Recently there has been a rash of wildfires in the Adriatic region due to a ‘Heat Dome’ forming over Europe. On the Karst Plateau in Slovenia, the scene of eleven battles between Italy and Austria-Hungary in 1915-17, unexploded munitions are popping off all over the place, adding a significant hazard to the job of the firefighters. You can read about this by clicking here.
YMCA Dogs in WW1
Previously we’ve written about Alaskan sled dogs in WW1 (click here). Here’s a link to a good article about the wartime service of all kinds of dogs (click here). The YMCA even used dogs to deliver cigarettes, a fundamental policy change for the ‘Y’ which had previously taught that cigarette smoking was unhealthy and immoral. You can read all about Mutt, a YMCA dog, by clicking here.
Among the offerings are these:
Understanding Black service in WW1 Sat. Aug. 27th, 10:30 AM CDT
The Great War and You Sat. Aug. 27th, 3:30 PM CDT
Both are free but registration is necessary. Click here to sign up.
All five episodes of the 2014 French production called Apocalypse WW1 are now available on the National Geographic Channel. Featured are an amazing series of colorized photographs. Click here for more details about the production or click here for dates and times.
The Great Vehicle Auction
At the conclusion of the war the American Expeditionary Force had, by one tally, 126,136 vehicles in France. Given the projected needs of the peace time army, there were already more than enough vehicles still in the U.S., in fact over 36,000 of these were declared surplus and given to other government agencies for their use. Everything overseas had to be disposed of in situ. You can read about this immense task by clicking here.
The other day was the 106th anniversary of the start of what is popularly known as The Battle of the Somme, although military historians and experts divide this four and a half month offensive into many distinct battles.
Here is a link to an excellent piece where film footage shot at the time is worked into the modern site. Click here to watch.
On-line offerings include :
Health Threats & the World War Tuesday 7/19 6:30 PM CDT You tube
Women and Warfare Thursday 7/28 6:30 CDT You tube
Both of these are free, but registration is required. Click here.
The Great Forgotten, by Kacie and Karen Devaney, is a television series in development, a derivative of their successful Off-Broadway play of the same title. The plot line follows two American women, one a nurse and the other a nursing aide, with scenes alternating between WW1 and the future. Click here to read more about this project.
The Congressional Naming Commission has released their recommendation for retitling nine Army installations presently named for Confederate historical figures. One of the recommendations is to change the name of Ft. Gordon, near Augusta, Georgia to Ft. Eisenhower, after five star General and the 34th POTUS Dwight D. Eisenhower, who grew up in Abilene, Kansas. This post is the Headquarters of both the Army Signal Corps and the Army Cyber Command. Click here to read the full press release.
After a two-year hiatus, the April 25th Gallipoli Dawn Observance from ANZAC Cove resumed this year. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s live stream broadcast is now available for FREE on You Tube. Click here to view. Noteworthy in this presentation are the absences of any member of the British Royal Family, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. In his defense, Morrison was embroiled in the final weeks of an election, which his party ultimately lost. The crowd size was obviously smaller than in prior years, and there was more pageantry recognizing the indigenous peoples of the Antipodes. The performance of the three national anthems was moved up in the program schedule to ensure that, if the broadcast ran long, the New Zealand anthem wouldn’t be cut as it was in 2014.
