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AEF History



  Pre-War Army Missions: Cuba & The Philippines
From US Army CMH

  Pacifying the Moros in the Philippines, 1902-1913
From US Army CMH

  The Mexican Expedition, 1916–1917
From US Army CMH (PDF)

  Joint US Army-Navy War Planning on the Eve of the First World War
U.S. Army War College

  America's Turn From Neutrality to Intervention, 1914-1917
From the Great War Society Quarterly, Relevance

 America's Official Reasons for Declaring War
What the Public Was Told

  Joining the Great War, April 1917–April 1918
From US Army CMH (PDF)

  The U.S. Army in the World War I Era
From US Army CMH (PDF)

  The U.S. Army in World War I Fact Sheet
From US Army CMH (PDF)

  Planning the AEF:
The Need for an Expeditionary Force

  Planning the AEF:
How Large? & Where to Deploy?

  Planning the AEF:
The Mission and Beginnings of the AEF

  Troop Deployment: WWI vs WWII
From US Army CMH

  Lafayette, We are Here! The Yanks Arrive in Europe
Contributed by Raquel Hendrickson

   The United States Marine Corps in the World War
An Excerpt from Edwin Simmon's US Marines: A History

   Organizing the Marine Brigade
USMC University Monograph (PDF)

   Those "Other" U.S. Marines in the First World War
From Roads to the Great War

  African American Soldiers in WWI
From the Library of Congress

  More Than Numbers: Americans and the Revival of French Morale in the Great War
Col. Robert Doughty's article from Army History

  AEF Fact Sheet
Manpower, Organization and Casualties

  Learning Lessons in the American Expeditionary Forces
General, Unit and Operational Articles

  Tanks with Infantry: Lessons from the World War
By Maj. D.D. Eisenhower

  General Order 203: November 12, 1918
Pershing Thanks the AEF

  General Pershing's Letter of Appreciation to His "Fellow Soldiers"
Pershing's More Personal Thanks to the AEF

  How the AEF Experience Prepared America For the Greater Challenges Ahead
An Excerpt from John Eisenhower's Yanks





Tactics and Doctrine
  The AEF Way of War
by Mark Ethan Grotelueschen

 Company Level Leadership in the AEF
Paper at US Army CGSC, PDF File

  Questionable Training Methods for the AEF
From Parameters Magazine

 Tactical Effectiveness of the 165th Infantry, Rainbow Division
Paper at US Army CGSC, PDF File

 What Did Sgt. York Do in the Argonne?
Military History Magazine Article by Col. Doug Mastriano

   The Infantry in Battle
Case Studies of the AEF Put Together Under Geo. Marshall's Supervision

  Adapting to Siberia
August 1918 - April 1920
U.S. Army Study

  Delay at Montfaucon
26-27 September 1918
Key Event in Meuse-Argonne Offensive

  Breakdown of Divisional Artillery: The 35th Division
An Excerpt from Robert H. Ferrell's Collapse at Meuse-Argonne

     Signal Corps in the Field
From the Center for Military History

   German Defensive Plan at Belleau Wood
Excerpted from USMC Bulletin Fortitude

  Setback at Fismette
Study of a Fiasco by Edward Lengel

  26th Division Scouts Eliminate a Block at St. Mihiel
At Military.com

  The Strategic Threat Presented by the AEF
German Army Group C Analysis

   The Influenza Pandemic's Impact on the U.S. Military in World War I
by CDR David Thompson, USNR

  Chemical Warfare in World War I: The American Experience
Leavenworth Paper from the Command & General Staff College

 Night Attack in the Argonne
A Tactical Case Study

  Shortcomings of the AEF's Tactical Doctrine
Uses AEF & Captured German Documents

  AEF Casualty Handling Procedures
A Wounded Major William Donovan (MOH) Describes His Treatment

  Stagglers or Disappearing Doughboys
From Army History

  Burial of the Dead
Original AEF Document

  Organization & Deployment of Divisional Machine Guns
Contributed by Wilson A. Heefner

  Stragglers in the Meuse Argonne
From Army History

  Capturing Machine Gun Nests
Declassified AEF Document


Units & Formations

Land Forces

  AEF Unit Histories Available Online
Updated and Expanded, 9 June 2019

  The Square Division: Basic Fighting Unit of the AEF
RAND Corporation Analysis

  A Typical AEF Infantry Regiment - A Statistical Summary
310th Infantry, 78th Division

 Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina
Typical Training Cantonment

  Penn State Goes To War by Michael Bezilla
A Typical American College Supports the War Effort

  Unit Numbers for AEF Divisions
Including: Regimental, Battalions & Support Train Designations





Aviation Units and Operations

  The Birth of American Airpower in World War I
From the USAF Air University

  The US. Air Service in World War I
From the USAF Air University

  Hap Arnold, Charles Kettering and the Bug
First Unmanned Aircraft and Cruise Missile

  The Lafayette Escadrille and the U.S. Air Service
USAF Document

  Issoudun: The Making of America's First Eagles
From the USAF Air University

  Devil Dogs with Army Wings
Marines with the AEF Air Service

  WWI Air Service Squadrons
From the USAF Historical Research Agency

 The Evolution of Aerial Targeting In WWI and After
From USAF Pamphlet 14-210

  US Air Service in WWI
Part I with Links to Parts II-IV

 US Air Production: Success or Scandal?
At the Relevance Archive

 Airpower at the St. Mihiel Salient
Air Force Magazine

    The American Air Service in the World War by BG William Mitchell: Organizing for Victory
April 1917 - August 1918

    The American Air Service in the World War by BG William Mitchell: At St. Mihiel
September 1918

    The American Air Service in the World War by BG William Mitchell: The Meuse - Argonne
Sep - Nov, 1918




