Friday, November 30, 2018
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
St. Joan D'Arc, Notre Dame de Paris
Memorial to St. Joan D'Arc, the patron saint of France, at the Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris.
MKTH photographs.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Parisian Railway Workers Memorial, Paris France
A memorial to Parisian railway workers for World War One. Photo by MKTH.
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Hommage aux combattants parisiens de la Grande Guerre. Paris France
94,415 flowers planted in honor of the 94,415 Parisians killed in combat in World War One.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Le Grande Tombe de Villaroy, Île-de-France, France.
This monument in the Île-de-France region of France marks an ossuary which contains the remains of, among others, French poet Charles Peguy.
Peguy was a 32 year old Lieutenant in the 19e compagnie du 276e régiment d'infanterie when he was killed at the Chauconin-Neufmontiers on September 5, 1914. His remains, and that of 133 other French soldiers, killed in the same battle are interned in this common grave. The remains include those of solders who were part of the 231e 246e 276e regiments. There are, not surprisingly, over 30 remains from unidentified French soldiers.
The monument was erected in 1932.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Korea and Vietnam War Memorial, Wheatland Wyoming
This is the a memorial to the servicemen of Platte County, Wyoming, who served in the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
Oddly, it depicts a solider carrying a M1917 Enfield, which hadn't seen service since World War Two, and which is much more associated with World War One.. Additionally, the soldier depicted is wearing the short jacket usually referred to as an "Ike" Jacket, which came in right at the end of World War Two and which went out of service in the 1950s.
The memorial is located at the Platte County Public Library.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Courthouses of the West: Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming. Platte County, Wyoming Centennial.
Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming
I've photographed this courthouse and its features at least three times. The first time was on a dreary July day in 2011. I did it again in May 2014. These most recent photographs are from November 2018.
A difference over this period of time is that a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Platte County, which was in 1911, was put in. Additionally, a nice sidewalk clock was added on the walkway to the entrance of the courthouse.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Courthouses of the West: Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming. The Irrigator
Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming
This is the Platte County Courthouse located in Platte County's seat, Wheatland Wyoming. The courthouse, in addition to housing the county court for Platte County, also houses one of the four courtrooms of Wyoming's 8th Judicial District, with the others being located in Douglas, Lusk and Torrington. The courthouse was built in 1917, and somewhat uniquely it has a monument dedicated to farmers called "The Irrigator". The Statute of Liberty is a monument for Platte County World War Two servicemen.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Platte County Wyoming World War Two Service memorial
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Lex Anteinternet: World War One Ends. November 11, 1918, 1100 (0400...
World War One Ends. November 11, 1918, 1100 (0400 MST).
"To Our Hero's". Cemetery Wall in Paris, France. France's contribution to the Allied victory in World War One surpasses that of any other Allied nation. . .something you'd sometimes not realize if you only read the English language accounts of the war. MKTH photograph.
On this date in 1918, the Great War came to an end.*
Usually such posts are highly retrospective, and I suppose this one will be to a degree, but not in the "oh what a terrible waste" fashion that so many of them are. The "Oh, What A Lovely War" view of the war popularized by the posthumous post World War Two publication of Siegfried Sassoon's poetry is largely baloney.** In reality, the view taken earlier, that Germany was a horrible world menace on the European stage ruled by its military and a few autocrats who cared little about the rivers of blood they were spilling in order to impose Germany's imperial will on Europe is much closer to reality.
Indeed, its telling that in order to being the peace about, it had to occur in the context of a German revolution. That revolution threatened for a time to make former Imperial Germany into a communist Soviet state, and put the new provisional government in the position of having to put down a left wing revolution. That alignment, and the unrepentant view of Germany's hard right and its military would guaranty a second war, not the supposedly "harsh" terms of the Versailles Treaty. A hard won victory, therefore, would not bring lasting peace, but that too really isn't for the reasons so often cited.
Indeed, had the provisions of the Versailles Treaty been more strictly enforced, World War Two would not have come about. And had the conditions of the treaty been arrived upon more quickly, when Germans had no choice but to admit that they'd been fully defeated on the battlefield and the revolution only saved Germany from the Allies entering German soil in action, as they did in 1945, the excuse that the treaty became would not have occurred. And the treaty did become a German excuse, and the "stabbed in the back" myth would arise, but more than anything it was the smashing of the Old Order that brought about the second war.
