It Must Have Seemed Like the Nadir of Trench Warfare

1915: Burying the Dead

A little over a year into the war the Allies, whose strategic thinking was firmly guided by Joffre, attempted a d double offensive against the German salient into France, north and east of Paris, in an effort to "rupture" the German position. It couldn't have gone worse and it must have seemed that things were as bad as  they could possibly be.  Looking over history's shoulder, we can see Verdun and the Somme looming just ahead of the peoples of 1915. However, to them, back at the end of 1915, it must have seemed that things could not be looking worse. This is what they were mulling over as the 1916 campaign lay ahead.

In Artois a joint British-French effort, known in some sources as the Battle of "Artois-Loos" (map, locations 1 [British] & 2 [French]), resulted in limited gains and high losses. British losses of 60,000 killed and wounded around Loos alone stunned observers. The French attack to the south captured the key town of Souchez but failed again at Vimy Ridge. 

The accompanying failure—solely a French effort—in Champagne (map, location 3) to sever the main east-west rail line supporting the German front, however, sent greater shock waves through France. The massive national effort made there to provide logistical support, including millions of rounds of heavy artillery shells for a decisive breakthrough, had proved utterly inadequate to the challenge. The advance had moved the front merely four kilometers. 

Politicians' faith in Joffre began to wane and they looked to other theaters of war, like the Balkans, for deploying the nation's forces. For the citizenry, victory now seemed barely perceptible, beyond some distant horizon, and would be most assuredly astronomically costly to attain. For the French Army, the Western Front—France—had to be the decisive front, but what new rabbit could they pull out of the hat? The attritional warfare they had inadvertently fallen into was unsustainable. Official figures (probably on the low side) showed 191,000 French casualties in the double fall offensives, including 31,000 killed. 

The sole remaining option was to look to the British. In the winter of 1915–16 General Joffre would abandon French-only offensive operations and focus exclusively on encouraging and collaborating with his ally. Attacking side-by-side would enable the massing of troops and, more important, the artillery of both armies. Naturally, this had to be in a location adjacent to the British sector. Perhaps, somewhere around the River Somme? Yes, that should work nicely. Thus did the failures of 1915 lead to the "Big Show" of 1916. 

Harrow School's Tribute to Lt. Alex Fitch

Lt. Alex Fitch

Above a fireplace in a room at Harrow School a light has shone on the portrait of a young man in uniform night and day for the past 89 years.

When 19-year-old 2nd Lieutenant Alex Fitch was killed in northern France in September 1918 his parents were determined their only son would be remembered.

Fitch had been a pupil at Harrow School and was one of 644 Old Harrovians killed in the Great War.

The memorial to him, the Alex Fitch Room, makes up part of Harrow School's War Memorial Building. It was completed in 1926, but the room, a gift from the Fitch family, appears to be much older.

Anne Hall-Williams, a tour guide at Harrow, said, "The walls are actually made up of Elizabethan panels and the floor is made up of teak timbers from a George III warship called the St Vincent.

"The fireplace is interesting because it is a composite. It is also much older than the building itself. The interior is from the reign of King Henry V and the carving around the outside dates from the reign of King Henry VII."

The doors to the room are inscribed with the words "Pass Friend," taken from the lyrics of a Harrow School song.

The song remembers the sacrifices of the Boer War and the words were written by Fitch's housemaster, George Townsend-Warner.

You stand there where your brothers stood,

And pray where your brothers prayed,

Who fought with Death as brave men should

Not boasting and not afraid.

For the blood and the lives that your brothers gave,

For the glory that you share,

The message comes from beyond the grave,

The challenge - 'Who goes there -

You?

Pass, Friend - All's Well

Above the fireplace is a portrait of Fitch in uniform. His head rests on his right hand and he is holding a cigarette in his left. Over the portrait burns a light and it burns permanently.

Mrs Hall-Williams said, "That was put there at the request of Alex Fitch's parents, and it has been burning there since 1926. The only time it had to be turned out was during the blackout in the Second World War. Otherwise, it is on all the time."

