[Transcriber's Notes]
My father's part in WWI attracted me to this book. I recall him talking briefly about fighting the Bolsheviki in Archangel. "The machine gun bullets trimmed the leaves off the trees, as if it were fall." Like most veterans, he had little else to say.
This book mentions his campaign on page 736; "August 3, 1918.--President Wilson announces new policy regarding Russia and agrees to cooperate with Great Britain, France and Japan in sending forces to Murmansk, Archangel and Vladivostok."
My father's experience seems to be described in the following excerpt from the University of Michigan "The University Record", April 5, 1999. "Bentley showcases items from World War I 'Polar Bears'"; by Joanne Nesbit.
"During the summer of 1918, the U.S. Army's 85th Division, made up primarily of men from Michigan and Wisconsin, completed training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Mich., and proceeded to England. The 5,000 troops of the division's 339th Infantry and support units realized that they were not being sent to France to join the great battles on the Western Front when they were issued Russian weapons and equipment and lectured on life in the Arctic regions.
"When they reached their destination in early September, 600 miles north of Moscow, the men of the 339th joined an international force commanded by the British that had been sent to northern Russia for purposes that were never made clear. The Americans were soon spread in small fighting units across hundreds of miles of the Russian forest fighting the Bolsheviks who had taken power in Petrograd and Moscow.
"The day of the Armistice (Nov. 11) when fighting ceased for other American armies, the allied soldiers were fighting the Bolsheviks said to be led by Trotsky himself. After three days, the allies finally were able to drive off the Bolsheviks. While this fight was a victory for the Americans, the battle led to the realization that the war was not over for these men. As the weeks and months passed and more battles were fought, the men began to wonder if they would ever get home.
"The men of the 339th generally were well equipped with winter clothing during the winter of 1918-19 while stationed near the Arctic Circle, where temperatures reached minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
"There was little daylight for months at a time. Knowing that the war was over for other American soldiers, the morale of the troops declined throughout the winter.
"Families and friends of the men began to clamor for their return. Politicians unwilling to support an undeclared war against the Russian government joined in their demand. A petition to Congress was circulated. Several of the British and French units mutinied and refused to continue fighting. In early April, the American troops learned that they would be withdrawn as soon as the harbor at Archangel was cleared of ice.
"It was not until June of 1919 that the men of the 339th sailed from Russia and adopted the polar bear as their regimental symbol. After a stop in New York, the troops went on to Detroit where they took part in a gala July 4 homecoming parade at Belle Isle."
When considering monetary values listed in the text, one United States dollar in 1918 is equivalent to about thirteen dollars in 2006. One United States dollar in 1918 is equivalent to about 5.6 French Francs in 1918; one Franc in 1918 is equivalent to about 2.3 dollars in 2006.
For additional insight into the pilots and air battles of the war read "The Red Knight of Germany; The Story of Baron von Richthofen, Germany's Great War Bird" by Floyd Gibbons. This book is copyright 1927 and will not be freely available online until 2022.
In the PDf and Doc versions, the following pages contain additional maps that may assist in understanding some of the references to locations in the text. The first shows Western France. The second map contains many of the locations of the European battles. They are adapted from Putnam's Handy Volume Atlas of the World, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1921.
The next two maps from the USMA, West Point, map collection, compare Europe before and after World War I.
Finally, a full map of the European theater has much detail. It should be scaled up to about 500% for detail viewing. It is derived from a larger map from Rand, McNally & Company's Indexed Atlas of the World, Copyright 1898.
This is a glossary of unfamiliar (to me) terms and places.