But was the collapse of the imperial order in nations that had not moved sufficiently towards democratic rule as populations moved from rural peasantry towards industrial laborers that really created the mess that would result in World War Two.
Almost every European nation had faced this in some fashion, but some had handled it much better. Nations like Germany, Austro Hungaria, and Russia, however, had not. Indeed, they'd not only failed to accommodate the new world of a more educated working class, but in Germany's case they'd actually arrived upon an autocratic imperial state late. Nations like France and Germany, in contrast, had moved more and more towards real democratic rule much earlier, and therefore the forces that would gather in the vacuum of the demise of the Old Order would not impact them in the same degree, or indeed in the democratic UK, at all.
In nations like Germany, Russia and (for WWI Allied) Japan, however, the demise of the Old Order would create a vacuum that would be filled by a vicious extreme forces, communistic or fascistic in nature, that opposed democratic rule and glorified martial violence. In some places those forces would oppose any hint at restoring the Old Order, as in Russia, in others they'd co-opt elements of it, as in Italy. In all such places, the result was to bring about disaster in every form.
When that war came, much of what the world had become acclimated to in the First World War would play out in horrific fashion. And much of that can be blamed on Germany, which had often acted just as barbarously in the Great War as they were to act in World War Two.
Germany had in large measure brought that defeat in the Great War upon itself. While people like to look back for some reason and imagine the Germany military of World War One and World War Two as hyper competent, quite the opposite was often true. While the Spring 1918 offensive was absolutely brilliant, Germany's dithering with the collapse of Russia guaranteed that a million men it desperately need on the Western Front would not be available. If Germany was stabbed in the back, it's own autocratic class and military leadership did the stabbing, as Germany set about advancing in a country it had already defeated and had helped push into civil war. It acted as if it had won the war, when in fact it had not.
Officers of the newly crated Third Army which was formed in France too late to see combat, but which would go on to occupation duty in Germany.
Of course the arms of the Western Allies cannot be ignored in that role. The ability of the British to rebound in the face of the 1918 offensive was magnificent, even if the common British view that they seemingly won the war on their own is exaggerated. The long suffering French deserve huge credit for the defense of their own country and carrying the war through to the end, which included the contribution of Marshall Foch whose coordinating the efforts of the Allies was a monumentally difficult task.
Drafted inductees into the U.S. Army, Los Angeles California, November 11, 1918. The U.S. continued to draft right up until the end of the war. I don't know what happened to men brought in this late.
And the US deserves much more credit than it is typically given by non American historians even if its military leadership deserves much more criticism than American ones will give it. The surprising ability of the U.S. to create a 4,000,000 man Army in just over a year's time, and to deploy 2,000,000 of them to France (and Italy) was a stunning achievement. The individual fighting qualities of the American soldier were also hugely impressive, although much of that was due to the soldier being very green and, frankly, poorly lead.
Paris crowd, November 11, 1918.
The U.S. Army, in fact, was committed to action in a manner that was to prove wasteful of lives as the American leadership persisted in the belief that there were no lessons to be learned from the Allies. The American effort was only able to get away with this as the Army was thrown into action at a time when massive force was likely to prevail against the Germans, even if it proved to be hugely costly. Indeed, real questions should be raised as to why the American leadership continued to persist in this fashion when even the very early efforts demonstrated how bloody such actions would be, even if the American willingness to endure the bloodshed, much like the Union's willingness to endure it in the latter half of the Civil War, guaranteed that an Allied victory would occur.***
American Red Cross works gathering in London for a parade, November 11, 1918, in honor of the war's end.
And it did so bring it about, even if it did not do so single-handedly. That sacrifice should not be forgotten.
_________________________________________________________________________________
*Before anyone points it out, yes I know that a state of war continued on until the execution of the Versailles Treaty, or even later if you consider that the US had to declare the war to be over unilaterally after the U.S. refused to enter into the treaty. Indeed, I've already been "corrected" on that once.
Well, whatever, but the war ended on this day. Germany wasn't going back to fighting under any circumstances, and couldn't, after entering into the Armistice on this day.
