Memorial to the American Volunteers in 16th arrondissement of Paris. © Sylvie Picolet

In January 2017, the World War I commemorative program expanded when ABMC acquired its 26th cemetery, the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery near Paris. © Sylvie Picolet

The Duty of Remembrance

Honouring Our Fallen from WWI

At the request of General John Pershing, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) was established by Congress in 1923. As guardian America’s overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorial, ABMC honours the service, achievements and sacrifice of U.S. Armed Forces by designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American cemeteries in foreign countries, establishing and maintaining U.S. military memorials, monuments and markers where American armed forces have served overseas since April 6, 1917, and within the United States when directed by public law and controlling the design and construction of permanent U.S. military monuments and markers by other U.S. citizens and organizations, both public and private, and encouraging their maintenance. In January 2017, the World War I commemorative program expanded when ABMC acquired its 26th cemetery, the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery near Paris.

American Memorial Church, Château-Thierry. Detail of the stained glass. © C. Guttinger

The Lafayette Escadrille Memorial at Villeneuve-l’Etang, located outside Paris. © Sylvie Picolet

The post La Fayette, We Are Here! : episode 21 first appeared on The News blog.

Marshal Ferdinand Foch does the “Shimmy”. The famous Field Marshal’s ceremonial welcome by Indian Chiefs in 1921. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, Dist. RMN-GP Émilie Cambier

Field Marshal’s baton presented to Marshall Foch by Supreme Knight James Flaherty, 21 August 1921. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, Dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette

Post War Reconstruction

A Difficult Economic Restructuring

In 1920-1921, the United States went through a deflationary recession partly due to the necessity to adjust from wartime to peacetime economy and deal with a tighter monetary policy and price expectations. In January 1920, by fear of monetary disturbances the United States suspended all government loans and American private banks reduced their bank loans. European countries, notably France, were rebuilding economies and undergoing reconstruction. Although they were in great need of building supplies, their respective means of payment had been basically exhausted due to the full cost of war. Without provisions orders from Europe became scarce resulting in inventory accumulations in supply countries leading to an extreme deflation.

Renewal of an Enduring Alliance

It was in this charged environment that, Marshal Ferdinand Foch and Count Charles de Chambrun, a descendant of Lafayette, arrived in America on 28 October 1921, with the sole purpose to renew Franco-American friendship. With General Pershing on his side, Marshal Foch’s tour was a triumph and the somewhat 1917-1918 stormy relations between the two men had become totally invisible in the eyes of the journalists following all their movements by photographing or filming the two heroes. Marshal Joffre also visited the United States for a few days after 11 November 1921. Georges Clémenceau, then aged 81, also visited the States for the same purpose in 1922.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 20 first appeared on The News blog.

Parade of a regiment at Montrouge on the evening of the Armistice, by Lucien Simon. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Émilie Cambier

Armistice bugle of 11 November 1918. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Émilie Cambier

Wilson by Leo Mielziner, 1918. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP image musée de l’Armée

The Great War is Over !

The Armistice of 11 Novembre 1918

Marshal Foch received the German delegation on 8 November 1918 and handed over the Allied Armistice Terms. The German answer was expected on 11 November 1918, before 11 a.m.. The Armistice was agreed on 11 November 1918, and signed at 5 a.m. aboard a carriage of Marshal’s Foch private train parked in a railway siding at the crossroads of Rethondes in the middle of the forest of Compiègne. As the Armistice came in full effect at 11 a.m., bugles resounded all over the Front.

The Paris Peace Conference

From 18 January to 28 June 1919, the Paris Peace Conference brought together delegates from 27 victorious states while the representations of the defeated countries were excluded.  The so-called “Council of Four” played a leading role in this conference: Thomas Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, Georges Clemenceau, President of the French Council, Vittorio Orlando, President of the Italian Council, and David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister. President Wilson’s personal investment in the Conference was particularly important

The conference led to the disappearance of three empires: the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of new states such as the Republics of Poland and Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The former German colonies were divided up between Great-Britain, France, Belgium, South Africa, the United States and Japan and territories in the Middle East formally under Ottoman rule were mandated to Great-Britain and France by the League of Nations.

The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was signed between Germany and the Allies on 28 June 1919, five years day to day of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo. The Treaty assigned Germany’s liability for reparations. Part I of the treaty created President Wilson’s long-desired Covenant of the League of Nations. The Reparation Commission stated in the Versailles Treaty gathered for the first time on 3 February 1919. On 19 March 1919, the Senate, opposed to the section regarding the League of Nations, rejected the Treaty of Versailles and passed the Knox-Porter Resolution. The United States never joining the League of Nations proved to be a confirmation of American isolationism and a personal failure for President Wilson.