The room was built for a specific purpose. Fitch's family, especially his mother Lady Fitch, wanted a place where parents visiting the school could meet their sons.

Subsequent generations of the Fitch family have made use of the room.

Jamie Ingham Clark is Fitch's great-nephew and is himself an Old Harrovian. He said, "My father was also at Harrow, mostly because of the fact that Alex Fitch had been there. We used the room for his mother's original intent."

Alex Fitch Room

He says over the years the room has come to be used for other purposes. "Certainly I remember taking my French O-level oral in that room, and I think I did the odd music lesson when I was learning, unsuccessfully, the bagpipes."

Despite the change of use, the appearance of the room is as it was in 1926. It contains Elizabethan chairs, a Cromwellian refectory table, and Jacobean chests, all given by the Fitch family.

Mr Ingham Clark said, "Lady Fitch's gift stipulated that nothing should be in that room which, to quote the biblical text, moth nor rust could corrupt. The idea being that it would never change from her ideal, as she gave it."

Fitch is also remembered in Harrow School's Roll of Honour and within the six volumes of the Harrow Memorials of the Great War. In each volume, for each Old Harrovian, is a photograph and a short biography.

The entry for 2nd Lieutenant Fitch contains the words written to his father by his commanding officer:

"I loved your boy and I trusted him with very responsible duties which always proved his capability, and, although he was so young, his personality was so great that he held his men in the hollow of his hand, and they all liked and respected him."

Monument to the School's 644 Killed in the Great War

Harrow guide Anne Hall-Williams says the gift of the Fitch family remains as relevant as it ever was—"He was their only son."

"Everybody who loses a child usually wants some kind of memorial, even today. So he's lived on, which is what they wanted—immortality for their son."

Alex Fitch's great-nephew agrees.

"I think it is a fantastic memorial," said Mr Ingham Clark. "Not only to a much-loved son but to recall the sacrifice of so many young men from such a wonderful school."

Source:  BBC, 22 August 2015; Harrow School Enterprises

The Siege of Kut: Some Observations

by Assistant Editor Kimball Worcester 

British Soldiers at Kut During the Siege

Descriptions of British soldiers’ lives under military siege include words such as gallant, heroic, even plucky. This thin optimism fundamentally serves the home front and politicians and does nothing to alleviate the horrors of the actual circumstances. On the other hand, the resourcefulness, stalwartness, and humor of the British and Indians under siege at Kut for 146 days do stand as testimony to the reserves of strength in those soldiers when tried to their utmost.

One example of such humor in Ronald Millar's Death of an Army: the Siege of Kut 1915–1916 is a mock menu proposing a dinner to be held on 28 February 1916 in honor of the 16^th anniversary of the relief of Ladysmith—at the “Optimus Hotel, Kut.”

In the tradition of The Wipers Times and similar wartime soldiers’ publications, the menu and program show through humor, sarcasm, and song the detachment and despair that coexist under siege and in the trenches. Food and drink in both circumstances are a constant topic, at Kut even more so. In reality, of course, food dwindled to horseflesh, here noted as “Cutlets, Jaipur Pony Superb” for the Entrée. The after-dinner program makes witty comments on the conditions and predictable digs at army administration and the ever-delayed Relief Force:

·      Pt I: 8. Two Step  ‘Be Quick and Get Under’ [by] A. Dugout

·      Pt. II: 1. March  ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ Percy Lake[1]

·      Pt. II: 2. Cornet Solo  ‘I Hear You Calling Me’  Aylmer[2]

The counterpart of this joshing is the need to mend and make do, to revise and invent to be able to keep up the defense and hold out while other supplies besides food dwindle or are non-existent—weapons and ammo. The defenders had artillery, to a degree, but no mortars at all. Given the periodic raids and imminent attack from the Turks, mortars were needed for their short-range, high-trajectory qualities. Both the weapon and its shells were improvised, thanks to several companies of Royal Engineers serving with Townshend’s force:

            …’jam pot’ grenades, or bombs, were made. These were jam tins containing gun-cotton charges which were then topped up with pieces of metal, old rusty nails, broken glass,Turkish shrapnel picked up at the fort… [p 107]