**The morose British war poet view of the war is largely a post World War Two view of it that reflects more than anything the state of the British mind following World War Two, which left Britain with an empire that it obviously was going to leave and with an utterly wrecked economy.
***The U.S. Navy, on the other hand, was really effectively commanded in the Great War and contributed enormously to a reduction of the effectiveness of German submarines. It's role, however, is largely forgotten.
Postscript
This day is also marked as Polish independence day, although it would be just as easy to pick a date several weeks earlier and indeed would perhaps be more accurate as various Polish political bodies had declared independence from Russia and Germany by this time.
There are several sad deaths often noted about the day. Augustin Trebuchon was the last French soldier to die in the war. He was 40 years old and had joined the French Army in August, 1914. A shepherd by trade, he'd fought the entire war. He had occupied the role of messenger throughout the war and knew that an agreement had been signed even when his unit went into action that morning, committed to an attack even with the knowledge that peace was likely to be soon agreed upon. That battle went on until 6:00 p.m., a good seven hours after the armistice had been signed, when the unit received word that the fighting had ended. French officials originally recorded his death as November 10, as they were embarrassed to admit that they had been fighting when peace was imminent.
George Lawrence Price was the last Canadian soldier killed. The 25 year old private originally from Nova Scotia was killed in a small unit action by a German sniper when they were reconnoitering some Belgian houses and discovered German machinegunners. He'd come into the Canadian army as a conscript the prior year, having been conscripted from his then home in Saskatchewan.
Private George Edwin Ellison was the last British soldier killed. The British cavalryman, age 40, had served for a time as a per war soldier and had been recalled into his old unit, the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, in 1914.
Charles I, the Austro Hungarian Emperor, announced he would give up the Austrian crown. He would do the same in regards to Hungary two days later. He never actually abdicated in hopes he'd be recalled. He wasn't.
Counter campaigns against Dutch socialist occured in the Hague.
British, Canadian and American troops, numbering about 600, engaged with a Red Army force of 2,500 at Tulgas, where the Armistice had no effect. About 1/2 the force were Americans. The combined unit had been attacked but after two days launched an Assault, 20th Maine at Gettysburg style, and drove the much larger Red unit back. Red Army casualties nearly exceeded the number of men total in the Allied force.
Postscript
This day is also marked as Polish independence day, although it would be just as easy to pick a date several weeks earlier and indeed would perhaps be more accurate as various Polish political bodies had declared independence from Russia and Germany by this time.
There are several sad deaths often noted about the day. Augustin Trebuchon was the last French soldier to die in the war. He was 40 years old and had joined the French Army in August, 1914. A shepherd by trade, he'd fought the entire war. He had occupied the role of messenger throughout the war and knew that an agreement had been signed even when his unit went into action that morning, committed to an attack even with the knowledge that peace was likely to be soon agreed upon. That battle went on until 6:00 p.m., a good seven hours after the armistice had been signed, when the unit received word that the fighting had ended. French officials originally recorded his death as November 10, as they were embarrassed to admit that they had been fighting when peace was imminent.
George Lawrence Price was the last Canadian soldier killed. The 25 year old private originally from Nova Scotia was killed in a small unit action by a German sniper when they were reconnoitering some Belgian houses and discovered German machinegunners. He'd come into the Canadian army as a conscript the prior year, having been conscripted from his then home in Saskatchewan.
Private George Edwin Ellison was the last British soldier killed. The British cavalryman, age 40, had served for a time as a per war soldier and had been recalled into his old unit, the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, in 1914.
Charles I, the Austro Hungarian Emperor, announced he would give up the Austrian crown. He would do the same in regards to Hungary two days later. He never actually abdicated in hopes he'd be recalled. He wasn't.
Counter campaigns against Dutch socialist occured in the Hague.
British, Canadian and American troops, numbering about 600, engaged with a Red Army force of 2,500 at Tulgas, where the Armistice had no effect. About 1/2 the force were Americans. The combined unit had been attacked but after two days launched an Assault, 20th Maine at Gettysburg style, and drove the much larger Red unit back. Red Army casualties nearly exceeded the number of men total in the Allied force.
