Cover to the sheet music for 'Good-bye Broadway, Hello France,' the 'big song hit of 'Passing Show of 1917' at N.Y. Winter Garden,' lyrics by C. Francis Reisner and Benny Davis, music by Billy Baskette. Standing in New York, General John J. Pershing shakes hands over the Atlantic with a Ferdinand-Foch-like French general.
Big song hit of 'Passing Show of 1917' at N.Y. Winter GardenGood-bye Broadway, Hello FranceWords by C. Francis Reisner and Benny DavisMusic by Billy Baskette
"I have come to tell you that the American people will hold it a high honor that their troops should take part in the present battle. I ask you to permit this in my name and in theirs. At the present moment there is only one thing to do, to fight. Infantry, artillery, aëroplanes — all that I have I put at your disposal — do what you like with them. More will come — in fact, all that may be necessary. I have come expressly to tell you that the American people will be proud to take part in this, the greatest and most striking battle in history."
March 28, 1918 address of American commander General John Pershing to Ferdinand Foch, made at Bombon, France, offering to subordinate American forces. Both Pershing and American President Woodrow Wilson had insisted on an independent American Army under sole American command, but the success of Germany's Somme Offensive, Operation Michael, made the situation desperate. When Pershing spoke, there were fewer than 150,000 American soldiers in France.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, p. 101, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
1918-03-28, 1918, March, John Pershing, Pershing, Ferdinand Foch, Foch, Good-bye Broadway, Hello France
