There are at least fifteen former naval vessels that saw service during the WW1 era that are currently preserved as museums, in twelve different countries. This number seems surprising since WW1 was not much of a naval war and none of these are U-Boats. Nevertheless, here they are, by order of their year of construction:
Kansas WW1
Commemorating the First World War Centennial in Kansas
Author: James Patton (page 1 of 25)
Vera Brittain (1893 – 1970) was born to a middle class family and was unusually well-educated for a woman of her time. In 1915 she left her Oxford studies and joined the Voluntary Aid Detachments (known as the VAD’s), an auxiliary whose members assisted nurses in wartime hospitals. After postings to England and Malta, she was sent to General Hospital No. 24 in Etaples, France, where she served from August 3rd, 1917 to April 29th, 1918. You can read more about Vera, her brother Edward and her friends here.
Here’s a link to Edward Lengyel’s blog, in which he tells about Vira Whitehouse (1875 – 1957. An early Feminist, she spearheaded the four-year- campaign in New York that resulted in women getting the right to vote in state elections in November 1917.
In 1918 she was named the head of the Switzerland office of George Creel’s Committee on Public Information, an important post because the only uncensored German language newspapers in Europe were Swiss. She also worked on women’s rights issues with the European activist Rosika Schwimmer (1877-1948), who was the Hungarian ambassador in Bern. In 1920 Vira published her memoirs of her Swiss experience, titled A Year as a Government Agent.
The Pershing Park Memorial project’s architect Joseph Weishaar returned to his alma mater recently and gave this interview to the local newspaper.
Here’s a link to a collection of documents translated and compiled as a part of The Gallipoli Centenary Research Project at MacQuarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Here’s another link, this to The Turkish Cultural Foundation, where you can read a 98 page history of the entire Dardenelles Campaign written by Dr. Recep Boztemur of the Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Of particular interest are the discussions of why the Ottoman army never used gas and their use of female volunteer soldiers, particularly as snipers.
Of the 70 or so Renault FT-17 tanks still in existence, one is in running condition. This machine is at The Museum of the American G.I., which is located near College Station, TX. Click here to see a clip of the FT-17 in operation.
For a complete history of the Renault FT-17 tank, click here.
The U.S. Navy became aware that the range of certain U-Boats included the U.S. East Coast in October 1916. You can read about U-53’s unexpected visit to Narragansett Bay here.
Laid down in 1902 the U.S.S. San Diego (ACR-6), originally the U.S.S. California, was one of a class of six vessels intended to be battleships but the launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 rendered them obsolescent in that role so they were reclassified as a type of cruiser. You can read more about the San Diego here.
During World War 1 nearly 11,000 women who weren’t nurses served in the U.S. Navy in non-combatant roles. You can read about them here.
Agatha Christie DBE (1890 – 1976), a/k/a Lady Mallowan by her second marriage, was the author of 66 novels and 14 short story collections, mostly murder mysteries. She also wrote 27 stage plays, one of which, The Mousetrap, has been running in London since November of 1952, a total of well over 27,000 performances and counting.
This epic contest was played between the 89th Division and the 36th Division. This article from Kansas History describes the event and you will learn that it was somewhat of a Kansas vs. Oklahoma game. Please read the link; I won’t tell you who won.
© 2019 Kansas WW1
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