Tag Archives: AEF

We Forget Today: Spring 1918–Setting the Stage for American Military Action

March 31, 2018 by Randy
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We forget today just what an impact World War I had on the lives of its participants and their families.  Several recent events and internet posts have reminded the Webmaster of the very precarious position of the Allied powers in Spring 1918–and just how badly they needed an American Army.  (American allies might argue they needed the manpower, not an independent American Army.)     Journey’s End and the “Operation Michael” First of the German Spring Offensives The Webmaster recently attended the New York City Continue reading →

Lost Battalion and I Corps Battlefield Tour, 4-7 Ocotober, 2018

March 10, 2018 by Randy
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    Tour guide Randal Gaulke is proud to announce that he is teaming up with long-time Lost Battalion researcher Robert Laplander to offer a tour of the Lost Battalion and I Corps areas of the Meuse-Argonne from 4-7 October, 2018. The tour will be similar in structure to the Small-Group Battlefield Walk Series being run by Randal Gaulke and Markus Klauer.  However, the entire four days will be concentrated on the Lost Battalion (one full day), other 77th Division sites and other I Corps Continue reading →

Getting Back Into the Action

February 25, 2018 by Randy
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  Regular blog and Facebook Group readers have likely noticed a lack of posts since the Webmaster returned home from France in November 2017.  This has been due to several factors: Christmas and New Years activities with the wife and others after six months in France; Adjusting to life “away” from the trenches; Website re-design; Working on tour offerings with historians Markus Klauer and Robert Laplander; and Working on an upcoming DVD Release.  (More shortly.)   With 2018 progressing quickly, it’s time to have a Continue reading →

Where in the World is This?

February 4, 2018 by Randy
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    Most avid battlefield tourists are familiar with the “demarcation stones” erected in France and Belgium by the Touring Club de France and Touring Club de Belgique to mark the limit of the German advance in 1918.  According to Rose Coombs, MBE:  “They were designed by the sculptor Paul Moreau Vauthier who produced three basic types, differing mainly in the helmet of the capstone.  These were either of the British tin helmet or the French and Belgian ‘Poilu’s’ helmet design.  On the side of Continue reading →

News & Events–Over There: 2018 Events in the Department of the Meuse

January 25, 2018 by Randy
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  25 January, 2018.  German tour guide and friend Markus Klauer made the Webmaster aware of this “Upcoming Program” advertising Centennial commemoration events in the French Department of the Meuse.  Below is a copy of the full brochure in French: avant programme A5_2018 BD     Over the next week or two the Webmaster plans to add many of these events to his English-language list of 2018 events at:  https://meuse-argonne.com/?page_id=2928.    

We Forget Today: The Story of Cpl. Goerge Gaudette, KIA 10 November, 1918

January 22, 2018 by Randy
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  We forget today just what an impact World War I had on the lives of its participants and their families.  Long-time Yankee Division reenactor and researcher Alan Michael Crane recently forwarded this group of photos centered around Corporal Goerge Gaudette, Co. E, 102nd Inf. Regt., 26th Division, who was KIA on 10 November 1918.  He was awarded the DSC posthumously.  The photos also show his mother receiving the DSC from YD General Clarence Edwards as well as his mother making a Gold Star Pilgrimage Continue reading →

Then and Now: Attigny German Airfield (Champagne)

December 30, 2017 by Randy
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Caption:  Griffin Group Photo CH64.  German Aviation Field.  270.5 – 301.7.  30 January, 1919. Technically, the town is in the Champagne Region; but it is often difficult to find and line-up airfields, so the Webmaster selected this photo for the current Then and Now post. The ground in this photo was liberated by the 36th Division, AEF on 12 October, 1918. The photo below shows a series of wind turbines along the D987 south of Attigny.  Those are the only blades turning in the region Continue reading →

News and Events–U.S.: Ceremonial Groundbreaking for America’s World War I Memorial

November 7, 2017 by Randy
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  On Thursday, 9 November, at 11AM (EST) the @WW1CC will host a small ceremonial groundbreaking event at Washington, D.C.’s Pershing Park, to thank its partners and supporters.   The event will feature distinguished leaders, well-known guest speakers, and music from the U.S. Army’s Pershing’s Own brass quintet.  Shovels will turn earth that came from the WW1 battlefields of France.   The event will be streamed via Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial.  (Note:  The Webmaster believes the actual event is by invitation only.)   Readers can Continue reading →

Then and Now: Grandpre and Vicinity (77th and 78th Divisions, AEF), Part 2

November 2, 2017 by Randy
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The tour of the Grandpré battlefield continues…     Caption:  Military Cemetery near Grandpré.  Griffin Group Photo AM372.  Taken 17 January, 1919. Note:  The “now” photo includes a much larger piece of today’s road than seen in the “then” photo. Location:  Along the D946 east of Grandpré.  The road that follows the power lines north is the D6.     Caption:  The Griffin Group Photo is mislabeled.  This is Grèves Ferme, not Belle Joyeuse Ferme.  (Belle Joyeuse Ferme sits on a hilltop much closer to Continue reading →

Then and Now: Grandpre and Vicinity (77th and 78th Divisions, AEF), Part 1

November 1, 2017 by Randy
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Situated just south of the Kriemhilde Stellung (aka Hindenburg Line), the French village of Grandpré has fascinated this New Jersey-based Webmaster for some time.  Doughboys of the 77th Division gained a foothold in the southern portion of the town on 15-16 October, 1918; but it was the doughboys of the 78th Division that struggled to take the rest of the town and the “citadel” in late October. The town has some wonderful architecture that sets it apart from many of the rural towns in the Continue reading →