If you’re a long time follower of this blog, you may remember Dennis Cross’ frequent re- posts from his blog “Centennial Countdown to the Great War”. This was a condensed news report covering events every month from 1911 to 1920, as viewed from a 21st Century perspective.
Author: James Patton (Page 1 of 36)
James (“Jim”) Patton BS BA MPA is a retired state official from Shawnee, Kansas and a frequent contributor to several WW1 e-publications, including "Roads to the Great War," "St. Mihiel Tripwire," "Over the Top" and "Medicine in the First World War." He has spent many hours walking the WW1 battlefields, and is also an authority on British regiments and a collector of their badges.
An Army Engineer during the Vietnam War, he does work for the US World War 1 Centennial Commission and has memberships in the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Indian Military Historical Society and the Salonika Campaign Society.
Beginning on Memorial Day, every evening until Veteran’s Day “Taps” will be played at the flagpole by a lone bugler. You can read more about this by clicking here.
It is envisioned that this could become a regular, even permanent occurrence, sort of like the playing of the Last Post at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission site in Ypres, Belgium. You can read about the Last Post ceremony by clicking here.
Take the “Insider Tour” by clicking here. Bear in mind that the 58 foot wide bronze sculpture panels won’t be installed until 2024.
Events in June that you can access remotely will be:
Mademoiselle & the American Soldier on Sat. June 5th at 10:30AM CDT. This is a Zoom lecture and you can register by visiting this link.
Pershing Lecture: The Imperial German Air Service on Tues. June 8th at 8:00PM CDT You can watch this on You Tube at this link:
WW1-era US Submarine wreck found
Searchers say that they have located the wreck of the R-Class submarine R-8, later designated SS-85, which was intentionally sunk in 1936 during naval exercises off of the Delmarva Peninsula. In all, twenty-seven R-Class boats were built under non-cancellable contracts issued in April, 1917. Thirteen R-Class boats were launched prior to the Armistice but none were commissioned in time to see war service. The R-8 itself was commissioned on July 21st, 1919. You can read more about this by clicking here.
Cecilia “Cece” Otto is a classically-trained singer and composer originally from Minnesota. In 2013 she started An American Songline, in her words “an ongoing project dedicated to preserving and sharing the story of America through unique, experiential musical performances”. The website says “these performances entertain, educate and delight thanks to Cece’s unique ability to engage modern audiences with the songs and stories of a simpler time.”
Norway was a brand-new country in 1914 – it had been only nine years since the nation was spun off from Sweden. Small in population and economically insignificant, Norway sat on the sidelines while the great powers of the day went to total war. How easy was it for Norway to remain neutral? Andrew McKay has this to say:
Most of us have become familiar with the concept of a Jihad. On November 14th, 1914, the influential religious leader of the Ottoman Caliphate known as the Sheikh-ul-Islam, declared a Jihad, urging all Muslims to rise up and defend the Ottoman Empire, a protector of Islam, against its enemies Britain, France, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro:
Today protective headgear is ubiquitous in American industry. This dates from 1919, when recently discharged 1st Lt. E.W. Bullard devised the first “Hard Boiled Hat”, patterned after the Doughboy’s M1917 ‘Brodie’ pattern helmets. Bullard’s hats were somewhat different from the WW1 helmets but, as the photograph above shows, many others were virtually identical. You can read all about this by clicking here.
The following virtual programs are upcoming from the National WW1 Museum and Memorial:
Tues. April 6th 7:00 CDT Pershing Lecture Series: The Armenian Massacres
Tues. April 13th 7:00 CDT Modernity and Culture Change
Sun. April 18th 2:00 PM CDT Lawrence of Arabia: A Life and a Legacy Part 1