Friday, 10 August 2018
Best Western Plus,
Hotel des Francs
Soissons, France
As we
departed the hotel, Mike introduced our first tour mate speaker for the
morning. John of Kalamazoo, Michigan,
spoke of his grandfather, Robert, who attended a patriotic rally with his
friends and they all enlisted. He served with a rolling kitchen, ration detail,
fed and tended horses and mules, had guard duty, burial detail, among other
duties. He served in the 32nd
Red Arrow Division as a supply soldier/119th Field Artillery. I
was fortunate enough to look at the book that John prepared for his family
based on his grandfather’s letters and diary. Grandfather Robert was sent to
the front with virtually no training. He was sent on a four day march, almost
90 miles, to assist the French in a flank attack in August 1918.
Our bus was in the area of Juvigny, near the
Juvigny Plateau. In 1918 the Germans occupied the village, the hill, and the
railroad. Pershing sent the 32nd Division in as shock troops to
storm through German defenses so that the effort to drive the Germans out of
France could be accomplished. The artillery unit suffered fire from the best enemy division
but were told to hold the line at all cost.
Robert
wrote of how in September two of his friends, 50 yards from his position, were
killed by heavy shell bombardment. He mourned the loss of his friends
throughout his life. Robert became a
graphic artist and sign painter-he died in 1962.
Robert’s
diary mentioned the “Christmas Box” and making a ring. I have written Archie’s
Christmas Box story, and I have the ring that I presume Archie made while in
service in France. In fact, I wore it on this trip.
Another speaker
was Mike V, of Texas, whose
grandfather, also in the 32nd
Division, was gassed during the war and received a Purple Heart. Mike said
that his grandfather became a government trapper in South Dakota and New Mexico
and died in 1944, when Mike’s father was in Saipan during World War II and was not
able to return home for the funeral.
Chateau de Blerancourt
We stopped
at Chateau de Blerancourt, headquarters for Ann Morgan after the war. Daughter
of J.P. Morgan, she vowed to help with restoring France. This French national
museum celebrates French- American friendship. The castle is restored and can
boast beautiful gardens. Originally built for Marie de Medici, wife of King Henry
IV, during the 1600s, Ann Morgan restored it and used it for the headquarters
and later a museum. Tim bought me a beautiful Limoges ring on which a poppy is
painted. I am so glad that we are seeing gift shops on this trip!
A view of Blerancourt-a moat surrounds the castle
"Go to it, Boys, I'm on my way," by Lucien Hector Jonas. 1917.
Two French and one English soldier, exhausted. The Statue of Liberty
symbolizes that America now takes up the flag and the fight for democracy and liberty.
A field ambulance
A stretcher--I wonder if it is like the one Archie used to carry his severely wounded officer
from the battle area
Compiegne Armistice Glade
This is one
of the best small museums I have ever seen and houses the rail car where the
World War I Armistice was signed, sort of [explanation later]. Compiegne is
busy preparing for the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice and a lot of
work was being done on the grounds. The first thing we saw was a room filled
with stereoscopes viewing stations for looking at very moving images of the
Great War, battles, trenches, destroyed churches, the Verdun 300 day battle,
all leaving no doubt of the hardship of living in the trenches and the
destruction of villages, their homes, churches, bridges, ruins, devastation,
grim faces. There were scenes of dead soldiers, dead horses, the wounded. Destruction.
The 3D effect tripled the feeling of seeing the horror, I cannot unsee the
images.
The
original rail car, a replacement, since the original was confiscated by the Germans
and taken to Berlin in 1940, was a highlight. Wagon-lit offered a rail car almost identical to the original after
the end of World War II, since the original car caught fire accidentally when
prisoners liberated from a concentration camp started a fire nearby to keep
warm and the fire spread. Everyone
agreed that this was a super stop.
Sign indicating our arrival at the Compiegne Armistice Glade
Explanation of the Armistice rail car
The German eagle impaled-- a monument near the Armistice museum created after the Great War to commemorate the heroic soldiers of France who defended their country and liberated Alsace and Lorraine.
When the Germans attacked France and occupied the country, they destroyed the original monument.
After World War II, this monument was rebuilt.
As our bus
rolls along, I can feel the group grow even more cohesive as we share a
phenomenal experience. At this moment in time we are immersed in the Great War
and our family connections. I did not
need to go to France to make new discoveries every day, but this trip totally
enriches our experience.
