Commemorating the First World War Centennial in Kansas
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.
Duty beyond the Battlefield Thursday June 16th 7:00 CDT Youtube
As always this lecture is free but you should register here.
The American Veteran’s Traveling Tribute will be at the National; WW1 Museum in Kansas City, MO from May 19th through May 30th. The 80% scale replica of the Vietnam Wall is a part of this exhibition, and there are tribute panels recognizing some of the fallen in all 20th and 21st century conflicts as well.
Coming up are Churchill in WW1 on May 2nd at 6:30 PM CDT and African American Service in WW1 on May 12th at 6:30 PM CDT. Both are on You Tube.
Winston Churchill took responsibility for the Gallipoli fiasco (click here to read more). After his resignation from the Admiralty, the Royal Naval Division (RND) was quickly shifted over to army command. Since at the time it had only one ‘naval’ brigade and the marine brigade, it was augmented by the addition of 190th Brigade, which included the 7th Royal Fusiliers, 4th Bedfords, 1/1st Honourable Artillery Co. (an infantry unit) and the 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Three of these battalions were Territorials and one was New Army. The RND was re-titled as the 63rd Division, and although this was the highest-numbered division in the British Expeditionary Force, it was the senior division in the order of precedence, as the navy is senior to the army. Thereafter, as the numbers of the ‘Naval’ brigades declined, they were replaced by soldiers.
This is a story that just doesn’t seem to end. After declaring the Spring Valley cleanup finished (click here to read about this), authorities in Washington, DC now have another WW1 chemical weapons dump site on their hands. You can read about this here. An in-depth explanation of how and why these sites came into existence and why there may be more still to be found can be read by clicking here.
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