The last gun salute signifying the end of the war wich took place on the esplanade of the Invalides is evoked in a 1919 painting kept in the museum of Blérancourt by French painter Joseph-Félix Bouchor.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 19 first appeared on The News blog.

The United States Marines at Belleau Wood in 1918 by Georges Bertin Scott. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Émilie Cambier

Poster by Adolph Treidler, 1917. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette

© Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP image musée de l’Armée

The Victories of the A.E.F.

The United States Military Interventions on the Western Front

Prior to General Pershing deploying a full field army, U.S. Divisions of the A.E.F. served alongside the French and the British Armies, under Allied command. Right from the start, the American soldiers illustrated themselves during offensive actions. General Pershing who had long sought an American zone of operations was finally allowed for independent initiative at the Battle of St. Mihiel, the first U.S. the first engagement of an independent American Army.

Cantigny, the First Battle of the A.E.F.

On 27 April 1918, the 1st French Army including the U.S. 1st Division were ordered to capture the highly fortified village of Cantigny in the Somme region. Although the objective was gained, the cost in American lives was enormous. This battle was to be the American battle of the war.

The Battle of Belleau Wood

During the German Spring of 1918 the Germans launched a series of attacks. They stormed through the French lines in Aisne and advanced to the Marne River at Château Thierry, thus threatening the lines protecting Amiens and Paris. Along this line of advance, the Germans dug in heavily defended positions. Belleau Wood was one of them. On June 1, as Château-Thierry and Vaux fell, the U.S. 2nd Division, made up of units of the U.S. Marines of 4th Marine Brigade comprising 5th and 6th Marine Regiments took up positions south of Belleau Wood. For the next three weeks, the Marines launched many attacks, backed by U.S. Army. Finally, on June 26, the Marines were victorious. The Battle of Belleau Wood was the first large-scale battle in which the A.E.F experienced heavy casualties due to a lack of early artillery fire; it was also the Battle that immortalized the U.S. Marine Corps.

The St. Mihiel Offensive

Under the command of General John J. Pershing, the 1st Army of the A.E.F. (16 U.S. divisions: 610.000 men, 3.000 pieces of artillery, 50.000 tons of ammunition and 200.000 tons of supplies) launched a major offensive operation in the sector of the St. Mihiel salient that had been occupied by the Germans since the autumn of 1914. The 1st Army had to liberate the strategic point of transportation of Paris-Avricourt Railroad in order supply the coming Meuse-Argonne. The objective was gained on the evening of 12 September 1918, and put an end the suffering of the civilian population following four years of German occupation.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 18 first appeared on The News blog.

Hotchkiss Machine-guns. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP image musée de l’Armée

French soldiers instruct U.S. Army Infantry troops on shooting the Vivien-Bessière Grenade with the Lebel Rifle. © Auguste, Goulden/ECPAD/Défense

British soldiers instruct U.S. Army Infantry troops on setup and use Vickers machine gun. © Paul, Bressolles/ECPAD/Défense

Newspaper Le Miroir, 18 November 1917. © Paris, musée de l’Armée

Armaments

In 1917

When the war broke out, the U.S. Infantry and Marine Units of the A.E.F. were equipped with the standard rifle Model 1903 Springfield inspired from the M1893 Mauser used by the Spanish Army during the 1898 war with Spain. The M1903 Springfield and its Bayonet M1905 was retooled in 1906 for the use of pointed ammunition calibre .30, Model of 1906, known as the .30-06 Springfield cartridge. Although machine-guns developed in Europe had been inspired by American machine guns, the A.E.F was poorly equipped in machine guns and automatic rifles as the production was slow to come on line. The American armaments proved to be insufficient as industries did not have enough factories equipped to make weapons and ammunitions.

The Allied Assistance to the U.S. Army

The two principal sources of supply for the American Expeditionary Forces were shipment and purchases from the British and the French. In August 1917, General Pershing informed the French War Minister that he had established a General Purchasing Board in Paris to coordinate activities pertaining to the purchase canons, mortars and ammunitions from the French government.

In Inventaire de la Grande Guerre published under the direction of François Lagrange, Yves-Henri Nouailhat wrote that France had supplied the A.E.F. all their 75 mm field gun and 155 mm cannon (GPF), 155 CTRs, most of their planes, 57.000 machine-guns and automatic rifles, 10 million shells and 206 million cartridges.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 17 first appeared on The News blog.