         Future Grenades    

There were some unsatisfactory attempts at creating mortars from wood and baling wire (which Millar describes as “Elizabethan weapons”), but the answer came from the Gnome 80 [not 70, as Millar states] engines from the Martinsyde S1 aeroplanes[3] left at Kut:

The answer to the problem of the wooden mortars was supplied by Captain [R.E.] Stace’s modifications to the Gnome aircraft engines. He had converted the cylinders of the radial engines into mortars and two of these arrived at the fort. At first they threw 3-lb. T.N.T. aeroplane bombs which were fairly accurate up to a range of 300 yards but occasionally snags occurred. Loose collars were attached to the bomb so they would fit snugly in the cylinder. These sometimes failed to drop off when fired and spoiled the projectile’s trajectory. This failure often caused the bomb to land inside the fort. The mortar gunners developed skills similar to those of ornithologists and could spot a ‘collared’ or ‘collarless’ bomb immediately and remove themselves quickly from the vicinity of the explosion. Captain Stace, however, solved the problem by adapting the gun so that it could fire the ‘jam pot’ bombs which fitted snugly in the barrels of the Gnome mortars without collars. [pp 111–112]

Gnome 80 engine, c. 1915

Photo from http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/productdetail?productid=3103&cat=2

Martinsyde S1 scouts in Mesopotamia

Photo from http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25642.htm

          

The Relief Force attempts never could break through, and Townshend’s only option was an honorable surrender, which tragically took his soldiers into a grim death- and disease-ridden captivity. By the end of both siege and captivity 5,476 British and Indian troops had died. There can be no accounting of the deaths of the Arab civilians trapped in Kut or dispatched by the Turks upon their capture of the town.

---

[1] Lt.-Gen. commanding the Mesopotamian Force charged with relieving the siege.

[2] Lt.-Gen. led first failed relief attempt.

[3] Millar uses the plural of engines and implies plural aircraft as well, but according to Trevor Henshaw in The Sky Their Battlefield II (2014) only one Martinsyde S1 was “…now [December 1915] abandoned at Kut owing to damage or inability to evacuate” (p 295).

Recommended: The Doughboy Cartoons of Abian Wallgren

Presented by James Lileks at Lileks.com

So who was he? A Marine, for starters. An American soldier in the AEF during WWI, Abian "Wally" Wallgren drew comics for Stars and Stripes. His style was typical for the era—broad goofy caricatures with oversized feet. But for a young man he had wit and promise—some of the cartoons you'll see here are quite accomplished.

At the risk of getting deluged by information, I must admit I can't find much info on him. (I've found a few websites that use his cartoons, but they all stink.) In the 1930s he briefly drew for Happy Days, a government-issued paper handed out in CCC camps, suggesting he didn't have a booming postwar career. The book from which these cartoons are taken is often auctioned off on eBay or elsewhere and seems to be his sole contribution to the cartoonist's art. It's almost 90 years old and sturdily bound.

These drawings were originally printed on brown paper; I've made most black and white. I'm not presenting them with much commentary, as that would seem superfluous.

To view a selection of Abian Wallgrem's cartoons click HERE

A Doughboy Tells His GI Son What to Expect in Combat

Veteran Dwight Fee (left) wrote this letter when his son enlisted for service in World War II. As a private with the 319th Infantry, 80th "Blue Ridge" Division, Dwight Fee had fought in the costly, but ultimately successful, Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He did not reminisce about events. Instead, he focused on courage and character. To Fee, the war had been both horrifying and full of adventure. He would be up for it again if duty called and told his son: “I wish I could go FOR you, or at least WITH you.” William would survive his combat in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge, with the 11th Armored Division, although he was seriously wounded by a landmine in March 1945.

Dwight Fee to his son Private William Fee

1 October 1944

Well, I figure you’re off on the Great Adventure. There will be many disagreeable experiences; soul-shaking experiences; tragic experiences; uplifting experiences. You will see examples of selfishness and selflessness that will stir you tremendously . . . I have no doubt that you will develop the same respect that I have for the Infantry , the Gol-Darned Infantry, and the same awesome regard for the Medics.

