Awhile back we reported on a chemical weapons dump from WW1 located in toney Northwest DC. This site is now considered safe (click here for the whole story) but another site has been unearthed a few miles away. Click here for this story.
Kansas WW1
Commemorating the First World War Centennial in Kansas
A DH-4 in Flying Condition will come to Wichita
The Bleckley Airport Memorial Foundation has acquired an authentic Airco DH-4 aircraft and plans to restore it for inclusion in the collections they will have at their proposed memorial to 2nd Lieut. Erwin Bleckley, a Wichita native who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his deeds on October 6th, 1918. Bleckley has been the subject of several previous posts here. You can read two of them by clicking here or here. You can also read more about the Lost Battalion here.
At the north end of ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula is a large free-standing tablet which bears this text:
‘Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives! You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.’
In the midst of the current pandemic, I found this scholarly article from the journal Public Health Reports about the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic/ Published in 2010, it’s chock full of data, more about this subject than I’ve ever seen in one place. Give it a glance by clicking here.
I realize that few of you are going to be able to visit Gloucestershire in England, but please read this story about an artist named Jackie Lantelli who makes sculptures out of chicken wire and has created this unique World War One memorial. Click here for the story.
In April of 2017 we ran an article about E. M. Viquesney and his iconic “Spirit of the American Doughboy” statues. Click here to read the article.
There are only around 150 of these still on display in the country. Sedalia in central Missouri has one, and it was damaged by careless behavior occurring on July 4th. You can read the latest news report about the incident by clicking here.
On July 28th, 1918 President Woodrow Wilson ordered that the flag of Serbia, which was then under Austro-Hungarian occupation, be flown beside the U.S. Flag at the White House.
You can read more about American-Serbian relations during WW1 by clicking here.
Along the Western Front in 1915 soldiers began incurring a previously unknown infectious disease that was originally thought to be an enteric fever. No records were kept (except by the Americans in 1918), but it is thought that the number of allied soldiers thus affected was about 500,000. The soldiers themselves called this disease “Trench Fever”. It was debilitating but the vast majority of those afflicted recovered in a few weeks, and deaths were extremely rare. However, there sometimes were lingering effects, for example, the famous British fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien caught Trench Fever in October 1916 and was never returned to full duty. You can read more about Trench Fever by clicking here.
One Pacifist in Congress
Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973), the eldest child of a prominent family in Missoula, Montana, was the first female in American history to be elected to federal office. Running as a Republican (which was then considered the ‘cleaner’ party in her state), she represented Montana in two non-consecutive Congressional terms, from 1917-19 and again from 1941-43. She was Progressive, a leading Suffragette, a supporter of worker’s rights and a devout Pacifist. However, she is particularly remembered for her votes against Declarations of War both on April 6th, 1917 and on December 8th, 1941. You can read more about her by clicking on this link.
American Women Reporters in WW1
Although not widely, known, there were a number of female reporters who were sent to the Western Front to write for American newspapers and, especially, women’s magazines. These reports began coming as the Germans invaded Belgium in August 1914. Some of these reporters were (in alphabetical order): Harriet Chalmers Adams, Mabel Potter Daggett, Rheta Childe Dorr, Eleanor Franklin Egan, Mary Boyle O’Reilly, Mary Roberts Rhinehart, Clara Savage, Maude Radford Warren and Edith Wharton.
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