After lunch
at Boulangerie Marie Blachere, a ham
and cheese sandwich on delicious bread and a brownie for Tim, we headed toward
Chateau Thierry to focus on the 2nd and 3rd Divisions and
the action on the Marne River from late May to mid-July 1918.
As we travel through the area of the Battle of Chateau Thierry, we learned that it was
fought on July 18, 1918 and was one of the first actions of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
under General Pershing. It was a battle
in World War I as part of
the Second Battle of the Marne,
initially prompted by a German offensive launched on 15 July against the AEF,
an expeditionary force consisting of troops from both the Army and Marine
Corps, and the newest troops on the front.
On the morning of 18 July 1918, the French (some
of them colonial) and American forces
between Fontenoy and Chateau Thierry launched a
counter-assault under the overall direction of Allied General Foch against
the German positions. This assault on a
25-mile-wide front was the first in over a year. The American army played a
role fighting for the regions around Soissons and
Château-Thierry, in collaboration with predominantly French forces. The allied
forces had managed to keep their plans a secret, and their attack at 04:45 took
the Germans by surprise when the troops went "Over the Top" without a
preparatory artillery bombardment, but instead followed closely behind a
rolling barrage which began with great synchronized precision. Eventually, the
two opposing assaults (lines) inter-penetrated and individual American units
exercised initiative and continued fighting despite being nominally behind
enemy lines.
Monument to the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division
Each day we pass a couple German cemeteries. Young German men vist the cemeteries to take care of them.
Marne River
The
Marne is a river in France, an eastern tributary of the Seine in the area east
and southeast of Paris. It is 319 miles long. The river gave its name to the
departments of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne. The
geography of France does remind me of the terrain of Pennsylvania, although
Pennsylvania has more trees and more rolling hills. Farmland abounds in the
areas we are traveling from west of Paris to the Lorraine region adjacent to Germany.
Large rivers we have seen or will see include the Seine, Marne, Ourcq, Meuse,
and Moselle, and more!
Belleau Wood and the American Marines (1–26 June 1918)
Our bus circled the entire Belleau Wood Battlefield area where the United
States forces suffered 9,777 casualties, included 1,811 killed. Many are buried
in the nearby Aisne Marne American Cemetery.
After the battle, the French renamed the wood "Bois de la
Brigade de Marine" ("Wood of the Marine Brigade") in honor
of the Marines' tenacity. The French government also later awarded the 4th
Brigade the Croix de Guerre.
An official German report classified the Marines as "vigorous,
self-confident, and remarkable marksmen ..." General
Pershing—commander of the AEF—said, "The
deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle."
Pershing also said "the Battle of Belleau Wood was for the U.S. the
biggest battle since Appomatox and
the most considerable engagement American troops had ever had with a foreign
enemy."
Hunting Lodge today
We visited
the hunting lodge ruins at Belleau Wood and saw the open air artillery exhibit.
Some of the artillery on display
A church across from the Aisne Marne American Cemetery was destroyed but rebuilt
after the war in a new location by the 26th Marines. Stained glass
windows depict doughboys and there are lists of all men killed in World Wars I
and II from the 26th Marines.
Stained glass windows
Some names of the 26th Marines killed in war
The Devil Dog Fountain is across the road
from the church – legend has it that if a Marine drinks from this fountain, he has
a long life. Of course, we all drank from this fountain.
U.S. Navy veteran, Tim, and the Devil Dog Fountain
Tour mate
Robin of Cleveland spoke of his grandfather, a Marine who served from 1918 to
1922. He was rushed to the front on June 21st, camped in the woods, and
marched all night and day to Soissons. However, he “fell out” and did not make
it to the battle. After Soissons, he was a stretcher bearer.
Tour mate
Bob from Georgia spoke of his great uncle who was a Marine during World War I,
too.
Aisne Marne Memorial
Map etched on the opposite side of the memorial--the U.S. Army 28th Division was
part of the war here-note Fismes-Fismette
As a side note, Adolf Hitler, the
future Fuhrer of Nazi Germany,
earned and was awarded the Iron Cross First Class at
Soissons on August 4, 1918.
TK’s Takes: He noticed a male ring neck pheasant in field.
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