Tirana Times
Nowadays, the term World War I, for many, has a primarily historicإven archaicנring to it. It is something that students study in school and television channels air black and white documentaries about. Yet, what about the unparalleled personal sacrifices made during those years by men and women around the world? Have the priceless accounts of those who suffered through the Great War been lost with the passing of time?
This Thursday, July 28th, marks the 97th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. In light of this and the comments above, Tirana Timesطith much thanks to the cooperation of veterans’ families and the Indiana Historic Commissionبas decided to honor the memory of this period by using this anniversary as an opportunity to share true, personal accounts of the Great War:
The Siberian Front
The Siberian Expeditionary Forces served under combat conditions, in a brutal environment, longer than any other force involved in WWI
“I will now tell you a little of my experiences and why the American boys were in Northern Russia 3,000 miles north of Siberia, Russia at the North Pole. We were loaned to England by America to fight the Reds, and I spent the fall and winter of 1918 in Northern Russia where it runs from 45 to 47Рbelow zero, which I saw with my own eyes on New Year’s Day.”
“I spent two days and nights in battle with the Bolsheviks, lying on the top of four foot of snow, and it was 47 below zero. We lost about a hundred men in about two hours on New Year’s night. Two months before this operation, party comrades had built a front against four battalions of the Red Army before we were forced to retreat. We retreated on the ninth of November, 1918 the day I was 27 years of age, the day I will long time remember.”
“I spent five long months at the front, my lungs hurt me so bad that I couldn’t hardly breathe without howling and begged to have permit to go to doctor for medicine but was refused by my Sergeant, on account of we were so very short of men and needed everyone that was able to walk.”
“Our company was all shot to pieces, as we were known all through the Red Army as the Black Co. of Death to the Red Army soldiers, as they always knew when they were up against Co. K. of the 339th Regiment for we occupied Kadish on one drive with 95 men against 600 Red Army soldiers and they lost over 300 men. A boy that has seen service in Russia sure has seen service in hell, for they were starving there and I have cried lots of times while I was there over being hungry.”
“The first square meal that I ate since I left the States was when I was in Brest, France, the 21st day of June, 1919 when I was on my way back to America, and I sure thought I was in a palace of some kind, to what it was in Russia. I spent thirteen weeks there, on the front, without an overcoat, all that I had was my blouse and the front of my trousers, and had not had a shower or bath in all of that time, as we didn’t get a chance to bath, only in the ice.” נPvt. Samuel Herbert Darra
The French Front (1917)
“We knew a huge offensive was just a few days away but were not told the timing until the night beforeŠI was awakened by a terrific noise which sounded like every gun was firing as fast as it could be loaded with ammunition, lasting until I could not think, let alone hear, then all went quiet. Soon the Germans replied, firing just as hard and often as the French had, except their shells were tearing everything up on our side. Soon we were making ambulance trips back and forth as fast as the cars could be loaded, driven and unloaded. And for the first time we had Germans mixed in with the French, all given equal treatment.”
“With it came a peculiar experience at the hospital. We had just brought some wounded from the front including a German officer whose stretcher we placed, as usual, on two saw horses, and proceeded to load our replacement into the car when we heard an explosion. When we got into the tent we found the German officer had exploded a hand grenade in his pocket, killing himself and another German lying on a stretcher next to him, making a mess in the receiving tent but the medical staff had two less wounded to care for.”
“By evening the day of the attack I thought I knew all there was for an ambulance driver to know but at daybreak of the second day we were on the receiving end of a huge, German barrage and while there was not as much noise as the previous morning it was much more potent, making it impossible to find a place neglected by the shellingƗe stayed on duty for over forty-eight hours with no sleep and little to eat. What kept us going was the rum and ether we would get at the hospital. A mug of rum would make your hair stand on end, making sleep the last thing to come to mind.” – Harold W. Riley
Holidays on the Front
“Christmas of 1918 in France was very interesting. All did what they could to make it a merry one, as there were prospects of our soon going home, but quartermaster issued us a 100 lb sack of sugar to be made into candy. We were busy every minute when off-duty, for several days, on this job, as we only had an upright heating stove in our quarters, and much of the candy was cooked there.”
“Fuel was very scarce, which added to our difficulties, but we finally accomplished our purpose, and made the candy go as far as possible among the boys. Mistletoe grew in abundance, and this was used to decorate the wards. We also had Christmas trees in the wards and at the nurse’s home. The Red Cross filled home knitted socks for all the patients with cigarettes, oranges, nuts and candy.”
“All patients who were able went to Christmas Eve services held at the Red Cross hut. To accommodate the crowds, three services were held, the last at midnight. We attended this one and then went to bed at 4 AM, then many of us put on our white uniforms, which were seldom worn, our caps and capes, and marched through all the wards carrying candles and singing Christmas carols. Later, there was a very nice dinner for the boys, and each ward had a little party of is own.”נIva Lehman, Nurse
