World War I Forums

Stow Maries WWI airfield granted listed status

Sat, 12 May 2012 10:58:19 CDT

[quote]A World War I airbase in Essex has been granted listed status.

Twenty-four buildings at Stow Maries Aerodrome near Maldon have been Grade II star-listed by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

The airfield site which was used as a base for the 37th Squadron Royal Flying Corps is one of the few remaining of its kind in the country.

It was listed for its "rarity" and "historical importance" Heritage Minister John Penrose said.[/quote]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-18017960

The 'Pompeii' of the Western Front: Archaeologists find the bodies of 21 tragic World War One German soldiers in perfectly preserved trenches where they were buried alive by an Allied shell

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:40:44 CST

[quote]The bodies of 21 German soldiers entombed in a perfectly preserved World War One shelter have been discovered 94 years after they were killed.

The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when a huge Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in 1918 causing it to cave in.

Thirteen bodies were recovered from the underground shelter but the remaining men had to be left under a mountain of mud as it was too dangerous to retrieve them.

Nearly a century later French archaeologists stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front in eastern France during excavation work for a road building project.[/quote]

Last surviving veteran of First World War dies aged 110

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:02:19 CST

[quote]Mrs Green passed away in her sleep at a care home in Norfolk just two weeks before her 111th birthday.

Secret tunnels of the Somme: Historians unearth truth about World War One's underground battles after reopening lost labyrinth

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:41:28 CST

[quote]

WWI Grave Find Tells Story Germans Want To Forget

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:01:13 CDT

[quote]

Archaeologists in northern France have unearthed the bodies of 21 German soldiers from World War One in an elaborate underground shelter that was destroyed in a French attack in March 1918 and hasn't been opened since.

Individual war casualties are still frequently found during construction work on the former Western front battlefields of France and Belgium but the discovery of so many soldiers in one location is rare.

The tomb poignant and grisly sheds light on the lives of the soldiers who died in explosions from heavy shells that penetrated the tunnel.

"It's a bit like Pompeii" Michaël Landolt the French archaeologist leading the dig told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time. This is an extraordinary find."

The men were from the 6th Company of the "Reserve Infanterie Regiment 94." Their bodies had been left in the dugout because retrieving them was deemed too dangerous. A total of 34 men in the shelter were killed in the attack. Troops managed to haul out 13 of the dead at the time.[/quote]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0151879410300.html

Ridgewood's World War I soldiers to be honored on Veterans Day

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 11:05:12 CDT

[quote]

American Legion Post 53 is planning a Veterans Day rededication of 14 plaques dating back to 1931 and honoring World War I casualties.

JOSEPH CRAMER/THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Only two of the 14 plaques installed at Graydon Park in 1931 to honor local World War I casualties remain on the property. On Veterans Day American Legion Post 53 will place a plaque honored the 14 soldiers whose names were on the plaques by placing a new plaque on a boulder in the northwest corner of Graydon Park.

The plaque rededication is one of several historical renewal projects throughout the village that the Legion hopes to complete over the next two years according to Legionnaire Chris Stout.[/quote]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/non-profit/volunteers/126382968_World_War_I_soldiers_to_be_honored_on_Veterans_Day.html

Underground carvings memorialize Canadian soldiers

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:01:07 CDT

[quote]

A long-forgotten subterranean memorial to Canadian soldiers who fought in the First World War will soon see the light of day thanks to the efforts of a London Ont.-based group.

The unusual memorial was made by the soldiers themselves as they slept ate and waited in a cave in northern France. They were eventually called to fight at nearby Vimy Ridge in what would become one of the greatest victories in Canadian military history.

The cave which is accessible through a small hole in a farmer's field has been sealed off and largely forgotten since the 1917 battle. British experts reopened the cave five years ago working to preserve carvings made by soldiers along the cave walls.

Now a Canadian group called the Canadigm Team has joined them to document and to make exact replicas of hundreds of pieces of graffiti which they plan to show across the country.

"It's important to remember the battle. But also these are Canadians" said Zenon Andrusyszyn a visual artist who's directing the group.[/quote]

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110601/underground-cave-war-memorial-vimy-ridge-110602/20110602/

Last World War I combat vet dies in Australia

Thu, 05 May 2011 09:52:35 CDT

[quote](AP)

SYDNEY - Claude Stanley Choules the last known combat veteran of World War I died Thursday at a nursing home in the Western Australia city of Perth his family said. He was 110.

Beloved for his wry sense of humor and humble nature the British-born Choules — nicknamed "Chuckles" by his comrades in the Australian Navy — never liked to fuss over his achievements which included a 41-year military career and the publication of his first book at the age of 108.

