CSNbbs

Full Version: 11th hour of 11th day of 11th month
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Today is the 90th aniversary of the day when the guns fell silent in Europe in World War One on November 11, 1918 at 11am local time in France (around 4am here). It is a time to remember those who fought in that war. I remember my grandfather and great-uncle who went over there with the 36th Division (Texas-Oklahoma National Guard). They both went into battle on October 8, 1918 when the 36th relieved the 2nd Division as part of the Fourth French Army offensive near the Meuse-Argonne (th the left of where the American Army was).

My grandfather died in January, 1964 so I was never old enough to discuss the war with him. He was gassed in the campaign but continued on in the war. My great-uncle told me about World War One. He was wounded in the arm that first day and spent the rest of the war in the hospital. He remembered about the division being housed in one of Napoleon's barracks when they went over to France.

I looked up the survivor list on Wiki. There only 10 known survivors of World War One in the World (One-Australia, One-Canada, Five-England, Two-France, One-United States). None fron the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey) has survivied.
I know the WWII history of my family and some of the Civil War history, but not really the WWI hsitory. I saw an interview with the remaining US vet. He was sharp as a tack. I just finished watching World at War (the BBC series about WWII). At the conclusion, Stephen Ambrose notes that WWI was essentially a European civil war, but when all was said and done after WWII, the two major victors were the US and the USSR.
If you want an amazing read, check out the WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier blog. I've been following this for over a year - this is an English gentleman who had found his grandfather's letters home during the war and published them on the day they were written exactly 90 years later. You followed along with his thoughts and communications to his loved ones. There was definitely an interesting current to following along, as you did not know if he would survive the war. It was also interesting to look at the war diary for the unit he was assigned to, which was also being published online at the time. That let you know when the fighting got bad and made you wonder if there would be any more letters.

Just the story of one English private during WW1. He was in Belgium/France in 1917 and in Italy in 1918. He definitely saw his share of action (and boredom). As I said, a fascinating read in his own style.
MSN.com has a feature on a 112 year old British veteran.
Reference URL's