Wilhelm, I attended the spring maneuvers of the German Army. If you had heard and seen what I saw you would feel just as I do. 

Ten Interesting Quotes from President Wilson's War Message

Some notes from a line-by-line reading of President Wilson's speech of 2 April 1917. The full message can be found here.

A Dramatic Moment in American History

1. The Best-Known Quote

The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.

2. Reasons for America Entering the War

a. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.

b. For a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. .  Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion. . .  Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth insure the observance of those principles.

Note:  I don't about you readers, but to the editor this second abstract (foggier) argument detracts from the first concrete point. It's also interesting that the second line of reasoning permeates the entire speech, while the specifics of Germany's infractions are much briefer.

3.  Already Thinking About the League of Nations

A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and render account to no one would be a corruption seated at its very heart. Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own.

Note: A century later, this sounds like Wilson already had his heart set  on  his solution to all the world's troubles.

4.  You Just Can't Trust Those Prussians

One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities and even our offices of government with spies and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. . . But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last that that Government entertains no real friendship for us and means to act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence.

5.  Topical Mention of Hospital Ships

Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle.

Note: I was surprised by this mention. I didn't think the Germans would be foolish enough to sink a hospital ship while the U.S. was considering entering the war. However, HMHS Gloucester was sunk on 30 March 1917 by U-32.

6.  A Soft Sell on the Military Effort That Will Be Needed

It will involve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects but particularly in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enemy’s submarines. It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United States already provided for by law in case of war at least five hundred thousand men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle of universal liability to service, and also the authorization of subsequent additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and can be handled in training.

Note:  Eventually 4.7 million men served in the armed forces in WWI.

7.  Russia Was Always Democratic???

Russia was known by those who knew it best to have been always in fact democratic at heart, in all the vital habits of her thought, in all the intimate relationships of her people that spoke their natural instinct, their habitual attitude towards life.

8.  Austria-Hungary Temporarily Off the Hook

The Austro-Hungarian Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified endorsement and acceptance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare adopted now without disguise by the Imperial German Government, and it has therefore not been possible for this Government to receive Count Tarnowski, the Ambassador recently accredited to this Government by the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary; but that Government has not actually engaged in warfare against citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with the authorities at Vienna.

Note: The United States Senate, in a 74 to 0 vote, declared war on Austria-Hungary on 7 December 1917, citing Austria-Hungary's severing of diplomatic relations with the United States, its use of unrestricted submarine warfare and its alliance with Germany. The declaration passed in the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 365 to 1.

Wilson and the Peace Commissioners in Paris, 1919

9.  A Warning to the Citizenry

If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with a firm hand of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and malignant few.

10. Concludes with a Tip of the Hat to Martin Luther

God helping her [America], she can do no other.

Note: From Luther's quote: “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. . . I can do no other.”