Lex Anteinternet: Lest We Forget.
Lest We Forget.
Memorials to the veterans of the Great War. Lest we forget.
Memorial at the Episcopal Cathedral in Laramie, WY to the war dead of World War One. This memorial has, unfortunately, been vandalized.
This is the sign for World War One. This particular sign is unfortunately incomplete in terms of its information, as the sign maker was apparently unaware of the role of the Wyoming National Guard in the war. If you read the sign, you would be left with the impression that the Guard had little or no role, when in fact it was called up prior to the war for the Mexican border crisis, and it served as heavy artillery during World War One.
Indeed, the role of the Army National Guard is sadly lacking at this memorial in general, which is ironic given the strong presence of the Army National Guard in most Wyoming towns during the 20th Century, and the Air National Guard in Cheyenne. Only the Army National Guard's service in the Korean War is really featured in the park's displays.
A World War One trench mortar is on display at the park.
Monument dedicated to the Great War.
Gun monument dedicated to the veterans of all wars.
Gun monument dedicated to the veterans of the Spanish American War.
This is a monument just inside the doors of the Wyoming State Capitol.
An unfortunate aspect of this memorial is that it is not specific for the war dead it commemorates. Given the number of names, and the lack of a conflict being identified, my presumption is that it commemorates those who were lost in World War One.
This is the the memorial for the Ferdinand Brandstetter American Legion Post in Van Tassel, Wyoming. This was the location of the first American Legion post in the United States. The town must have been much larger at the time, as it hardly even exists now, and the legion post very obviously no longer exist. The American Legion was formed in Paris immediately following World War One, for veterans of that war, and had very active participation almost immediately from veterans of the Great War.
This is a memorial in Hanna Wyoming dedicated to all from the region who served in World War One. Hanna is a very small town today, and the number of names on this memorial is evidence of the town once being significantly more substantially sized than it presently is.
The memorial is located on what was the Lincoln Highway at the time, but which is now a Carbon County Highway. This was likely a central town location at the time the memorial was placed.
Not every memorial featured here is attractive. That's not the point of the blog. Here's one such example. The Ira W. Brannan Memorial Pool.
World War One Memorial, Episcopal Cathedral, Laramie Wyoming
Memorial at the Episcopal Cathedral in Laramie, WY to the war dead of World War One. This memorial has, unfortunately, been vandalized.
World War One Memorial, Courthouse, Evanston Wyoming
Veterans Park, Casper Wyoming
This is the sign for World War One. This particular sign is unfortunately incomplete in terms of its information, as the sign maker was apparently unaware of the role of the Wyoming National Guard in the war. If you read the sign, you would be left with the impression that the Guard had little or no role, when in fact it was called up prior to the war for the Mexican border crisis, and it served as heavy artillery during World War One.
Indeed, the role of the Army National Guard is sadly lacking at this memorial in general, which is ironic given the strong presence of the Army National Guard in most Wyoming towns during the 20th Century, and the Air National Guard in Cheyenne. Only the Army National Guard's service in the Korean War is really featured in the park's displays.
A World War One trench mortar is on display at the park.
Society of the Military Horse: Great War Memorials
On Society of the Military Horse, Great War Memorials.Wyoming State Veteran's Home. Buffalo Wyoming
Monument dedicated to the Great War.
Gun monument dedicated to the veterans of all wars.
Gun monument dedicated to the veterans of the Spanish American War.
Roll of Honor, Wyoming State Capitol
This is a monument just inside the doors of the Wyoming State Capitol.
An unfortunate aspect of this memorial is that it is not specific for the war dead it commemorates. Given the number of names, and the lack of a conflict being identified, my presumption is that it commemorates those who were lost in World War One.
Ferdinand Brandstetter Post #1. First American Legion Post in the United States. Van Tassell Wyoming
World War One Service Memorial, Hanna Wyoming
This is a memorial in Hanna Wyoming dedicated to all from the region who served in World War One. Hanna is a very small town today, and the number of names on this memorial is evidence of the town once being significantly more substantially sized than it presently is.
The memorial is located on what was the Lincoln Highway at the time, but which is now a Carbon County Highway. This was likely a central town location at the time the memorial was placed.