371st Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. © Maurice, Boulay/ECPAD/Défense

African American soldiers arrive at the Sommeilles Station on 22 September 1918. © Collection BDIC

Group of African American soldiers in the rear lines in 1918. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, Dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette

Poster True Sons of Freedom Chicago, 1918. © Library of Congress.

Settling In – The Doughboys in France

Racial Segregation

Practiced after the Civil War mainly in the southern United States, racial segregation, was enforced by the “Jim Crow Laws” that mandated the segregation of public transportation, public schools, public places of worship, etc.  It was on this basis that many politicians were opposed to military training of African Americans. Although African Americans were drafted on the same basis as whites, the 380,000 coloured men who served in the U.S. Army were all assigned to segregated units. Over 200 000 of them served in the A.E.F., in special units such as the 92nd end 93rd Infantry Divisions. The four regiments of the 93rd Infantry Division served under French command in French units while the rest handled unskilled tasks as stevedores in the ports.

The Harlem Hellfighters

The 93rd Infantry Division was a “coloured” segregated unit of the United States Army activated in 1917 and composed of two brigades made up African Americans and Porto Ricans.  The famous 369th Infantry Regiment of the 185th Brigade became known as “The Harlem Hellfighters”. The Harlem Hellfighters were dressed in the uniform of the U.S. Army but wore the French Adrian helmet and were equipped with French weapons. Many of them distinguished themselves in action for “brave and bitter fighting” and were awarded the Croix de Guerre.

These soldiers were greatly appreciated by the French for their musical talents; most of all their jazz music which they helped to disseminate in France. When James Reese disembarked at the port of Brest, the famous composer, pianist and conductor played the a jazz version of “La Marseillaise” which not immediately identified by the French as their national anthem because of the syncopated beat of ragtime rhythm. As the French authorities understood the vital importance of concert parties in maintaining troop morale the Harlem Fighters were invited to play in hospitals, cities and villages..

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 16 first appeared on The News blog.

© Paris, musée de l’Armée

Doughboy uniform. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Émilie Cambier/Pascal Segrette

Shoulder sleeve insignia. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette 

Settling In – The Doughboys in France

The U.S. Army Uniform

The Doughboys, a term used to designate a member of the American Expeditionary Forces in WWI, passed through the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1917. The French magazine Illustration described them as follows: «In their olive drab uniform, their broad-brimmed felt hat, their riffle belt with plenty of pouches, their young Western look, they brought an unprecedented picturesque touch of colour to our war scenery».

The U.S. Army uniform’s clothing was made of wool and consisted of an olive drab blouse coat, O.D. shirt trousers and leggings later replaced with puttees and trench shoes. The buttons wear the inscription US ARMY. Upon their arrival, the Doughboys wore a hat campaign, a broad-brimmed with a high crown with four dents often reshaped to form a pinched Montana peak. Hat cords indicated the unit: blue for the Infantry, red for the Artillery and yellow for the Cavalry. The campaign hat was gradually replaced with the overseas cap, a headgear often inspired from British and French patterns.  In battle, the American soldier wore the U.S. M1917 Helmet, a near identical version of the British Mk.I steel helmet.

The rifle belt with cartridges pouches, the personal items roll and the haversack were made of cotton. The haversack came with the pack carrier with wire cutters, a canteen and a Model 1910 entrenching tool.  On the flap, a bayonnet and a small box respirator very similar to the British S.B.R.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 15 first appeared on The News blog.

War bond poster for the 4th National Defence Loan. 1918 by Bruno Chavannaz. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette

Poster for the war loan of 1918 by Victor Prouvé. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette

War bond poster for the 4th National Defence Loan. 1918. © Paris, musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP Pascal Segrette

The First U.S. Troops Arrive in France

Welcome to the Americans!

The French government announced the arrival of the Americans as the “Good News of the Year 1917”, in order to bolster French morale and mitigate the military failure of the Nivelle Offensive at the Chemins des Dames and the upcoming of the withdrawal of Russia from the war. The arrival of the “Sammies” (a nickname given to the American soldiers by the French in reference to the national personification of the American government: “Uncle Sam” = U.S.) was much anticipated by all Frenchmen. The French media also started publishing articles and photographic reportages on the United States on a continuous basis.

In his memoirs, General Pershing relates his arrival in France “The voyage… had been arranged so that we would arrive in the evening, after the closing of the workshops and offices; thus, the population was able to take part in the improvised welcome. What was aimed for was that the inhabitants see with their own eyes that the Americans were really coming”. In the same spirit, the Mayor of Saint-Nazaire put up a sign indicating to the population to openly express their delight to the American soldiers who were disembarking on 25 and 26 June 1917. The letters sent from the front lines reflect the long-awaited arrival of the American troops and the hope for a speedy victory putting an end to a long war. A French soldier wrote «The final blow will come from the Americans. They will soon attack and it is very likely that this major blow will put an end to the war”.

