Over 600,000 Italians lie dead on the battlefields of the Great War with another 170,000 dying of illness or wounds in hospitals further back. Buried in small battlefield cemeteries, like elsewhere across the destroyed landscapes of Europe, remains in the small cemeteries were gathered up into larger cemeteries. Unlike the American example of offering repatriation of remains to families – two thirds of American families opted for that option – here in Italy, only about 50,000 remains returned to the families. By 1927, too many cemeteries remained for the State to maintain upkeep. So, the huge ossuaries – charnel houses, in England – came onto the scene. Here at the Caporetto Ossuary, mythology transposed defeat into victory of sorts. A victory leading to the Blackshirt March on Rome; a renewed and greater Italy.
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EDWARD STEICHEN BRINGS A CAMERA TO THE GREAT WAR
With the onset of heavier-than-air flight, it was only a matter of time before warfare incorporated the new adjunct into its far-flung assemblage. World War One saw America late to the scene with forces unprepared for what lay ahead in the battlefields of France and Belgium. One of the men helping bridge the wide gulf to the new industrial levels the Great War brought about was Edward Steichen.
Continue readingBEAVERS AT WAR – OAC RENOWNED FROM THE GREAT WAR
Oregon Agricultural College, OAC, is a land grant university. As such, military science and tactics became part of the curriculum. This in order for the school to receive land grants to help fund the establishment and development of the college.
All male students studied military classes for their first two years at school, taking part in military drills and parades in all the years of the school before 1917 – military classes would remain mandatory until 1961. Many remained in the classes for their entire sojourn at the school. With so many indoctrinated in the mysteries of military life, it should not surprise anyone that many students and graduates of OAC served in one branch or another during the first world conflagration the United States found itself involved with in 1917.
Continue readingBATOGNICA – GREAT WAR STALEMATE HIGH IN THE JULIAN ALPS
Rising as a bump on the long Krn-Vršič ridge just to the south of the pyramidal climax of Krn, Batognica looks nondescript from afar. Closer up, say from the peak of Krn, that impression changes. Standing not unlike an aircraft carrier as the last mound rising above the 2100-meter mark as the ridge begins its precipitous drop to the south – and the murderous grounds of Myrzli vrh – Batognica takes on a different impression.
Continue readingHIGH ATOP MONTE NERO, THE COLONEL WEPT – MAGIC OF KRN
Over a hundred years after the tumult of the Great War, vestiges of the struggle remain in visible evidence around the 2245-meter-high mountain top of Krn – Monte Nero (Black Mountain) in Italian. Strands of barbed wire twirl about on the slopes adding to the drama of the incredible views from the Adriatic Sea to the Italian Dolomites and into the heart of the Slovene Julian Alps. Here on Krn and its surrounding ridges, mountain warfare on a harsh scale took place from mid-June 1915 through to the end of October 1917 when the Battle of Caporetto moved the unmovable front far to the west for the Italian Front’s last acts.
Continue readingFROM THE NORTHWEST TO THE FIELDS OF FRANCE – 361st INFANTRY REGIMENT IN THE GREAT WAR
On a recent visit to a cemetery, I visited several family ancestors buried in the very small community of Bellfountain, Oregon. Bellfountain lies in the southern part of the Willamette Valley. Amongst the graves, I found one particular headstone near the family ancestors mentioning the man’s service in World War 1 as part of the 361st Infantry Regiment.
The American Army mushroomed almost overnight with the country’s entrance into World War 1 in April 1917. Selective Service – conscription – was brought back for the first time since the American Civil War. One of the units raised, mostly from draftees from Washington and Oregon was the 361st Infantry Regiment, 181st Infantry Brigade, 91st Division.
Continue reading“BALLOONS UP” – SHORT LIFE OF THE ARMY BALLOON SERVICE
Technological advances correspond to a lot of monies spent on projects becoming out-of-date by the time of final completion or very soon after. Excellent cases abound in the field of defense spending. Take the example of the US Army Balloon Service for illustrative purpose.
Continue readingVANCOUVER CUT-UP PLANT – SPRUCE WINGS TO BEARD OLD BILL
SPRUCE FOR THE AIR, FIR FOR THE SEA
So went one of the mottos of the Spruce Production Division during World War 1 – “Bill” being Kaiser William. The huge Cut-up Plant was erected on the Polo Grounds at Vancouver Barracks to better provide the needed correct lumber for American and Allied airplane production. “Spruce for the air”. “Fir for the sea” was for shipbuilding, a secondary purpose of the huge plant.
Continue readingABMC AND AMERICA’S GREAT WAR – RETAINING THE PAST
World War One was a reluctant push onto the global stage for the United States. The country involved itself only with the last nineteen months of the war. A slow starter, it took a year before meaningful numbers of American troops began to reach the European theater. The summer of 1918 saw the development of a new army which learned the lessons the European citizen armies had already earned over almost four years of brutal industrialized killing. Remembrance would come later, enter the ABMC.
Continue readingROCK OF THE MARNE – ULYSSES GRANT MCALEXANDER
The Centenary of World War One has come and gone. A few books published, but mostly, no special remembrances occurred that garnered much attention here in the U.S. compared to Europe. Of course, the First World War affected Europe much harsher and for a much longer period than the United States. The war dragged on for a little over four long years Over There with America only involved for a little more than the last year and a half. One American who did stand out was Ulysses G. McAlexander, nicknamed “Rock of the Marne” for his leadership in one of the earliest battles American forces did fight.
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