I have no fears for you; you will do well. You have the finest spirit of any one I know of. I wish I could go FOR you, or at least WITH you, but this is your war. Mother and I will pray that God will give you courage for any danger you will have to face; that you will be given steadfastness, and patience, and resolution. We believe that God lays on nobody more than he is able to bear; that through all trials. God will provide the qualities needed to meet them. I believe David: The Lord upholdeth all that fall; The cast-down raiseth up again.

Just be your own self: and there are not many people to whom I could say that.

You are serving in a great cause. Because of you and those like you millions of fathers and mothers and children again will be able to think and speak freely without fear; to live their lives without oppression. And we here at home will be spared what most certainly would have been the fate of those people if all of you had not gone out to prevent the domination of the world by Japan [inserted in pencil to replace “Italy”] and Germany (and Italy)--and don't think for a minute that they wouldn’t have dominated it . . . And they'll try again in another generation if they can.

Goodnight, son. Have at em! As always, Pop. Keep busy. keep bucking.

Sources: Smithsonian National Postal Museum and the American War Letters Archives, Leatherby Libraries, Chapman University, CA

Over There with Private Graham: The Compelling World War 1 Journal of an American Doughboy

Bruce Jarvis and Stephen Badgley

Badgley Pub Company, 2018
James M. Gallen, Reviewer

The Centenary of the Great War has spawned a swarm of histories and reprints of memoirs. Over There with Private Graham is a minimally edited account of the journal of Private William J. Graham, an overage volunteer with a Pennsylvania National Guard Military Police Company that was incorporated into the 28th U.S. Infantry Division. A 38-year-old Philadelphia policeman upon enlistment in 1917, Graham served in Europe from May 1917 and continued his service until September 1919 in the Army of Occupation.

The chain of custody of this 660-page hand written journal is a mystery tale in itself. Author Bruce Jarvis purchased a set of unsigned, unbound handwritten double-sided pages. He later recognized quotations from the journal in The Iron Division, National Guard of Pennsylvania in the World War. Some detective work enabled Jarvis to connect the dots between references to the author, Bill, and criticisms of Captain Henry Crofut, leading to Bugler William J. Graham. Eventual contact with Graham's grand-daughter unearthed additional journal entries.

This work commences with a brief biography of Graham who, but for his writings, would have been an undistinguished enlisted man. This is followed by a preface explaining the origins and discovery of the journal. Then comes a stream of consciousness of observations and commentary by an American serving on the Western Front. What makes this tome rare, if not unique, is its unvarnished report of the author's experiences. Having been written contemporaneously with the events it describes, it is free from the bias and reflective changes prevalent in postwar memoirs. Apparently having not been mailed, it was neither subject to nor intimidated by the censor's knife. I find its entries to be rather upbeat with little of the morose tone evident in many first-person war memories. Graham served as an MP, which placed him out of the front lines but close enough to them to have seen the results of action at the front.

Entries generally range from a couple of paragraphs to a page or two. They are generously supplemented by many black-and-white period photographs and leavened by humor or an occasional poem, often written by Graham himself. Throughout, the theme that the Americans were pushing while the Germans were retreating is evident. The entries provide insight into the life of the Doughboys, the phrases they used, their values, the practicalities of the war, and the characters with whom Graham interacted.

Reports of actions describe the sights and sounds and display the enthusiasm of the Americans freshly committed to battle:

October 10, 1918: At 2:30 a.m., the American artillery and the Hun batteries started a bombardment. It was wicked! The roaring of the guns were [sic] deafening. I will make a bet the Hun is coming out second best in this duel. Our boys have the Boche's number when it comes to artillery fighting. The wounded and gassed victims are coming in very fast to the hospital in Fleury. There have been five hospital trains each day this week…At 10 a.m. word came in that the three Marne division are in the lines hammering away at "Fritz" being backed up with our boys, using the French 75s like a machine gun battalion would handle their machine guns (p. 253).

October 11, 1918: I cannot figure out how the Germans can stand this method of warfare which the Americans are serving them. Thousands upon thousands of shells fired from as many guns…day and night (p. 254).