Naval Units & Operations

  Alfred Thayer Mahan and the Coming of the First World War
From the Russell Kirk Center

  United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922
Naval History and Heritage Command (PDF)

 The US Navy in the Great War
From the Relevance Archives

  Admiral Sims Had a Different Approach from General Pershing
At Roads to the Great War

  The U.S. Coast Guard During the First World War
Depart of Homeland Security (PDF)

  US Naval Aviation in World War I, On-Line Monograph
Naval History and Heritage Command (PDF)

History of Naval Aviation [to 1930]
Capt. W.H. Sitz, USMC

  The U.S. Navy's First World War I Mission: Transporting Gold
At Roads to the Great War

Sealift for the AEF
From Contributor Walter Kudlick

First U.S. Overseas Troop Convoy
Naval History and Heritage Command

Loss of the USS Jacob Jones, DD-61
First US Destroyer Lost to Enemy Fire

The Loss of Coast Guard Cutter USS Tampa
From Contributor James Patton

American Battleships with the Grand Fleet
From Contributor Alan Weatherly

U-156 Attacks Cape Cod
Smithsonian

The Sinking of the SS Tuscania
Saturday Evening Post

North Sea Mine Barrage
From Contributor E.M. (Mac) Coffman

  The Queenstown, Ireland, Patrol
US Naval War College

  The United States Navy in the Mediterranean During the First World War
Naval History and Heritage Command (PDF)

  The United States Navy on the Western Front: The 14-Inch Railway Guns
US Naval Institute

  Anglo-American Naval Innovators, 1890-1919
From the International Journal of Naval History

The USS Olympia Returns the Unknown Soldier
The U.S. Navy Sextant

Volunteer Organizations

  History of the Knights of Columbus in World War I
The Catholic Service Organization Beloved by the Doughboys

  American Field Service: Americans Join World War I, 1914-1919
Volunteer Magazine

  The American Red Cross in the World War
Historical Summary and Statistics

 The Salvation Army in WWI
Archival Material from the Salvation Army

 The YMCA in the World War
Contributed by Capt. Ralph Blanchard



  American Library Association Supports the War
Books for the Doughboys

  The Jewish Welfare Board in WWI
Supporting the Troops

Battlegrounds

April 1917 – April 1918

      First American Troops Arrive, June 1917
From the American Battle Monuments Commission

  Into the Fight, April–June 1918
From US Army CMH (PDF)

  Your Trench Orientation Tour
Excerpted from Trench Knives and Mustard Gas

  11th Engineers Take Earliest U.S. Combat Casualties
At the Battle of Cambrai

  April 1918: The Seicheprey Raid
By Terrence Finnegan

May – August 1918

  Battle of Cantigny
May 28 - 30, 1918



  Battle of Cantigny
From the First Division Foundation & Museum

  Under Monash at Hamel, July 4, 1918
Hamel: US Forces Support an Australian Victory

  The Marne: 15 July-6 August 1918
From US Army CMH (PDF)

       The Battle for Belleau Wood


       The Bravest Deeds of Men: A Field Guide for the Battle of Belleau Wood
USMC University Monograph (PDF)



       The Capture of Vaux
By the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division

      The 2nd Engineers at Belleau Wood
Army History Bulletin article from Col Bill Anderson, USMC

   The Second Battle of the Marne
July 15 - September 16, 1918

  Rock of the Marne Episode
By Maj. Walter Short

  Operations of the Four Detached Regiments of the Segregated 92nd Division
July - November, 1918

  II Corps Support of the Flanders Sector
August 1918





 Doughboys in Italy!
August 1918 - April 1919
At La Grande Guerra

  AEF Siberia
August 1918 - April 1920
Contributed by Christine L. Putnam

  5th Division Captures Frapelle
August 17, 1918

September 1918 – 1922

  The Battle of St. Mihiel
By Donald Smythe (PDF)

  Reducing the St. Mihiel Salient: September 1918
USMC University Monograph (PDF)

  St. Mihiel, 12-16 September 1918
From US Army CMH (PDF)

  St. Mihiel Offensive
September 12 - 16, 1918

  Patton's First Tank Attack, 12-16 September 1918
From Relevance (PDF)

  The Argonne Battlefield
By Historian Thomas Fleming

  Meuse-Argonne: 26 September–11 November 1918
From US Army CMH (PDF)

       The "Big Show" (Meuse-Argonne) Overview
Units, Chronology and Maps

       Pershing's Meuse-Argonne Report
Commander's Official Summary

       Geography and the Lost Battalion
From the American Battle Monuments Commission

       The Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, 1918: Harbinger of American Great Power on the European Continent?
By Michael Neiberg

  II Corps & the Capture of the St. Quentin Canal
September 27 - October 1 1918

  American Polar Bears: AEF Northern Russia
September 1918 - August 1919





       Capturing Blanc Mont Ridge

       St. Etienne and the Pursuit to the Aisne


       A Hideous Price: The 4th [Marine] Brigade at Blanc Mont
USMC University Monograph (PDF)

  II Corps Pursuit to the Selle
October 1918

  Pursuit to the Scheldt
Oct 30 - November 11, 1918

  Yys-Lys Offensive
From the American Battle Monuments Commission

  Second Army Operations
November 7 - 11, 1918

  Third Army Occupation of Germany
From Army History

  Occupation of Germany (PDF)
From the ABMC (PDF)


Battle Streamer

To find other features on the DOUGHBOY CENTER visit:

General Headquarters

To access our full archive of First World War publications & products visit:

Home Base Worldwar1.com

THE DOUGHBOY CENTER wishes to continually expand our features.
Additions and comments on these pages may be directed to
Michael E. Hanlon (greatwar@earthlink.net)