Armistice signed 11th hour, of 11th day, of 11th month. Hadn’t thought of that!
So goes the diary entry of an anonymous soldier on November 11, 1918. It is a side thought as he describes that day and the impending attacks from both sides at 10:30am that morning. And as he recounts the losses in the last hour of the war. He describes how some units didn’t get the word, and if they did, thought it was yet another unfounded rumor. And so, gun fire was heard every 10 minutes throughout the day.
Most people have forgotten the origin of Veteran’s Day is Armistice Day, the day that World War I, the Great War/the War to End All Wars, ended. It is quite fascinating to read this soldier’s diary from the day he entered the Army in August of 1917 to the day he went home to his wife and child on January 25th 1919 with the closing statement “That war’s done with”.
The book published in 1926 is the publication of this soldier’s diary with no changes other than the alteration of some names. I imagine several of his experiences, observations and his viewpoint about war and the establishment surrounding war, will be familiar to those who serve or have served in the military. The book is entitled Wine, Women and War: A Diary of Disillusionment. Amid the entries around the day to day of being a soldier, are his thoughts of the rumors the war will end soon. Unsurprisingly, he makes observations of what should not happen at the war’s end so that peace would continue for his child’s future. Unfortunately, the leaders impowered to enforce peace did not think like him and as we know his child did indeed a see a second war born from the remnants of a flawed implementation of peace.
I think it is informative to read first hand accounts of World War I for the very reason that is has been forgotten. It was a war of significant technology changes. At the beginning war was fought like it had been for centuries, but technology changed it to the first “modern” war.
Planes, machine guns, submarines, communications through phones, tanks, motorized vehicles, and of course the chemistry of chlorine and mustard gas. Medicine too changed and injured soldiers from both sides preferred to be taken to an American hospital. Their chances of recovering and recovering well were greatly enhanced. You can read stories of soldiers who were shot through the eye with damage to the skull being sent to an American hospital and 10 days later being able to walk out of that hospital. True miracles of medicine.
On the other side of the spectrum are writings by those in military and civilian leadership who commanded the military or were in government executing the war and negotiating an end to it. Here are my recommendations if you would like to read more about The Great War:
Books by those who were on the battle field:
- Wine, Women and War: A Diary of Disillusionment – by Anonymous – 1926
- The Great Push – by Patrick MacGill – 1916
- And They Thought We Wouldn’t Fight – by Floyd Gibbons – 1918
Books written for Young People: Fictionalized
- Air Service Boys Ove the Enemy’s Lines or The German Spy’s Secret – by Charles Beach – 1919
- With Joffre on the Battle Line – by Ross Kay – 1915
Books that provide an overview of the War: Histories from those participating in policy
- What is Back of the War – by Albert J. Beveridge – 1915
- The World’s Greatest War: Thrilling Stories from the Battlefields of Europe –
By Thomas Russell – 1915 - America’s Way for Humanity: Pictorial History of the World War for Liberty –
By Thomas Russell, General John Pershing, & Honorable James Miller – 1919
Movie from the viewpoint of the soldier:
They Shall Not Grow Old – Director Peter Jackson – 2018. Uses photos from the war and writings by soldiers to depict the war as it was experienced. Although it is available on video, I suggest you watch it in a movie theatre if possible. Make sure to watch through the credits – you won’t be disappointed.
Famous Quotes:
- LaFayette, we are here – General Pershing
- A patched-up peace would only lead to another and still more terrible war – Lyman Abbott
- They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them – Laurence Binyon