The National Guard traces its existence to December 13th, 1636. These citizen soldiers have served in all of our nation’s conflicts, and in the First World War the 26th through 42nd Divisions of the American Expeditionary Force were composed of Guardsmen. You can read more about this here. Happy Birthday to the Guard!
Kansas WW1
Commemorating the First World War Centennial in Kansas
We slip to one World War I program on C-SPAN3 this weekend, and it’s a repeat from last week. Time is Central, of course:
–World War I, African Americans and Civil Rights. Airs at 7:45 a.m Saturday morning, December 14th.
There are still four talks, I believe, from the National World War I Museum and Memorial’s annual symposium held in November. That includes Margaret Macmillan’s keynote. For those of you who couldn’t make the symposium, hopefully the remaining sessions will be aired soon.
This week’s schedule includes some repeats from last week, and one new program offered. All times are Central.
–America Aid in Post-World War I Europe, 1919-1924. From the Annual Symposium at the National WWI Museum and Memorial. Tammy Proctor. Airs at 11:55 a.m. Saturday morning, December 7th.
In this recorded lecture Stephen Badsey Ph. D (Cambridge) FRHistR, for 19 years a professor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and now on the faculty at the University of Wolverhampton, discusses the myths and misconceptions that have passed down to us about World War 1. Click here to see the whole presentation on YouTube. Settle in, though, because it lasts over 47 minutes.
We have two movies with a World War I theme this month on Turner Classic Movies, and I’m pretty sure we’ve listed them before. As usual, all times are Central.
–Waterloo Bridge (1940). With Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. Airs on Sunday, December 29th at 7:00 a.m.
A superb documentary film about the Lafayette Escadrille premiered on November 9th at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Ohio. Read the whole story by clicking here.
Also well worth a read is the 2007 monograph entitled Like a Thunderbolt, produced by the Air Force Historical Studies Office. You can download it here, courtesy of The Doughboy Center.
Good news! Tomorrow evening (Nov. 27) C-SPAN3 will begin airing the talks from the annual symposium of the National World War I Museum and Memorial held earlier this month in Kansas City. It looks like there are a few talks that will be aired at a later time, including Margaret MacMillan’s keynote address.
In the spring of last year John Singer Sargent’s iconic work was displayed at the National World War 1 Museum in Kansas City.
The famous photograph shown above, also from the Imperial War Museum Collection, may have inspired Sargent. The image was taken at an Advance Dressing Station near Béthune, France on April 10th, 1918.The gassed soldiers are from the 55th (West Lancashire) Division, a territorial force formation, which single-handedly stopped a German advance towards the vital rail center at Hazebrouck. The 55th had been paired with the Portuguese 2nd Division, which quickly broke into a full rout, leaving the ‘terriers’ alone in the line for over three days. Although the combat was intense, they didn’t yield.
Theatre Latte Da from Minneapolis, MN, has made a Christmas tradition of a musical they created based on the 1914 Christmas Truce. This has been very successful for them, and in past years they’ve had a touring company as well as the production in the home theater.
It’s good to see there are still some museums in Kansas that are recognizing the Great War, even as the Centennial winds down. The Butler County Historical Society in El Dorado recently opened an exhibit with the above title. The Butler County Times Gazette ran a few photographs from the opening:
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