August 2003

Access Archives
TRENCH REPORT: Seminar 2004 has been scheduled! Sal Compagno has announced that the Great War Society's 2004 seminar will be held April 23-25 in Kansas City, Missouri. The topic will be the Near East and the First World War. More details to follow . . . A production of the WWI musical OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR is playing weekends in Los Angeles at the Knightsbridge Theater in the Silverlake Area through August 24th. Reservations and information at (626) 440-0821. . .the National Personnel records center (NPRC) is now set up for requesting documents regarding US veterans on-line. Their address is http://www.archives.gov/. . . Russians honoured the 85th anniversary of the execution of the last tsar during July at a church built on the murder site as part of efforts to revive Russia's imperial history. The church, which cost 328 million roubles (about $10 million), marks the spot where Tsar Nicholas II was shot with his wife, Alexandra, and their five children on the night of July 16, 1918, in a cellar in the city of Yekaterinburg . . .A mass grave containing the remains of 250 missing Australian soldiers is believed to have been found in a French field, 87 years after they were killed in the battle of Fromelles - one of the bloodiest encounters of World War I. The Battle was fought near Armentieres north of the Somme Sector, but as part of the larger Battle of the Somme.


1940: Hitler Visits Langemark Cemetery
Click to Learn About Hitler's WWI Frontline Service

New at the Websites of the Great War Society and Our Friends

Click on Title to Access
At TGWS Members Contributions
At WFA-USA
At the Doughboy Center
At the London Latern



"So Handsome in their Uniforms"
Mutilated British War Veterans.



I've discovered an interesting book review site at the Institute of Historical Research website. Here are some of their WWI entries:


Memorable August Dates:
  • 08/01/14 Germany declares war on Russia; France & Belgium mobilize;
  • 08/01/17 Papal peace initiative;
  • 08/02/18 Allies recapture Soissons;
  • 08/03/14 Germany declares war on France;
  • 08/04/14 Britain declares war on Germany;
  • 08/06/14 Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia;
  • 08/06/15 Second Allied landing on Gallipoli at Sulva Bay;
  • 08/08/18 Amiens Offensive [German Black Day];
  • 08/11/16 Italian forces to Salonika;
  • 08/14/17 China declares war on Germany;
  • 08/15/14 Serbs defeat A-H at Jadar;
  • 08/18/18 French Americans advance in Oise/Aisne sector;
  • 08/20/15 Italy declares war on Turkey;
  • 08/22/15 LC Driant warns of impending attack at Verdun;
  • 08/26/14 Battle of Tanneberg;
  • 08/27/16 Rumania advance into Transylvania;
  • 08/28/14 Battle of Heligoland Blight;
  • 08/31/16 Germany restricts submarine warfare.


This Month's
Special Feature

Forgotten Weapon
The Rifles of World War I

On Line Resources for Focused Topics


Media Player Required		 Mademoiselle from Armentieres

AKA Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous



VETERAN OF THE MONTH

Winnipeg [Winnie] Bear
Mascot First Class,
Winnipeg Rifles, CEF

Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh after being visited at London Zoo by Capt. A.E. Milne & his son Christopher Robin.
Click on Image for More Information at the One Hundred Acres Woods Website



Britain's oldest surviving First World War veteran Jack Davis died on July 20th at 108. The old soldier - who escaped the bloody Battle of the Somme in 1916 because he had trench fever - drifted away peacefully at a nursing home in Stoke Hammond, Bucks. Mr Davis, 19 at the outbreak of war in 1914, served in the 6th Battalion Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry. He went to Belgium three times to honor old comrades and was due to meet the Queen. His wife Vera died in 1976. He is survived by Ken, five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.


Jack Davis Honored at the Menin Gate


By the end of 1915 the French Army had already suffered 1,961,687 casualties of which 1,001,271 were killed or missing. In 1915 alone, the French Army suffered more casualties than they would in 1916, the year of Verdun and the Somme.


GREAT WAR 2003 EVENT CALENDAR

The League of World War I Aviation Historians

Annual Meeting
September 10-11, 2003;
Dayton, Ohio; (link)
US Air Force Museum

Great War Dawn Patrol Fly-In
September 12-14, 2003;
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio;
(link)
WFA-USA 2003 National Seminar

Quantico, Virginia,
US Marine Corps University,
September 19-21, 2003
Details: (link)
WFA-USA NE/NY Fall Seminar

Saratoga Springs, NY
New York Military Museum,
Saturday, October 25, 2003.
(full program now available)
WFA-USA Florida-Gulf Chapter Fall 2003 Seminar

November 8, 2003;
Central Florida Community College, Ocala
(link)
First Century of Flight

Celebrate Freedom Foundation
Columbia, South Carolina
WWI Aircraft Featured
5-9 November, 2003;
(email for info.)
Zelandia's Great War

Celebrate Freedom Foundation
Auckland, New Zealand
Seminar 7-10 Nov, 2003
Burial of New Zealand's Unknown Soldier Nov 11, 2003;
(email for info.)
Send additions/corrections:
Email Response




Centotaph at Lone Pine, Gallipoli
Focus of ANZAC Day Events



I had a strong sense of self-preservation, keeping a clear head at the most dangerous times and never taking undue risks, and it stood me in good stead right the way through.

      Jack Davis two years ago, who died this past month at 108.

The following individuals are hereby thanked for their contributions to this issue of the Trip Wire: Sue Neeson, Jerry Beach, Christina Holstein and Bonnie MacBird and George Young. The details on French casualties are from Corelli Barnett and Gerard Demaison. Until next month, your editor, Mike Hanlon.


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