The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Giavera Memorial to the Missing and Cemetery are located in the Piave River valley about twelve miles northeast of Treviso, Italy. There are 417 graves and a large stone plaque listing 151 names under the inscription:
Kansas WW1
Commemorating the First World War Centennial in Kansas
PBS will again air the American Experience documentary, The Great War, beginning on June 19th. The three part series will then air in successive weeks on June 26th and July 3rd. For stations serving Kansas, the series will be broadcast from 8:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central, with the exception of KOOD, which will air it from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Readers outside of Kansas should check their local PBS stations’ schedules.
In a previous post I discussed the popularized event known as the KINDERMORD VON YPERN, where the German ‘student battalions’ rashly attacked en masse, supposedly singing Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, the first verse of Das Lied der Deutschen (“The Song of the Germans”), a rowdy Pan German song favored by students in beer halls. Long after the Christian symbolism of the inspirational sacrifice of beloved youth had grown old, the song was still on everyone’s lips.
100 years ago in Kansas, June 18 – 30, 1918.
June 18, 1918.
-Topeka business and professional men organized a twilight harvest crew and shocked 20 acres of wheat which belonged to a farmer – soldier in France.
June 19, 1918.
-Pvt. Louis Kopelin, former editor of the Appeal to Reason, Girard, was one of a commission of seven Socialists sent from Camp Funston to allied countries to counteract German influence among laboring classes.
This weekend on C-SPAN3 some new programs are offered about the World War I experiences of some noted World War II figures. These three programs were part of a symposium held by the MacArthur Memorial at Norfolk, Virginia. That probably gives you a clue as to one of the three figures discussed!
Langemark is a village in West Flanders, Belgium that was the site of three engagements in the First World War. Towards the end of the First Battle of Ypres, Oct. 21st– November 14th, 1914, the German command sensed a weak spot in the British defenses here and rashly sent inexperienced German reservists of the XXVI Corps in Napoleonic-style waves against Tommy Atkins and the Mad Minute, resulting in heavy casualties. On April 22nd, 1915, at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans used gas for the first time on the Western Front near here, panicking French colonial troops into a retreat that was stopped by the Canadians at Frezenberg Ridge. Finally, during the second phase of the Third Battle of Ypres (August 16th -18th, 1917), also called the Passchendaele Offensive, British units pushed the Germans out of Langemark but lost momentum and the ANZAC’s had to be brought in to get to the top of the ridge.
There is one program on World War I that will appear on C-SPAN3 this weekend. As usual, the times here are Central.
–Political & Military Leaders & the End of World War I. Naval War College professor John Maurer discusses the piece that came at the end of World War I and how it led to World War II. It airs at 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, and repeats at 5:25 a.m Sunday morning.
100 years ago in Kansas, June 10 – 13, 1918.
June 10, 1918.
-A “yellow-paint squad” at Potter daubed all buildings in which one of its residents had an interest. Included were an elevator, residence, garage and bank. The owner was charged with hoarding flour, retarding Liberty bond and Red Cross drives, and consorting with “off-colored persons.”
Many of you know that during World War 1 the British soldiers were known as “Tommies” and the Americans as “Doughboys”. But did you ever wonder where these sobriquets came from?
As for ‘Tommy’, there is a charming story that the Duke of Wellington came up with the term, in memory of an outstanding soldier in his command who died in heroic circumstances in 1794, but the actual source is considered to be from The Soldier’s Account Book, issued by the War Office beginning in 1815. At the head of each page there was a sample ‘filled-in’ line that the clerks could use as a template, and this sample soldier was named “Thomas Atkins”.
Much has been said about how the military strategists of 1914 failed to appreciate the effect of the profound developments in weapons technology that came about starting in the 1880’s. Machine guns are most often mentioned, with quick-firing artillery next on the list, but often overlooked are the lowly rifles, a new generation of which were accurate to 1,000 yards and capable of sustained fire in excess of ten rounds per minute, with box magazines and stripper clips for fast loading.
© 2018 Kansas WW1
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