Articles from 1918
When only a few wet months were left before all alcohol was banned from the United States, THE NATION reviewed the 1918 Anti-Prohibition Manual and the Year Book of the United States Brewers Association (1917) and came away with this brief, but amusing and informative history of drinking.
British fighter pilot in the Great War, Lieutenant E.M. Roberts, gave this account of the deadly game of Boche-hunting above the clouds:
I noticed he was going down a little, evidently for the purpose of shooting me from underneath. I was not quite sure as yet that such was really his intention; but the man was quick…he put five shots into my machine. But all of them missed me.
I maneuvered into an offensive position as Quickly as I could, and I had my machine gun pelting him…The Hun began to spin earthward.
Special woolen coats and breeches and underwear, long mufflers, worsted socks and long stockings, gloves and gauntlets are other things which are being issued to the Doughboys in Russia. Alaska Yanks are said to be right at home in their new surroundings, although they complain sometimes of the heat.
An additional article is attached concerning the supply of medals that had to be shipped North; reading between the lines, you will get a sense that much gallantry was expected…
When the Doughboys complained, they complained heavily about their uniforms; read about it here.
The American poet Carl Sandburg once wrote words to the effect that Slang is language that takes off its coat, spits on its hands, and goes to work – a very soldierly description it was, too. That said, an anonymous Journalist from The Stars and Stripes examined the casual lingo muttered by the Doughboys in France and surmised that a
universal slang in this man’s army is as hard to find as universal peace in this man’s world.
Perhaps it was all due to the fact that we weren’t in that war long enough to make it our own.
An account of the first all-American trench raid of the First World War. The correspondent noted that the raid, which took place in the Loraine Sector, spanned forty-seven minutes from start to finish.
The participating unit was not named.
As if simply having to be mindful of wind velocity and camouflage was not enough to occupy the thoughts of your average World War I German sniper, some were burdened to a further degree by having to affix this half-inch steel sniper mask to their faces…
The power of positive thinking is one of the necessary elements that has been ingrained within the psyche of every U.S. Army recruit for at least the past 100 years. Positive thought is the topic of this 1918 article about the wartime training of U.S. Army officer cadets at Camp Grant, Illinois, by Major Herman J. Koehler (1859 – 1927), who believed deeply that there is no limit to human endurance.
Read what the U.S. Army psychologists had to say about courage.
The battle of Cantigny (May 28 – 31, 1918) was America’s first division sized engagement during the First World War; George Marshall would later opine that the objective was of no strategic importance and of small tactical value. General Pershing was hellbent on eradicating from the popular memory any mention of the A.E.F.’s poor performance at Seicheprey some weeks earlier, and Cantigny was as good a battleground in which to do it as any. Assessing the battle two weeks after the Armistice, Pershing’s yes men at the STARS AND STRIPES wrote:
But at Cantigny it had been taught to the world the significant lesson that the American soldier was fully equal to the soldier of any other nation on the field of battle.
An article from THE NEW REPUBLIC recognizing that 1914 marked the end of an era.
These three articles from THE STARS AND STRIPES of W.W. I reported on the U.S. Army Campaign hat which was a well-loved uniform item and most Doughboys were pretty choked-up to see that it was going to be replaced by a piece of millinery as slovenly as the overseas cap.
In an attempt to save money, the U.S. Army issued an order that N.C.O.s were to wear chevrons on one arm only.
This U.S. Army uniform regulation announced in the September 13th, 1918 issue of THE STARS and STRIPES helped to put British, French (and later German) tailors to work on the uniforms of U.S. officers:
According to this plan, each Quartermaster depot will have a tailoring system through which the officer can buy his cloth and then be fitted and outfitted on the spot. At each depot, civilian labor will be contracted and the officer need pay for only his share of the labor cost.
Brief, understated descriptions of Army issued uniform items; such as the new blouses, slickers, gloves, mittens, breeches and mufflers.
Black and white illustrations showing the types of private purchase shirting available to the members of the A.E.F. who were willing to pay for such foppery.
These particular items were British made and the ads depict two jocular Tommies.
Around the middle of 1918, the American Quartermasters began to think that their supply depots should actually be stocked with uniform items that were capable of providing some degree of warmth and comfort in the French winters, and so they dreamed-up the uniform elements described herein. For those who have some knowledge of American WW I uniforms it will be easy to recognize upon reading this article that most of these items were never made (except for the long pants).
Two pages from the Sears Military Equipment catalog of 1918; these were flight-clothing items offered for military or private purchase during a time when aviation was oddly saturated with equestrian pretensions.
The canvas leggings worn by the A.E.F. (as ordered in the American Army Uniform Regulations of 1912) were simply dandy for duties on the dry prairies of the United States, but soon proved impractical in the damp and rainy climate of France and Belgium. Shortly after their arrival in France the U.S. Army replaced their leggings with the wool puttees worn by their European Allies. In May of 1919 they were adopted for use by the entire Army.
Attached, you will find three well illustrated advertisements for Paris military tailors that were lovingly scanned and posted after having been crudely ripped from the brittle pages of the U.S. Army newspaper STARS AND STRIPES.
Some A.E.F. officers realized that industrial war would not provide them with an opportunity for horseback riding and they wisely chose alternative footwear more suited to the discomfort of living in the damp trenches of France.