Boche Disparaging term for a German.
camion Truck or bus. [French]
charnel Repository for the dead.
colliers Coal miner
congerie Accumulation, aggregation, collection, gathering
consanguinities Relationship by blood or common ancestor. Close affinity.
deadweight Displacement of a ship at any loaded condition minus the lightship weight (weight of the ship with no fuel, passengers, cargo). It includes the crew, passengers, cargo, fuel, water, and stores.
debouch March from a confined area into the open; to emerge
Gross Tonnage Volume of all ship's enclosed spaces (from keel to funnel) measured to the outside of the hull framing (1 ton / 100 cu.ft.).
inst. The current month: your letter of the 15th instant.
invest Surround with troops or ships; besiege.
irredenta Region culturally or historically related to one nation, but subject to a foreign government.
Junker Member of the Prussian landed aristocracy, formerly associated with political reaction and militarism.
Kiao-chau German protectorate from 1898 to 1915, on the Yellow Sea coast of China. It was on 200 square miles of the Shantung Peninsula around the city of Tsingtao, leased to Germany for one hundred years by the imperial Chinese government. In 1898 Tsingtao was an obscure fishing village of 83,000 inhabitants. When Germany withdrew in 1915, Tsingtao was an important trading port with a population of 275,000.
kine Plural of cow.
kultur German culture and civilization as idealized by the exponents of German imperialism during the Hohenzollern and Nazi regimes.
lighterage Transportation of goods on a lighter (large flatbottom barge used to deliver or unload goods to or from a cargo ship or transport goods over short distances.)
lyddite An explosive consisting chiefly of picric acid, a poisonous, explosive yellow crystalline solid, C6H2(NO2)3OH.
mitrailleuse Machine gun.
morganatic Marriage between a person of royal birth and a partner of lower rank, where no titles or estates of the royal partner are to be shared by the partner of inferior rank nor by any of the offspring.
nugatory Of little or no importance; trifling; invalid.
pastils Small medicated or flavored tablet; tablet containing aromatic substances burned to fumigate or deodorize the air; pastel paste or crayon.
poilus French soldier, especially in World War I.
pourparler Discussion preliminary to negotiation.
prorogue Discontinue a session of parliament; postpone; defer.
punctilio Fine point of etiquette; precise observance of formalities.
rinderpest Contagious viral disease, chiefly of cattle, causing ulceration of the alimentary tract and diarrhea.
Sublime Porte [French. Porte: a gate] Ottoman court; government of the Turkish empire; from the gate of the sultan's palace.
Tsing-tao (Qing-dao) City in eastern China on the Yellow Sea, north-northwest of Shanghai. The city was leased in 1898 to the Germans, who established a famous brewery.
Uhlans Horse cavalry of the Polish, German, Austrian, and Russian armies.
ukase Order or decree; an edict; proclamation of a czar having the force of law in imperial Russia.
verbund [German] Interconnection.
Wipers British soldiers' pronunciation of "Ypres".
Zemstvos An elective council for the administration of a provincial district in czarist Russia.
[End Transcriber's notes]
General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces. General Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the American armies. Field Marshal Haig, head of the British armies. General d'Esperey (French) to whom Bulgaria surrendered. General Diaz, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian armies. General Marshall (British), head of the Mesopotamian expedition. General Allenby (British), who redeemed Palestine from the Turks.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
An Authentic Narrative of The World's Greatest War
By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Ph.D. In Collaboration with RICHARD J. BEAMISH Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst
With an Introduction By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Illustrated with Reproductions from the Official Photographs of the United States, British and French Governments
PUBLISHED FOR THE UNITED PUBLISHERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO 1919
COPYRIGHT, 1918
FRANCIS A. MARCH
This history is an original work and is fully protected by the copyright laws, including the right of translation. All persons are warned against reproducing the text in whole or in part without the permission of the publishers.
WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF. WASHINGTON,
NOVEMBER 14, 1918. With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the World War has been practically brought to an end. The events of the past four years have been of such magnitude that the various steps, the numberless battles, and the growth of Allied power which led up to the final victory are not clearly defined even in the minds of many military men. A history of this great period which will state in an orderly fashion this series of events will be of the greatest value to the future students of the war, and to everyone of the present day who desires to refer in exact terms to matters which led up to the final conclusion.