References to the baseball throw of hand grenades, support from service organizations such as the Red Cross, the YMCA, and the Knights of Columbus, tell a bit about the life of the common Doughboy. The anxiety that the war might start again if the Germans did not sign the treaty reminds readers that the Armistice was not necessarily the end of the war and that the soldiers knew it. The creeping fraternization between occupiers and civilians evidenced a gradual easing of tensions as the war receded into memory.

William Graham (Arrow) and His Fellow MPs of Company B

Over There with Private Graham is an oversized book with a cover photo of a Doughboy with helmet, revolver, and gas mask in front of no-man's-land. The entries make for easy reading either straight through or in bits and pieces as they are capable of being appreciated alone or in small groups. The many historic black-and-white photographs supplement the text and convey valuable information on their own. This is not a book for the big story of the Great War. It brings the reader in touch with a real Doughboy. Try to find notebooks of your grandfather or uncle, the neighbor when you were growing up, or the family friends of whom you have heard others speak. Maybe they can speak again to you through words echoing those of Private Graham.

James M. Gallen

Check Out the April St. Mihiel Trip-Wire

Our April 2019 issue of the St. Mihiel Trip-Wire is now available at:

http://www.worldwar1.com/tripwire/smtw.htm

(Click Refresh/Reload if the April issue does not appear.)

German U-boat Surrendering to a British Warship

This month's issue contains material on:

• The Turkish Interpretation of Gallipoli
• Your Editor's Views on the Gallipoli Venture
• WWI Film Classic: Life and Nothing But
• The Kaiser's Daily Telegraph Affair
• Surrender of Germany's U-boat Fleet
• Remembering April 1917: America Enters the War
• Robert Graves's Mother Receives News of His Death
• America's Siberian Intervention: Part 1, Why?
• Coming Events at the National WWI Museum and National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
• Seats Still Available for the 28 June Versailles Palace Dinner and Commemoration
• Von Lettow-Vorbeck Welcomed Home in Berlin
• Plus all our regular features

This Month's Recommended WWI Film

Also, please note that our Musical CD and Over the Top Magazine Complete Collection DVD can be ordered through the website.  This is your opportunity to support our efforts in providing this otherwise free body of World War One material in the Trip-Wire and our daily blog Roads to the Great War.

Have a great springtime,

Mike and the Editorial Team

Falkenhayn Out—Hindenburg In

Early Signs of a Cult in the Making
A 1915 Magazine Cover

By the summer of 1916 it was apparent that Chief of the Imperial Staff Falkenhayn had to go. Behind the scenes all sorts of objections to his policies were being raised, by the field commanders stuck at Verdun and on the Somme, the Olympic-caliber backstabbing bureaucrats of the General Staff, industrialists unhappy about the management of the war economy, and an across-the-spectrum coalition of politicians utterly infatuated with the successful commander in the east, Paul von Hindenburg. Also, recent research has suggested that Hindenburg himself was applying considerable pressure for the appointment. 

1917: Still Going Strong

The near disaster of the Brusilov Offensive and Romania's imminent entry into the Allied camp also helped push him out the door. Hindenburg, already the object of a growing personality cult, was the only realistic successor. Naturally he brought along his subordinate, Erich von Ludendorff. They had become "joined at the hip" during the campaigns in Russia and Poland. 

After Defeat

They quickly liquidated the dual-problem battles at Verdun and on the Somme and boosted morale throughout the forces. The Kaiser and the politicians were pushed to the background as Hindenburg and Ludendorff assumed almost dictatorial power over both the economy and the nation's war aims. Their isolation from the nation's people and true interests led to their greatest blunder—going on the offensive in the spring of 1918 in an effort to win an advantageous settlement before the Americans arrived in decisive numbers. Its failure led to a peace in which the Allies dictated all the terms.

The Royal Flying Corps Arrives in France

The B.E.2, the Most Plentiful of the RFC's Aircraft

In early August 1914 a rather eclectic collection of British aircraft left Dover, England, in four squadrons to aid the defense of France and Belgium along the front lines near Amiens, France. No. 2 and No. 4 Squadrons flew Blériot Experimental 2s (B.E.2s).

