Veterans Day 2018, 100th anniversary of the end of WW1

[Sylvain]

In one week, on the 11th of November, we will celebrate Veterans Day.
This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice in 1918.
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany surroundered, marking the end of the First World War.

Feel free to add to this thread to share pictures, videos, family stories etc.

 

[Sylvain]

[video=youtube;Y4esgAtg8qE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4esgAtg8qE[/video]

[video=youtube;mreBTDZ19mE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mreBTDZ19mE[/video]

 

[GregD]

Sylvain, what is on top of the cross?

 

[Sylvain]

Sylvain, what is on top of the cross?

A candle.
It was during a ceremony earlier this year.

 

[Sylvain]

14,000 candles ...

 

[Sylvain]

 

[GregD]

Sylvain that is an amazing sight !
Very nice.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Thank you Sylvain. This really puts things in perspective.

 

[Sylvain]

The Meuse-Argonne offensive of 1918 was America's deadliest battle ever, with 26,000 U.S. soldiers killed, tens of thousands wounded and more ammunition fired than in the whole of the Civil War. It was also a great American victory that helped bringing an end to World War 1.

I visited that cemetery, it's a beautiful place.
130 acres and over 14,000 graves.
More soldiers were killed during that battle but they don't all have graves.The names of the missing are engraved on the chapel's walls.

 

[Sylvain]

Thank you Sylvain. This really puts things in perspective.

It's hard to show the size of those cemeteries, even with aerial pictures.

You really have to stand in the middle of those crosses to understand how large it is.You have rows upon rows in every directions.

In this picture each tiny white dot is a cross.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Great pics as always Sylvain. Thank you

 

[Sylvain]

This is the spot where the Armistice between the Allied and Germany was signed in 1918, in Compiegne France.

In the middle of a forest, in a wagon, not too far from the front line.

A similar wagon is housed in a building nearby.

The actual wagon was destroyed by the Germans in 1945 after they took it to Germany.

The wagon itself has an interesting story, it was used both in 1918 and 1940, in both world wars.

The first time when the Germans surrounded to France, and a second time in 1940 when France surrounded to Germany.

Hitler wanted to use the exact same wagon, placed at the exact same place.

After the victory of 1918 the wagon was stored in a French museum in Paris.
During the invasion of France in 1940 the Germans took the wagon, destroyed the museum in the process, and moved it to its original position to have France sign the armistice.

Hitler in front of the wagon in June 1940.

Later the wagon was moved to Germany, in Berlin.

At the end of WW2 it was destroyed by the Germans to prevent France from getting it back, and so they wouldn't be forced to surrounder a second time in the same exact wagon.

 

[Jsomerset]

Thanks Sylvain!

 

[BigRed]

Sylvain,

Another great thread.

Thank you again for sharing these things...I hope to make it there some day, but chances are long. Seeing some of these sites from your perspective is really appreciated.

 

[Dead Duck]

As always, great stuff Sylvain.
Thank You for sharing.

This week are you going to talk to some of the WW1 vets like you did during the WW2 Normandy festivities?

 

[Sylvain]

As always, great stuff Sylvain.
Thank You for sharing.

This week are you going to talk to some of the WW1 vets like you did during the WW2 Normandy festivities?

I wish.Maybe CM will be able to share stories of his youth when WW1 started.

 

[Hawkeye]

I wish.Maybe CM will be able to share stories of his youth when WW1 started.

Can he recall that far back? The ban-hammer job keeps him kind of stressed out!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sylvain]

Probably not a well known story ...

In 1915 the American Field Service was created, thousands of volunteers came to France to serve as ambulance drivers under French command.
Two years before the US joined the war in 1917.
Since the US had not joined the war yet they couldn't fight in the front line.

They evacuated some 400,000 soldiers to safety.Some 127 AFS volunteers were killed by enemy fire.

They used the first motorised ambulance (modified Ford model T).A model later adopted by the US Army when they joined the war.

 

[Sylvain]

 

[indykid]

My grandfather was in the Navy during The War to End All Wars. My father served in both the Army and Army Air Corps in Germany during the war that followed. I was getting ready to be the third generation that didn't learn by being drafted into the Johnson/Nixon war but a broken back kept me home.

After 100 years we still haven't learned, and sadly future generations will continue to feel the pain and agony that was supposed to end 100 years ago after the War to End All Wars that didn't. May all their souls rest in peace.