Lex Anteinternet: November 11, 1920. Armistice Day.

Lex Anteinternet: November 11, 1920. Armistice Day.: 

November 11, 1920. Armistice Day.

It was, of course, Armistice Day.

In the U.S., veterans gathered.

In France and the UK, their unknown soldiers were interred.

In the UK, Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act which provided for home rule in Ireland, in two separate political entities, north and south Ireland.  It never went into effect in the south due to the Anglo Irish War.  It simply came too late.

Village Memorial to its World War One Dead, France

A La Memoire Des Enfants De Grivesnes Morts Pour La Patrie, France.

A memorial in Grivesnes to its World War One dead.  This is an unusual memorial as the figure is painted, which is quite uncommon.

Franco Prussian War Memorials, France

Hamel-Bouzencourt, A Ses Enfants Morts Pour La France

A memorial in the towns of Hamel and Bouzencourt for the French dead of World War One and World War Two.

Hamel was the scene of a famous 1918 Australian effort which was supported by the French and which included American troops.

Thelus, A ses Enfants Morts pour la France.

The Town of Theulus' monument to its war dead from World War One, later amended to include World War Two.

Heninel, a ses Enfants.

Memorial in Heninel, France to the men of the town who died in World War One.  This monument is placed next to the village church.

Pro Patria, French War Memorial

As with many French memorials, this war memorial was originally for the dead of World War One but was later added to so that those of World War Two could be additionally included.

MKTH photo.

Memorial to the men of Hallay Champagne who lost their lives in World War One.

A town memorial to the dead of World War One in the Champagne region.

Monument to the soldiers of Villers sur Fere who lost their lives in World War One.

A monument in the French town of Vilers sur Fere to those who lost their lives in the service of France during World War One.

War Memorial, Coulombs, France.

The war memorial in Coulombs, France, dedicated to the men of the town who lost their lives in World War One and World War Two.

The flags are those of France and the European Community.

Memorial to the Dead of the Country, World War One and World War Two. France.

A French villages memorial to its dead of World War One, with names added for World War Two.

MKTH photographs.

Joffre Memorial, Paris France

This is the memorial to Joseph Joffre, who was commander of the French forces in World War One from the start of the war into 1916.  While he was basically promoted up out of that position in 1916, his early leadership in the war was responsible for the French being able to stop the tide of the German advance.

Monument to Charles Peguy, Villaroy, Île-de-France, France.

We've already mentioned Charles Peguy in a prior post on Le Grande Tombe de Villaroy.  Here's a nearby monument to Peguy himself.

Peguy is a celebrated French poet who, as already noted, lost his life in the battle noted.  He's an interesting character having gone from being an atheist to deeply believing, but quixotically non observant Catholic.  This monument is in his honor.

Monument to 13 Executed from Choisy Le Roi, Seine. August 13, 1944

This monument is dedicated to 13 residents ("Fusilles", which means shooters, so presumably partisans) of Choisy Le Roi (a town near Paris) who were "victims of German barbarism" on August 22, 1944.  They were executed.  I don't know the circumstances of their execution, but there would be many like them.

Photographs by MKTH.

Statue of Maréchal Gallieni at La Musée de la Grande Guerre à Meaux

This is a statue of Marshall Joseph Gallieni at the Museum of the Great War in Meaux, France.

Gallieni was a Corsican (of Corsican and Italian descent who had a long career in the French Army, which he'd entered as an officer in 1868.  He'd been captured in the Franco Prussian War and added the German language to his knowledge of French and Italian while a prisoner.  Thereafter he'd served in French colonial wars, steadily rising up the ranks.  He retired prior to World War One in 1914.

Having only recently been retired, he returned to service at the start of the Great War and became the Military Governor of Paris. By that time his health was fragile and he was suffering from prostrate cancer.  He died in 1916.

Musee de la Grande Guerre, Meaux France

These are scenes from Meaux's Musee de la Grande Guerre, a museum dedicated to the topic of World War One.  The displays here are really impressive.

All photos are MKTH photographs.

This museum  has a fine display of weapons, including artillery.

An example of French uniforms early in the war.  Note the red trousers and the dark blue jacket.

An example of the type of uniforms the Germans wore prior to World War One. The coat is a "Prussian Blue" service coat with red flashing.  The helmet is the classic German "Pickelhaube" that survived into the early years of the war.

A panting commemorating the alliance between republican France and Imperial Russia.

Imperial Russian flag in Russian and French, for those units that served on the Western Front.

Example of early semi automatic pistols.

Display of British uniform.

British uniforms.

German uniforms.

French helmet, top, outfitted with net.  German M16 helmet below, with painted camouflage.

Ship camouflage.

French armor, and primitive trench club.

German armor.

Early helmets.

Trench hand to hand weapons, including entrenching tools.

Light machine guns, Lewis top, Chauchat bottom.

Small arms of the Great War.

French cavalryman's armor. Early in the war, things remained very 19th Century for awhile.

Horizontal stabilizer of a French airplane.

Signalling flag.

Early airborne ordinance.

French winter uniform.

French uniforms.

Russian uniform.

British uniform.

French uniform on left, German on right.

German helmet pierced by a projectile.

French helmet likewise pierced.

Travelling Communion set.

British desert uniform.

German uniform for African troops in Africa.

Gurkha kukri.

U.S. handguns.

Display of American weapons.

Trench mortar.