WWI English Soldier Blog

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Letters from a WWI English soldier are being posted 90 years to each day they were written.

http://www.wwar1.blogspot.com/


Feb 7th /1918
32507/ 9th Batt York & Lanc Regt
C Company
12 Platoon L.G.S.
I.E.F.
P.S. (Put I.E.F. on address and leave Italy out)

Dear Jack

I have received your letter and I also got your small parcel alright. I was very pleased to hear that you are both keeping well and hope you remain so. The news was very sad which I have had about Jack Bonser and Uncle what had Aunt Annie got to say I don’t suppose she would stay very long especially were Aunt Polly was. I shall never forget her tongue. It does not seem that she has altered much. It must have upset Uncle a great deal when he heard about Jack’s death and no doubt it would make him worse. The weather here is still very cold at night but it is grand in the day. I don’t suppose the war will be over just yet it looks like lasting another twelve months to me, I hope I’m wrong. I think America has got to have a good to try at it before it finishes. Things look very bad in England as regards food they seem short all over of course we get our usual rations which is none to big, but we cant grumble we have missed something coming out here and leaving Flanders I hope we don’t go back again, things are very quiet out here, well they have been up to now but we don’t know how long they going to last. When in the front line we have had a fire at night and sometimes we have been in an old house so you can bet we are not bothered much by shells. I could not say where the H.A.C. is. It is a London Regt. I remember quite well when we were going in the trenches at Ypres they were just being releived. I got lost I could not get along it was up to the waist in slug and water. I came across some chaps who are also lost and they said they belong to the H. A.C. It is supposed to be a Toffs regt. Artillery is only a name they have given them they belong to the infantry. I don’t know how they went on but I found my way after wandering about for two or three hours. I shall never forget the times we had up there. I don’t know how we managed sometimes, but I don’t feel no worse for it now, but I hope that we don’t get anything like it again. We have to get our feet rubbed every morning with whale oil when in the trenches every morning it is cold at night.

Write back as soon as possible

[Mo_Gearhead]

One (USA VET) down ...one to go.
RIP Soldier.

TAMPA, Fla. - Harry Richard Landis, who enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was one of only two known surviving U.S. veterans of World War I, has died. He was 108.

Landis, who lived at a Sun City Center nursing home, died Monday, according to the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.

The remaining U.S. veteran is Frank Buckles, 107, of Charles Town, W.Va., according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

[Joeaksa]

Saw this on the news two nights ago and glad that his grandson is doing this. All wars are terrible but WW1 with its gassings and such were especially so.

Wish it would have been "the war to end all wars" but sadly was not...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I think we saw the same story Joe. I think it said 10 million men died in WWI.

What would bring nation against nation like that today?

[Joeaksa]

I gut tells me that we are not far from that right now. This time it will not be "nation against nation" but possibly another religious war. You can guess who the sides will be...

The recent killing of Benazir Butto in Pakistan brought us very close to a conflict there but it thankfully seems to have cooled down a bit. Now that Scotland Yard has presented their findings (the Pak govt lied on the cause of her death and delayed elections to cool things down a bit) that she was killed by the blast and not hitting her head on the car, things may re-ignite a bit but who knows. The radical Moslem imams ordered her killed and so it was done, taking around 200 innocent bystanders with them. She had made it part of her run for office that she would open up the entire country to foreign military to search for terrorists, so they had to kill her or they themselves would be hunted down and shot like the dogs that they are. Who knows what will happen over there but its a very difficult part of the world and we will be dealing with it for years if we are unable to get a handle on it.

One last thing to mention. If a nuke is triggered over in that part of the world, and both Pakistan and India have them, 10 million people killed will be small fry. The sheer numbers of people there (you have been there, its simply far too over-crowded) would mean that the loss of life would be substancial.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Mo_Gearhead

One (USA VET) down ...one to go.
RIP Soldier.

TAMPA, Fla. - Harry Richard Landis, who enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was one of only two known surviving U.S. veterans of World War I, has died. He was 108.

Landis, who lived at a Sun City Center nursing home, died Monday, according to the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.

