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Headstone of Second Lieutenant J. Aitken, Royal Air Force, died July 16, 1918, buried in Dormans National Cemetery, Dormans, France. © 2014 by John M. Shea
French and British headstones in Dormans National Cemetery, Dormans, France. From left to right Second Lieutenant J. Aitken, Royal Air Force, Jean LaGorce and Germain Bouchareisses, both of the 273rd French Infantry Regiment, and Sergeant S.W. Melbourne, RAF. The French infantrymen both died on July 15, 1918, the men of the RAF the following day, the first and second days of the German Champagne-Marne Offensive. © 2014 by John M. Shea
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, his wife Tsaritsa Alexandra, their four daughters and son, a portrait of the Russian imperial family in 'An Ambassador's Memoirs' by Maurice Paléologue, the last French Ambassador to the Russian Court.
Wall plaques commemorating the First and Second Battles of the Marne from the Dormans Chapel and Memorial, Dormans, France. © 2014 by John M. Shea
The advance of July 19, 1918 in the Aisne-Marne Offensive. From The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas. © 1920
"To the French and American Soldiers of the Army:We may be attacked from one moment to another. You all feel that a defensive battle was never engaged in under more favorable conditions. We are warned, and we are on our guard. We have received strong reënforcements of infantry and artillery. You will fight on ground which by your assiduous labor you have transformed into a formidable fortress, into a fortress which is invincible if the passages are well guarded.The bombardment will be terrible. You will endure it without weakness. The attack in a cloud of dust and gas will be fierce, but your positions and your armament are formidable.The strong and brave hearts of free men beat in your breasts. None will look behind, none will give way. Every man will have but one thought—'Kill them, kill them in abundance, until they have had enough.' And therefore your General tells you it will be a glorious day." ((1), more)
"By the evening of the first day, July 15, the German attack was brought to a standstill by the sudden and unexpected resistance of the French and American troops along the whole front from Château-Thierry to the east of Reims, where the 42nd Division (Rainbow) was in the line. On the 16th and 17th of July, the Germans tried by local attacks to gain some ground and better their positions." ((2), more)
"When all were assembled, Yurovsky reentered the room, followed by his entire Cheka squad carrying revolvers. He stepped forward and declared quickly, 'Your relations have tried to save you. They have failed, and we must now shoot you.'Nicholas, his arm still around Alexis, began to rise from his chair to protect his wife and son. He had just time to say 'What . . . ?' before Yurovsky pointed his revolver at the Tsar's head and fired. Nicholas died instantly. At this signal, the entire squad of executioners began to shoot. Alexandra had time only to raise her hand and make the sign of the cross before she too was killed by a single bullet. Olga, Tatiana, and Marie, standing behind their mother, were hit and died quickly. . . .The room, filled with the smoke and stench of gunpowder, became suddenly quiet. Blood was running in streams from the bodies on the floor. Then there was a movement and a low groan. Alexis, lying on the floor still in the arms of the Tsar, feebly moved his hand to clutch his father's coat. Savagely, one of the executioners kicked the Tsarevich in the head with his heavy boot. Yurovsky stepped up and fired two shots into the boy's ear. Just at that moment, Anastasia, who had only fainted, regained consciousness and screamed. With bayonets and rifle butts, the entire band turned on her. In a moment, she too lay still. It was ended." ((3), more)
"With the enemy's drive across the Marne halted, Mangin's counter-attack on July 18 caught the Germans almost completely by surprise even though a deserter had warned them on the eleventh or twelfth about a large offensive southwest of Soissons. Striking first, Tenth Army advanced at 0435 without any artillery preparation. Preceded by tanks and a dense rolling barrage, Mangin's infantry advanced quickly and easily. The U.S. 2nd Division advanced eight kilometers, the deepest gain achieved by any unit on the first day, and the U.S. 1st Division interdicted the route at Buzancy from Château-Thierry to Soissons and thereby threatened the entire German position in the salient. By the end of the day Tenth and Sixth armies had achieved considerable success: Tenth Army captured 10,000 prisoners and 200 cannon, Sixth Army 2,000 prisoners and 50 cannon." ((4), more)
"At 4 o'clock in the morning of July 19, under cover of another rolling barrage, the Allies attacked along the whole front; but during the night the Germans had put in all the reserves in the area, and the resistance that morning was much stiffer than it had been the day before. Especially this was true in the northeast corner of the plateau. It was this corner that the Germans had to hold at all costs, for the loss of it meant to them the loss of Soissons . . ." ((5), more)
(1) The official appeal of General Gouraud to the soldiers of his 4th Army on July 16, 1918. The German's had launched their fifth and final offensive of 1918, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, the prior day. German commander Erich Ludendorff called his offensive Friedensturm, Peace Assault, which would bring peace through victory. The United States did not yet have an Army in Europe; its units were incorporated into British and French forces. In his History of the A.E.F., Shipley Thomas dates this quotation to July 7.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, pp. 243–244, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(2) The German's launched their fifth and final offensive of 1918, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, on July 15. German commander Erich Ludendorff called his offensive Friedensturm, Peace Assault, which would bring peace through victory. The United States did not yet have an Army in Europe; its units were incorporated into British and French forces. The Rainbow Division included units from twenty-six states and the District of Columbia.
The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas, page 123, copyright © 1920, by George H. Doran Company, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1920
(3) The execution of former Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family, early in the morning of July 17, 1918 in Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. The immediate decision had been made by the Presidium of the Divisional Council of Deputies of Workmen, Peasants, and Red Guards of the Urals on the grounds that Czech soldiers and a White Guard plot threatened the carry off the Imperial family. The decision was endorsed by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of all the Russias on July 18. It would be a year before the Bolsheviks would admit that the entire family, not just Nicholas, had been executed.
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie by Robert K. Massie, page 517, copyright © 1967, renewed 1995 by Robert K. Massie, publisher: Random House, publication date: 2011
(4) The 'enemy's drive across the Marne' was German commander Erich Ludendorff's Friedensturm, Peace Assault, the Champagne-Marne Offensive that left German forces with an enormous salient from Soissons and Reims to the Marne River. Commanding the French 10th Army, General Charles Mangin struck on the western side of the salient. General Jean Degoutte commanded the Sixth Army.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, pp. 470–471, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
(5) German commander Erich Ludendorff's Friedensturm, Peace Assault, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, left his forces occupying an enormous salient from Soissons and Reims to the Marne River. Commanding the French 10th Army, that included the 1st and 2nd American Divisions and the Moroccan Division, General Charles Mangin struck on the western side of the salient on July 18, advancing as much as 8 km. Soissons was an important communications center.
The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas, page 160, copyright © 1920, by George H. Doran Company, publisher: George H. Doran Company, publication date: 1920
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