Postcard celebrating the arrival of the first American troops in France; they arrived May 26, 1917.
Arrivée des Américains en FranceArrivée du premier ConvoiArrival of the Americans in FranceArrival of the first Convey [sic]Visé, Paris no. 420Logo: ELDReverse:Imp. E Le Deley, Paris
"The first 243 American soldiers to reach Britain did so on May 18 [1917]. They were the medical staff and orderlies for a base hospital. On May 26 the first American combat troops arrived in France. By the end of that week a total of 1,308 had landed."
The first American destroyers had reached Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland on May 4, 1917. Significant numbers of US troops would be longer in coming, but President Woodrow Wilson had been clear on April 2 of his intention when he asked the United States Congress for a declaration of war against Germany: the 'immediate addition . . . of at least five hundred thousand men' and 'subsequent additional increments of equal force.' In May, 1917, US troops could boost morale and be the vanguard of the strength to come, but they were not yet a fighting force.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 333, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
1917-05-26, 1917, May, America, United States