No. 3 Squadron flew a mixture of Blériots and Henri Farmans, while No. 5 Squadron had Henri Farmans, Avro, and B.E.8s, the latter nicknamed “Bloater” for its resemblance to the fish.

B.E.8

Two of the types, the B.E.2 and B.E.8 were products of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, present-day site of the biennial international air show. Originally established as His Majesty’s Balloon Factory, it became the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1911 and attracted some of the best aviation pioneers in England, including Geoffrey de Havilland and Henry Folland.

The Royal Aircraft Factory created some useful aircraft early in the war and was responsible for what many consider to be the best RFC/RAF fighter of the period, the S.E.5a.

An Avro 504

Most of the aircraft sent to France in August 1914 were B.E.2s, a fragile looking biplane powered by a 70-hp Renault engine. Its sole original design requirement was to create “a stable aircraft,” and no one envisioned that it would enter combat. With a maximum speed of 70 mph, it could carry a load of 224 pounds of bombs. Its stall speed was just over 40 mph, providing a 30-mph envelope in which to maneuver. Despite this limited performance, the aircraft was continually improved and served until 1918. The B.E.8 was essentially a B.E.2 powered by an 80-hp Gnome rotary engine. It was built in much smaller numbers than the B.E.2 and, as a result, killed fewer British pilots than the B.E.2 did.

The Blériots of the Royal Flying Corps were essentially similar to the Channel-crossing type and had a top speed of 59 to 61 mph.

Only a few Avro 504s were available for the initial operation, despite their superior 82-mph top speed. An Avro 504 of No. 5 Squadron was shot down on 22 August 1914, the first British aircraft lost to enemy fire.

Farmans on Display

The Henri Farmans were a hopeless-appearing collection of wings and struts, powered by an 80-hp Gnome pusher engine providing a blistering 65-mph top speed.

This collection of RFC aircraft was impressive to the French, and the aircraft were soon dispersed to fields around Maubeuge, the French garrison town designated as the forward operating base of the British Expeditionary Force.

Source:  Air Force Magazine, July 2011

Remembering a Veteran: Lt. Charles Péguy, French 276th RI

Before the war, Charles Péguy (1873–1914) was a highly influential writer and editor. He was a socialist, nationalist, and converted Catholic and his work reflected all of these often conflicting viewpoints. A strong French patriot, he answered the call to arms in 1914 and was killed near the village of Villeroy in the opening of the Battle of the Marne. He is buried in a mass grave near the village and a monument to him stands close by.

One of his legacies is an series of memorable quotes that still resonate a century after his death. Like his later fellow socialist, George Orwell, he seems to have provided something for everyone no matter their political persuasion or philosophical temperament. Here is a selection of my favorites.

Villeroy Memorial

• Freedom is a system based on courage.

• He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers

• It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been committed for fear of not looking sufficiently progressive.

• Tyranny is always better organized than freedom.

• Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.

• We must always tell what we see. Above all, and this is more difficult, we must always see what we see.

• The honest man must be a perpetual renegade.

• It is better to have a war for justice than peace in injustice.

• Homer is new this morning, and perhaps nothing is as old as today's newspaper.

• It is the essence of genius to make use of the simplest ideas.

Map Series #5: Verdun 1917

Despite several well-written books on the Battle of Verdun, most focus on the 1916 operations and gloss over the follow-up efforts by the French in 1917.  These efforts are especially of interest to those interested in the American fighting in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the fall of 1918 because the French set the opening line for the Yanks in the following year.  This map is one of 150 from a postwar atlas prepared by the U.S. Army Command and Staff College titled The Military History of the World War.  The quality of the maps in the collection is quite varied, but this one, #70 from the set, is pretty clear about what transpired in the most noted of Petain's efforts to get the French Army rolling again after the calamitous spring 1917 events by initiating limited offensives. In any case, this is the best map I've ever seen covering the August 1917 fighting around Verdun.