Trust the Sammies and Purchase a War Loan!

On the posters that promote the last French national war bonds issued to the public on 26 November 1917 and 20 October 1918 to support the war effort in France, it is significant to note that the image of the American soldier is used as a morale booster for the French, should they be civilians or in the military as a prospect of an end to the conflict and a way to demoralize the enemy. On many posters one can see the Star and Stripes and the “Sammy” in full uniform and wearing his characteristic hat.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 14 first appeared on The News blog.

A military ceremony was given in the Court of Honour of the Hôtel des Invalides. © Paris musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP image musée de l’Armée

A military ceremony was given in the Court of Honour of the Hôtel des Invalides. © Paris musée de l’Armée, dist. RMN-GP

Charles E. Stanton addresses the crowd in front of Lafayette’s grave in the Picpus Cemetery, July 1917. © BDIC

4 July in Paris, 1918. © BDIC

The First U.S. Troops Arrive in France

Independence Day in Paris

On 4 July 1917, the 2nd Battalion, 16th U.S. Infantry Regiment was selected to show the flag and parade through Paris to celebrate Independence Day, the holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 on 4 July, with the Parisians. On the same day, a military ceremony took place in the Cour d’Honneur of the Hôtel des Invalides, presided by Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic, accompanied by Marshal Joffre, Generals Foch and General Pershing, Paul Painlevé, Minister of War, Marie-Jean-Lucien Lacaze, French Naval Minister, the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and descendants of soldiers who fought in the War of Independence. The French officially handed over the emblems of the War of Independence kept in the musée de l’Armée. In return, the American Volunteers offered their flags to General Gustave Léon Niox, director of the museum.

On Lafayette’s grave

Following the ceremony held at the Hotel des Invalides, the soldiers of the AEF marched on to the Picpus Cemetery where “The Hero of Two Worlds”, General Lafayette is buried. Following the official opening addresses by prominent personalities, Lieutenant Colonel Charles E. Stanton (1858-1933), Q.M.C. to General Pershing delivered a speech that was to become famous:

I regret I cannot speak to the good people of France in the beautiful language of their own fair country. The fact cannot be forgotten that your nation was our friend when America was struggling for existence, when a handful of brave and patriotic people were determined to uphold the rights their Creator gave them – that France in the person of Lafayette came to our aid in words and deed.  It would be ingratitude not to remember this, and America defaults no obligations. […] Therefore, it is with loving pride we drape the colours in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great Republic. And here and now, in the presence of the illustrious dead, we pledge our hearts and our honour in carrying this war to a successful issue.

Lafayette, we are here!

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 13 first appeared on The News blog.

Troops of the 1st Infantry Division at Saint-Nazaire, 25 June 1917. © Daniau/ECPAD/Défense

The 1st Infantry Division. © Daniau/ECPAD/Défense

Austerlitz Train Station, Paris on 3 July 1917 © BDIC

© BDIC

The First U.S. Troops Arrive in France

At Long Last, They Are Here !

On 28 June 1917, the First Expeditionary Division, later designated 1st Infantry Division and soon to become known as “The Big Red One” landed at St-Nazaire under the command of General William L. Sibert (1860-1935) in presence of Generals Pershing and Etienne Pelletier standing of the pier. Journalists and photographers and cameramen were also present to immortalize the event. Once the ceremony over, German POW and African American soldiers unloaded the military equipment.  The 1st Infantry Division marched to rest camp situated on the outskirts of the city. This division consisted of 28.00 men and included two organic brigades of two infantry regiments each, one field artillery brigade of three field artillery regiments and smaller units. It underwent its baptism of fire on 3 November 1917.

Ports of Disembarkation

The port facilities of Saint-Nazaire being too small in capacity for the expected amount of tonnage and number of troops of the U.S. Army, the port facilities of Brest, Bordeaux and Cherbourg were also made available to the A.E.F.. The port of Brest was to become the main port of disembarkation for troops and equipment. In November 1917, the U.S. Army installed a military base nearby were more than 7.500 soldiers transited. The capacity of the port was greatly improved as the Engineers built wharves, railways tracks and warehouses, services such as telephone and telegraph were also installed.

A military police station, a hospital, a prison and offices for the YMCA and the American Red Cross were built. The American population was at the time higher than the French in the vicinity. In all, some 804.000 American soldiers disembarked in the port of Brest.

The post Lafayette, We Are Here! : episode 12 first appeared on The News blog.