Tag Archives: AEF

News & Events–Over There: Deadline to Join the Reconstruction / Occupation Tour is 30 April. Sign up Today!

April 16, 2019 by Randy
No comments
    Only two weeks remain (30 April) to sign up for the 1918-19 Reconstruction / Occupation of Germany Tour!  Readers who are interested in participating should reserve a space today by contacting Webmaster Randal Gaulke.         Tour guides Randal Gaulke and Markus Klauer hope to give participants a glimpse of France (or at least the Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel Regions) immediately post-war using maps, photos and documents such as the postcards of Avocourt shown in this blog post.  The second half Continue reading →

People of the Meuse-Argonne: John Schooley

April 9, 2019 by Randy
No comments
Even today French locals, other Europeans and Americans find themselves drawn to the Meuse-Argonne region of France.  Once drawn there, many return time and again; often working on a multi-year research or preservation project.  In this irregular interview series, the Webmaster hopes to introduce readers to some of these individuals and their labors of love.         John Schooley came to the Webmaster’s attention when he published a five minute video on his experience cycling the battlefields of the 109th Field Artillery Regiment, Continue reading →

Books & Movies: Over There with Private Graham–The Compelling World War I Journal of an American Doughboy

April 4, 2019 by Randy
No comments
    “Over There with Private Graham” is a “compelling” AEF war diary–especially with regards to the 28th Division.  The finding and publishing of the diary is a story worth telling too.   Private William J. Graham of Philadelphia was a cop before the war with a wife and seven children.  At the advanced age of thirty-eight he joined the A.E.F. as a military policeman in Company B, 103rd Military Police Battalion, 28th Division.  To quote from the preface:  “Private / Bugler William J. Graham Continue reading →

Travel Tips: Noyers-Pont-Maugis French and German Cemeteries, the “Race to Sedan” and more History

March 29, 2019 by Randy
No comments
Few American battlefield visitors drive as far north as Sedan, because it is approximately one hour (55km / 35 mi) north of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon.  However, for those with the time, it is worth the drive because Sedan and vicinity is steeped in military history.  On 2 Sept. 1870 Prussian troops captured Emperor Napoleon III and a large number of his troops there during the Franco-Prussian War.  (Thereafter, Imperial Germany celebrated Sedan Day annually as a major holiday.)  In August 1914, the Imperial German troops of the Continue reading →

News & Events–Over There: Space Still Available on 1918-19 Meuse-Argonne Reconstruction / Occupation of Germany Tour

February 27, 2019 by Randy
No comments
Spaces are still available for the 1918-19 Reconstruction / Occupation of Germany Tour that Markus Klauer and Randy Gaulke are offering in late September, 2019.   We have mentioned before that the Moselle River Valley is one of the most beautiful areas of Germany, in our opinion.  Webmaster Randy Gaulke’s family vacationed there in 2016 and he has taken several clients to the region in 2017-18.  This post shows a few photos from the Facebook Page of Weinhaus Fries, one of the hotels that the Continue reading →

People of the Meuse-Argonne: Lee S. Anthony, Ph.D.

February 12, 2019 by Randy
No comments
Even today French locals, other Europeans and Americans find themselves drawn to the Meuse-Argonne region of France.  Once drawn there, many return time and again; often working on a multi-year research or preservation projects.  In this irregular series, the Webmaster hopes to introduce readers to some of these individuals and their labors of love.   Through these interviews the Webmaster has met many wonderful and unique personalities.  He was thoroughly impressed by the 86-year-young Lee S. Anthony; who was touring the Meuse-Argonne independently late September Continue reading →

New Product Introduction: U.S. Army Tracings of German Situation Maps–German 5th Army and Army Detachment C

February 2, 2019 by Randy
No comments
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the Army War College had representatives at the German Reichsarchiv in Potsdam who were making exact copies of Imperial German military documents so they could be studied and analyzed by the U.S. military.  One subset of documents is the tracings of daily situation maps (singular, Lagenkarte) created by the individual German Armies.  These situation maps are an important resource for examining the German side of the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives.     Created at the individual Army-level, the original Continue reading →

New Feature Article: When an American Woman Rediscovers the Memory of a Small Village in the Meuse

January 11, 2019 by Randy
No comments
  Webmaster’s Introduction:  The story of Laurie Button, her “adopted” Doughboy, Walter “Wave” Miguel, and their ties to the Village of Louppy-sur-Loison is one of the most interesting stories to emerge from the 2018 Centennial Commemorations.  As a result of Laurie’s persistent writing from the U.S. and willing supporters in France, the parties involved organized a Commemoration Ceremony on 10 November that filled the local church and chateau.  Those of us who were present will not forget this day of Franco-American unity!  This story is Continue reading →

Travel Tips: On the Road (Autoroute) Again

November 13, 2018 by Randy
No comments
    Autoroutes are one of the things that work well in France. (See “La Vie en France #28:  What Works in France.”)  However, they are absolutely terrifying to most first-time drivers–largely because of the toll booths.  This post will extol the virtues of the French autoroutes; provide a few basic rules; and explain the toll system.     The Virtues of France’s Autoroute System There are virtually no potholes.  The Webmaster believes that there are several reasons for this:  First, construction starts with a Continue reading →

Travel Tips: Walking in Their Footsteps Should Mean More Than a Cemetery Stop or a Day Trip From Paris

November 13, 2018 by Randy
No comments
Griffin Group Photo AM322.  Cross-Roads at Le Chene Tondu.  The Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof is just to the left of this photo.  Most American tourists know only this part of the plateau; but there is a German Camp (the Borrieswaldlager), a German concrete signal bunker (aka Blinkstelle) and a 100+ year-old tree within a few hundred meters?  Also, one can see the foxholes in which the German two battalions of Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 125 held off the 111th and 112th Infantry Regiments, 28th Division for more than a Continue reading →