Click on Image to Enlarge

Some Observations:

The legend is very helpful since it includes the lines for both 1916 and 1917. The use of American terminology is unique to this map and might cause some confusion while using it in conjunction with most books and articles on Verdun

Most beneficial for the future operation of Pershing's forces was the clearing of the line of hills on the west side of the Meuse, including 304, Mort Homme (Dead Man's), and Goose. On the right side of the attack of 26 September, the Doughboys would not have to assault  fortified high positions.

In contrast, the French were not able to get at the wooded areas on the heights of the east bank, such as Bois des Caures, which had been captured by the Germans in the opening of the February 1916 assault.  The U.S. 26th Division would still be fighting in this area at the time of the Armistice.

Did Many U.S. Cities with German Names Changed During the War?

Over the years, I've heard of various cases of ridiculous changes to American vocabulary due to war hysteria during the Great War, e.g. sauerkraut to liberty cabbage. Thankfully, most of these were temporary. My impression, though, is that this did not happen a lot with the more serious matter of town or neighborhood names.  I needed some facts, however, to back this up. The most obvious test case for me seemed to be a name so common that you can still run into it in any part of the country: Germantown.  Back in  1917, I wondered, were there hundreds of Germantowns spread across the fruited plains, that surrendered the heritage of their, presumably, German settlers to the mood of the times?

A whole hour on the Internet led me to exactly two Germantowns that threw in the towel and gave in to the silliness during the war. One is a town in Texas, now named Schroeder. It's got a famous dance hall. If you keep reading you will find more interesting stuff on Schroeder below  The second is a place in California that rechristened itself Artois, after a part of France that the Germans held onto for the entire war until things started collapsing north and south of them in late 18.  (Yes, I know about Vimy Ridge.) All I've been able to ascertain about Artois, California, is that it's hard to find on a map and it's hard to find anything historically significant about it. Serves them right, IMHO.   

I invite readers to contribute any interesting name-change cases I might have missed during my in-depth research in the comments section below, but I just don't think it happened a lot.  Americans I'm proud to assert were apparently more sensible back then about their community than their vegetables.  Hooray!

To give my finding some authority here's what America's place name numero uno authority,  Professor George R. Stewart of the University of California, had to say on the matter:

There was plenty of hatred and hysteria [during the war], but the attitude seemed  to be: “It’s our name now!” Moreover, two hundred years of German immigration  had planted thousands of names; an unlettered American could not distinguish  German from Iroquoian, and might himself be of German origin. When  Germantown in Texas made the change [to Schroeder], the citizens honored a local  boy killed in France, not realizing or caring that Schroeder was a thoroughly German  name.

Update:  Our loyal and well-informed readers have begun adding to the list.  Please check-out the comments section below.  MH

The Generals' War, Operational Level Command on the Western Front in 1918

David T. Zabecki

Indiana University Press, 2018
Terrence J. Finnegan, Reviewer

Hindenburg and Ludendorff

I contacted Major General David Zabecki several years ago to talk about his stand-alone The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in The Operational Level of War (Strategy and History). My comment to him was "the book is so important that I keep a copy at my bedside." His response, "I don't even keep a copy at my bedside!" General Zabecki's summation of German operations provided a long-overdue and valued German view—not an Anglicized interpretation that held sway over a century of military history on the subject. Applying general officer understanding of what it took to command forces locked in positional war became a logical follow-on. The Generals' War serves that objective.

My bias with 1918 comes from understanding the impact of military thinking on an obscure and sadly forgotten military operation on the St. Mihiel region of the Woëvre. Knowing how German general and division-level commanders armed with four years of well-honed strategy and tactics applied against newly arriving American forces—especially involving the genesis of blitzkrieg and demonstration of information warfare—lends to the excitement of reading more about that last year of the Great War. Unfortunately, General Zabecki's scope of discussion was limited to the usual suspects of Western Front senior commanders such as Generalfeldmarshal von Hindenberg and Erster Oberquartiermeister General der Infanterie Ludendorff, Maréchal Foch, Maréchal Pétain, Field Marshal Haig, and General Pershing. The work expertly covers key aspects of each, especially with Table 4.1, "The Warlords of 1918."

