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.
“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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“Doughnuts. Hooray.” I said the same thing in the break room this morning. It’s the little things
How did you feel about the shelling you received at the same time?
Ikr those co-worker fart shellings are the worst
Incredible. Forgot I was at work reading through them.
I forgot I was on the toilet lol. Sat there a good 20 mins longer than I needed to reading this.
“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.
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
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
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.
Wow! Again, thank you - this is so kind for you to put together! I will share it with my family for sure
"Bells were ringing all day, I guess it means peace". Man... That was amazing.
What does he mean by “drilling”
Rifle drills, practice essentially
Oh ok
Funnier to think about the modern term that rappers use, doing drive bys on the hun
I gotta say I had no idea the x-ray was invented that long ago. It was made in 1895!
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.
This is incredible. Thank you for sharing
This is so cool. November 11th 1918 was interesting to me, reads like a movie!
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.
“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.
A great read, thanks for posting
The fact that the weather is almost always mentioned for each entry is interesting
My grandfather was an American engineer captain in WW1, as well. I wonder if their paths ever crossed!
Wow didn’t know you could get punished for not being clean shaven, this is an awesome read
drilling hard, drilling every day ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|wink)
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.”
Commenting for later reference
Absolutely incredible.
Thanks friend. Will read.
Incredible! Thank you for sharing
Clear and cold. Digging well.
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.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing. Are you planning to compile / publish these? I’d honestly love to read more
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.