The remaining U.S. veteran is Frank Buckles, 107, of Charles Town, W.Va., according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Landis didn't actually see combat, he did not complete basic training as the war ended, and he served time mopping the floor in a hospital in Missouri..
He never even made it near the continent...so i really don't see why he's mentioend as a WW1 veteran... not like Frank Buckles or Harry Patch are...

not meaning any disrespect to the man, but those are the facts

[Mo_Gearhead]

Quote: "not meaning any disrespect to the man, but those are the facts"
__________________

None taken.

Parsing of 'terms' I assume. Over here (USA) if you served in the military during the 'time period a conflict was underway' you are deemed a veteran of that conflict and so noted in many types of journalistic essays.

I have a friend that was in the Navy who served on a ship during Viet Nam, love the guy to death, but he never set foot in country.

You would not know that fact by how he wears it on his sleeve.

If you served ...you are a Veteran. All served in different ways.

[jluetjen]

Lately as I've been researching my family's history, I took a little detour into 1st person accounts from any of the contemporary wars as you posted here. I'm not as interested in the histories as written by historians since I've found that they tend to gloss over the personal details, and inevitably add a revisionist spin to the events. (Not that the contemporary accounts weren't spun, but at least it was done when they didn't know who won, nor was it done to reflect modern day sensibilities.) The most accessible of course was the Second World War where my Dad took hundreds of pictures, not to mention he can still tell me in person (thankfully) of his experiences.

Somewhat less accessible is the 1st World War where I my Grand Father (mother's side) and Great Onkel (Father's side) served on the German side, with my Great Onkel being killed near Ypres. I had another Great Uncle (Father's side) who served in the US Army, but I don't know as much about him. I've found this very thorough site that is entirely first person accounts and contemporary pictures from the First World War. I've also found a series of books titled "The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness..." which include World War 1 and World War II. They're available in many Barnes and Nobles or else on-line.

After reading many of the accounts, I find it a little surprising how much their experiences seem to be to what we hear today from soldiers returning from Afghanistan or Iraq.

PS; Here are a couple of previously un-published pictures from my Dad's collection



And a couple of pictures from some old German language magazines that were popular in the German American community prior to the US entry into WWI.

[jluetjen]

Speaking of the Germans, I found this report titled "The American Soldier of 1917-1918 and Kindred Topics by The Germans" fascinating for the view of gave of the US Doughboy of the era from the viewpoint of the occupied.

- From the Interrogation of Herr Basstgen; Curate of Murlenbach;

The curate speaks very good French and assures us that Coblentz will welcome the Americans, as people know they come as friends, not enemies. He statets that the inhabitants in the Zone of American Occupation are extremely thankful that troops are neither French nor English. He also states that the inhabitants have purchased American flags to display when our troups enter the town.

Statement of Karl Felder of Niederbreisig
The people here hate the French more then they do the British. They much prefer the Americans as troups of occupation. Since the Americans have arrived the German people have learned to like them"

A Women's account of the US Army's Entrance into Coblenz

Now let us come to the Americans. The march intothe valley of the Rhone took place from the direction of the Hunsruck to the tune of "Was Nutzet dem Seeman sein Geld". They passed through the town in the direction of Coblenz, strong young people of whom at least every tenth man could speak German. These people arrive in a friendly - almost modest manner, and therefor, everywhere, are given a good and friendly reception. The harmony between them and the French is lukewarm. Everywhere one hears strong shrill discords. The French population sheared the Americans. While the French solders paid two francs for a bottle of wine the Americans were made to pay 4, 6 and even 8 Francs.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by jluetjen

Lately as I've been researching my family's history, I took a little detour into 1st person accounts from any of the contemporary wars as you posted here. I'm not as interested in the histories as written by historians since I've found that they tend to gloss over the personal details, and inevitably add a revisionist spin to the events. (Not that the contemporary accounts weren't spun, but at least it was done when they didn't know who won, nor was it done to reflect modern day sensibilities.) The most accessible of course was the Second World War where my Dad took hundreds of pictures, not to mention he can still tell me in person (thankfully) of his experiences.

John -

I thought you might find this thread of interest.

It seems your dad and my Grandfather were in the same place at the same time when it comes to the Rhine, my grandfather was on the front line helping the push across and was actually stuck behind the front line on the German side during the battle of the bulge.

I am willing to bet he probably worked on some of your Dads vehicles during the war. He was in the 9th Infantry Division.

Here is a thread I started a while back about him. Thought you might find the read interesting.

George Adams