Likewise, General Zabecki's focus on the Western Front plays to the prevailing knowledge shared by almost all military historians who cover the Great War. When you examine the war in its totality covering the other theaters, you acquire a better understanding beyond the initial battles of 1914 that made heroes of Hindenberg and Ludendorff and become aware of lower-echelon commanders such as General der Artillerie Max von Gallwitz, 5. Armee and Armeeabteilung C commander—General Pershing's nemesis for most of 1918.

Pétain, Haig, Foch, and Pershing

I wish General Zabecki's work had expanded to include snippets from some amazing accomplishments of military leadership on the Eastern Front including Generalfeldmarshal von Mackensen's four years of military operations, combined with a sneak peek into General der Infanterie von François—the most insubordinate commander of Prussian stock whose success at Tannenberg defined the bold measures that gave both Hindenburg and Ludendorff, as well as their chief of operations for 8. Armee, Oberstleutnant Max Hoffmann, their moment in the historical sun. Then the reader could have been swayed from digging deeper into the malaise of the Western Front and better understood the total ramifications of what the war did in shaping Great War command thinking. The war of maneuver witnessed a longer role on the Eastern Front — a role that defined modern warfare's evolution as it applied to the Second World War.

The depth of discussion contained in the text is essential for those who see themselves as armchair commanders of this era. General Zabecki's The Generals' War takes off from his depth of discussion presented in The German 1918 Offensives, particularly applying the German operation scheme of maneuver against the Allied commanders that had to counter the movement. The legacy for all commanders becomes "another stunning tactical success, it also was another operational failure." General Zabecki's book is full of great data—particularly summarizing failings and shortfalls of such icons as General Pershing.

Pershing and staff virtually ignored combat under way in the Wöevre by the 26^th Division—holding more front line than any other division in the war. Headquarters Chaumont concern with the General Staff in Washington correctly addressed "sending divisions to France with too many untrained men." Such was the case at Seicheprey when a counterattack was called for and soldiers brought to the fight had never seen battle or, in some cases, fired a weapon. German success depended on artillery pummeling the enemy in annihilation as fast-moving blitzkrieg maneuvers gained ground throughout the battle sector. What challenged the Germans' combination of fast-moving forces skillfully employing overwhelming firepower from artillery and Minenwerfer was a "soldiers' battle" fought by National Guard soldiers holding their ground and fighting to the death.

A review of bibliographic sources in the work shows balance and depth by mirroring existing work on the subject. Sadly, not much new is seen from the surge of writings published during the centennial. His book is aided by the publisher's exemplary colorized maps that do a great job in untangling the front lines for the average reader.

As it concerns The Generals' War, "I keep a copy at my bedside."

Terrence J. Finnegan

From the U.S. Navy's WWI Collections — Photography

The U.S. Navy has done a terrific job of documenting its service during the Great War. In this series, we are giving examples from their collection of naval art, artifacts, and photography. Today we feature some interesting photographs from the Navy's collection. Much of the material of all three categories can be found at the online sites of two institutions: the National Museum of the U.S. Navy and the Naval History and Heritage Command.  Links to the two sites can be found at the bottom of this page.

Click on the Images to Enlarge

Sawyer the Sea Dog, Mascot of the U.S. Navy National Museum

The American Battle Fleet on the Eve of War

Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy; Rear Admiral Samuel McGowan, Paymaster General; and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy

American Battleship Division Nine Commander
Admiral Hugh Rodman and Staff

A 12-Inch Turret of USS Arkansas Fires a Salvo

Torpedo Damage to Destroyer USS Cassin (DD-43)

Thanksgiving Dinner at the U.S. Navy Station, Charleston, SC

USS Fanning Captures U-58

U.S. Naval Air Station, Brest, France

Doughboys Boarding USS Minnesotan for Return Home

Naval Parade, New York City, December 1918

Battleship Delaware Being Disarmed in Accordance with the
Washington Naval Treaty

Sources:

National Museum of the U.S. Navy
(LINK)

Naval History and Heritage Command
(LINK)