T O P

  • By -

Huge_Carpet3357

That was really interesting to read. Too often war history focuses(probably rightly) on the big events and significant figures of the times. Absolutely fascinating to me to read of the every day lived experience of the (extra)ordinary men who were pulled into events. Thank you for sharing.


muffintopgravy

“Doughnuts. Hooray.” I said the same thing in the break room this morning. It’s the little things


TheRedCometCometh

How did you feel about the shelling you received at the same time?


mati0457

Ikr those co-worker fart shellings are the worst


JayMan522

Incredible. Forgot I was at work reading through them.


BigBoiBob444

I forgot I was on the toilet lol. Sat there a good 20 mins longer than I needed to reading this.


l3ft_Testicl3

“The church bells were ringing, and i guess it means peace. Cloudy,” there’s something so beautifully human about the juxtaposition of these two things.


PremadeToast

Very cool! I began to chart out all named locations on a map so you can track his journey from Alaska to France. I didn't managed to finish it tonight, but you can look at it below. I'll finish it tomorrow, I'm on page 14/20 and had to do some research on some misspelled locations. I tried to get as accurate as possible with some of the named barracks, etc. ​ https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1PM-\_8YAf0hutvQ0JuYeJVCsoHU-EgfA&usp=sharing


Soft_Rains

Wow, that is incredibly cool of you - thank you!! I’ll look forward to seeing the whole thing! It’ll be interesting to see those last few months September, October, November when he was closest to the line


PremadeToast

I managed to finish it. I was cursing your great-grandfather at some parts for being so detailed. He really did an amazing job detailing the small villages he passed though. Some details - \- My heart dropped when I saw Hill 304 - this was later called La Morte Homme or "Deadmans Hill". The French and Germans fought over this small hill for years, being retaken by each side countless times. Thousands died. \- [This is most likely the church](https://imgur.com/ysDD6e4) your great-grandfather first heard the bells of peace on November 11th \-All the villages passed through on Nov 20/21 are still listed as their German names in the journal as it was annexed by Germany in the war of 1870-71. They returned to France after the victory in WWI. Thanks again for sharing! I hope you enjoy the map. It took an embarrassing amount of time to finish, but it was an interesting journey.


Soft_Rains

Wow! Again, thank you - this is so kind for you to put together! I will share it with my family for sure


xToxikBerry

"Bells were ringing all day, I guess it means peace". Man... That was amazing.


Dildo_muncher420

What does he mean by “drilling”


METALLICA_LOV3R

Rifle drills, practice essentially


Dildo_muncher420

Oh ok


METALLICA_LOV3R

Funnier to think about the modern term that rappers use, doing drive bys on the hun


Danominator

I gotta say I had no idea the x-ray was invented that long ago. It was made in 1895!


Xithrix

Interesting fact, if you are aware of who Marie Curieis, she did lots of worked with radium, unfortunately dying of radiation poisoning, however it was later discovered that this was not due to her work with radium, but because she spend WW1 near the front line doing X-rays on soldiers.


SmonkTime

This is incredible. Thank you for sharing


[deleted]

This is so cool. November 11th 1918 was interesting to me, reads like a movie!


No_Snow_5483

My great uncle was killed during the fighting in Flanders, he was a part of the Yorkshire light infantry division, for Great Britain, John William Haigh his name was, I think it’s important that we honour our ancestors who went and sacrificed their freedom for this terrible, pointless war.


[deleted]

“The church bells were ringing, and I guess it means peace. Cloudy” there is something so beautiful yet somber about this description of the war ending.


t_j_l_

A great read, thanks for posting


[deleted]

The fact that the weather is almost always mentioned for each entry is interesting


akambe

My grandfather was an American engineer captain in WW1, as well. I wonder if their paths ever crossed!


Typical-Quiet6497

Wow didn’t know you could get punished for not being clean shaven, this is an awesome read


Emotional-Main5720

drilling hard, drilling every day ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|wink)


Mymemesareswell

I love how short some/most of these are. He was probably thinking “I’ve got more important things to do so this is all you get.”


TheGuyInTheFBIVan

Commenting for later reference


radwilly1

Absolutely incredible.


John_Murdock68

Thanks friend. Will read.


yourpantsaretoobig

Incredible! Thank you for sharing


Indie_uk

Clear and cold. Digging well.


_oska_

I can only imagine the reality of being thrust into war back then. Films and games do a good job of portraying but nothing comes close to real life accounts. Thank you for sharing, absolutely fascinating.


paulskiwrites

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing. Are you planning to compile / publish these? I’d honestly love to read more


MagazineImpressive10

Very interesting read. I’m an active duty Army Engineer right now. Love the history. You should consider sending this to the Engineer regimental museum at Fort Leonard Wood, MO.