This is a U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph taken some time in December, 1918 at Virton, Belgium, which is about 20 miles east of Stenay, France where the 353rd ‘All Kansas’ Infantry was situated in the Armistice line of Nov. 11th. The object to the right of the ‘scarecrow’ may be an unused Stielhandgranate anti-personnel grenade, which may show the casual attitude of the soldiers towards danger.

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 is affiliated with the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Salonika Campaign Society and the Gallipoli Association.