State of Wyoming, Veterans Memorial Park, Cody Wyoming
This is the State of Wyoming's Veterans Memorial Park in Cody, Wyoming. It memorializes all of those lost in war from Wyoming, from World War One on. Each war from World War one on, has its own section.
It's a really nice memorial park, so perhaps a person shouldn't offer criticism, but it's odd that the Spanish American War is omitted. Wyoming did loose men during the Spanish American War, and likely did during the Philippine Insurrection as well. A person might arguably also include the Indian Wars, although there were never any units raised in any fashion during the Indian Wars which participated in them, which is not surprising given the small population in the state at the time. So the omission of the Indian Wars is not surprising.
It's a really nice memorial park, so perhaps a person shouldn't offer criticism, but it's odd that the Spanish American War is omitted. Wyoming did loose men during the Spanish American War, and likely did during the Philippine Insurrection as well. A person might arguably also include the Indian Wars, although there were never any units raised in any fashion during the Indian Wars which participated in them, which is not surprising given the small population in the state at the time. So the omission of the Indian Wars is not surprising.
World War One
Sweetwater County World War One Memorial, Bunning Park, Rock Springs Wyoming
This is the World War One monument in Rock Springs Wyoming. Dedicated to the Sweetwater County fallen in the war, it is located in Bunning Park, which was dedicated by a mayor of the city for which the park is named. Perhaps somewhat ironically, Peter Bunning was German by birth and had served in the German army before immigrating to Denmark, and then on to the United States, where he became a highly successful Sweetwater County businessman.
The doughboy statue itself is of a design that was widely manufactured following the First World War for memorials.
It can't help be noted that there are a surprisingly large number of names on this memorial, given the short amount of time that the United States had troops in action during the Great War, and given that Sweetwater County's population would not have been large.
The doughboy statue itself is of a design that was widely manufactured following the First World War for memorials.
It can't help be noted that there are a surprisingly large number of names on this memorial, given the short amount of time that the United States had troops in action during the Great War, and given that Sweetwater County's population would not have been large.
World War One, World War Two, and Korean War Memorial: Chugwater Wyoming
This is the memorial for men lost in World War One, World War Two and the Korean War from the tiny town of Chugwater, Wyoming. Chugwater is a very small town in Platte County, although it was probably a little larger during the Great War, World War Two, and the Korean War.
Expressing a unique tragedy, the same name appears on this memorial twice, but as that name was very clearly added for a serviceman of the Korean War after the monument was placed, we would have to assume that this represents two servicemen of the same name, likely father and son.
The memorial is located in a very small park across from the town hall. Oddly, two figures have been added relatively recently which depict current servicemen, carrying M4 carbines. The figures are out of place and sort of resemble the plastic toy soldiers that kids play with and are an unfortunate addition to the memorial.
Wyoming Veterans Museum: World War One Display
Display dedicated to George Ostron, who was an accomplished armature illustrator and who won a contest to design what became the unit insignia. A post on this topic is coming up on Lex Anteinternet.
I have a very lengthy photo post on the Wyoming Veterans Museum on this site already. Normally, when adding to an existing topic, I do just that, but in this case I'm posting a new thread as, like most museums, the Wyoming Veterans Museum updates its displays and it would neither do justice to their new display nor to the prior thread to add to it. Their new display concerns World War One and is focused on Wyomingites who served in the Great War. They've done a very nice job with it and its a real credit to the museum.Ira W. Brannan Memorial Pool, Casper Wyoming.
Not every memorial featured here is attractive. That's not the point of the blog. Here's one such example. The Ira W. Brannan Memorial Pool.
Most residents of Casper Wyoming just refer to this as the Washington Park swimming pool. It's an outdoor pool, not visible in this photograph, that has long served Casper. Indeed it is no doubt the oldest outdoor swimming pool in the city but is still in use as it gets heavy use.
So who was he?
I have no idea and wasn't able to learn who he was.
He was likely a veteran of World War One, given the age of this pool. Washington Park used to feature a variety of caissons right next to the pool that were probably associated with the dedication, but which have since been moved to Ft. Caspar. Mr. Brannan's name remains on the pool, but as to he was, well at least to me that's a bit of a mystery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)