"We all loved him" his 84-year-old daughter Daphne Edinger told The Associated Press. "It's going to be sad to think of him not being here any longer but that's the way things go."[/quote]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/04/501364/main20059904.shtml

RIP

Congressman makes plea to let deceased WWI vet 'lie in honor'

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:42:35 CST

[quote]

Frank Buckles

Congressman Mike Thompson co-chairman of the Military Veterans Caucus today sent a bipartisan letter urging House Speaker John Boehner to allow Frank Buckles the last surviving American veteran of World War I to lie in honor in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.

Although public viewings in the Rotunda have largely been limited to elected officials and distinguished military figures Thompson who represents California's 1st District which includes Yolo County and his colleagues Congressmen Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) support making an exception for Buckles.

"It's important to let Mr. Buckles lie in honor not only because of who he was but what he represents" said Thompson. "Mr. Buckles was a living link between America's past and present - an important reminder of the service and sacrifice of nearly 5 million American World War I veterans. Allowing Mr. Buckles to lie in honor would be a fitting tribute to an entire generation of American war heroes and their families."[/quote]

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_17573080

Last U.S. World War I veteran dies

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:28:54 CST

[quote]

Washington (CNN) -- Frank Buckles the last U.S. World War I veteran has died a spokesman for his family said Sunday. He was 110.

Buckles "died peacefully in his home of natural causes" early Sunday morning the family said in a statement sent to CNN late Sunday by spokesman David DeJonge.

Buckles marked his 110th birthday on February 1 but his family had earlier told CNN he had slowed considerably since last fall according his daughter Susannah Buckles Flanagan who lives at the family home near Charles Town West Virginia.

Buckles who served as a U.S. Army ambulance driver in Europe during what became known as the "Great War" rose to the rank of corporal before the war ended. He came to prominence in recent years in part because of the work of DeJonge a Michigan portrait photographer who had undertaken a project to document the last surviving veterans of that war.[/quote]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/27/wwi.veteran.death/

Recent Outage

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:21:08 CST

Sorry about the recent domain outages there was an issue with our domain provider but it has all been resolved now.

Forum Rules and Guidelines

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:20:57 CST

Thanks for taking the time to check out this thread! While we encourage everyone to get involved to the fullest we do have a few rules we want everyone to follow.

Racism will not be tolerated depending on the offensive you will only be warned once.
Attacking other forum members for what ever reason will not be tolerated.
Talk of or linking to piracy is prohibited.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion please respect it.
Please attempt to link to or source any work you use. This includes but is not limited to images text and videos.
Do not repost PM (Personal Messages) unless all parties involved consent they are called Personal for a reason.
Posts that add little to no value to a discussion may be removed.
Threats will not be tolerated.
You are responsible for your postings do not upload or say anything you shouldn't.
Do not create multiple accounts.

Bans durations will range from a few hours to a permanent ban depending on the offense. If you have questions comments suggestions reports etc please speak to a team member at the latest. Rules and guidelines are subject to change at any moment.

Enjoy your stay at the World War I Forums!

Christmas truces during WWI 'were not one-offs'

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:33:50 CST

[quote]

Christmas truces between opposing soldiers continued throughout WWI rather than being a one-off a historian has claimed.

A seasonal ceasefire exchange of gifts and carol singing famously took place on the battlefields in 1914.

Dr Thomas Weber of the University of Aberdeen says cease-fires continued to take place in 1915 and 1916.

However the academic believes this was played down when it came to official war records.[/quote]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11999655

Only these traces remain

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 07:21:04 CST

[quote]Thousands of Canadian soldiers died in the Great War -- said at the time to be the war to end all wars -- but in the decades since the end of the First World War age and mortality have done to the surviving veterans what an enemy's bullet didn't do. It's just a few months since the last Canadian veteran of that war breathed his last.

t before Ypres before the Somme before Vimy thousands of soldiers who fought in these battles trained in trenches made to look and feel like the ones they would soon be in.

And that place was in Manitoba just south of the Trans-Canada Highway on a turnoff near the Camp Shilo exit.[/quote]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/only-these-traces-remain-107020508.html

The WWI Diary of Ernst J�nger: Newly Published Memoir Recalls Horror of Western Front

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 11:27:14 CST

[quote]One of the most graphic accounts of World War I the diary of German author Ernst Jünger has been published for the first time. Its dispassionate description of life and death on the Western Front is a cold indictment of war -- even though Jünger embraced the conflict throughout as a glorious test of manhood. [/quote]