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Examples of mining and countermining a fortress, from the 1915 'Scientific American War Book: The Mechanism and Technique of Warfare.
The aftermath of fighting at Saarburg, August 20, 1914. A roadside crucifix was shattered during the battle, the cross bearing Jesus Christ was destroyed, but the figure of Christ was unharmed. Bodies of French soldiers lie in the field.
Kubaiak Jönnek 1917 — 'The Cubans are coming in 1917'. Against a yellow sky, on a smooth blue sea, a cigar submarine floats, a curl of smoke drifting from its lighted tip. An upright matchbox forms a conning tower, and a Cuban flag flies above it. Palm trees grow on a tip of land in the distance. A watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.
Easter greetings from the front, 1917. Original watercolor by Karl Schmit(?) postmarked March 31, 1917. Easter fell on April 8, 1917.
Sanke postcard of German ace and recipient of the Pour le Mérite Leutnant Wilhelm Frankl. With the death of Oswald Bölcke on October 28, 1917, Frankl became Germany's leading ace. On April 6, 1917 he downed three enemy planes. Two days later, on Easter Sunday April 8 he was killed in combat with a total of 20 victories. A German Jew who converted to Christianity when he married, Frankl was expunged from the records of recipients of the Pour le Mérite by the Nazis. The medal is beneath his collar. He had also been awarded the Iron Cross, on his left breast, and the House Order of Hohenzollern beneath it.
"On 5 April [1917] Lieutenant-General A. Haldane of VI Corps wired the following message to Allenby:'I wish to bring to the Army Commanders' notice the excellent work done by the New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company . . . First under Major Durgan and now under Captain Vickerman, the work of the Company has been excellent. Now only have the men worked extremely hard and well, but the excellent relations that have been maintained with the various divisions shows a first-class organization.'The underground tunnels of Arras were complete. In total the network comprised 10,901 yards of subways. Designed as a protective system of tunnels, it clearly served its purpose: between 5 and 11 April, through one subway alone, it was later estimated that the traffic amounted to an amazing 9,700 men. It was a unique engineering achievement and, in the history of the British Army, never equaled before or since in the field of protective tunnelling on the scale accomplished at Arras and Vimy Ridge." ((1), more)
"In the corner of the village square we noticed a peasant with long hair and a graying beard, standing immobile as if at attention, holding his cap out to us in a broad gesture of salute.He had a look for each of us, a look of sad farewell. This sincere salute, full of sympathy for the men being led to sacrifice, moved us profoundly.In another village, there was a group of children marching in formation with a leader at their head, like soldiers, and they made quite a disharmonious racket with their rattles. That's how we learned it was Good Friday; the bell towers were silent, and the children were calling the faithful to church services." ((2), more)
"Article I. Resolved, That from to-day a state of war is formally declared between the Republic of Cuba and the Imperial Government of Germany, and the President of the Republic is authorized and directed by this resolution to employ all the forces of the nation and the resources of our Government to make war against the Imperial German Government with the object of maintaining our rights, guarding our territory and providing for our security, prevent any acts which may be attempted against us, and defend the navigation of the seas, the liberty of commerce, and the rights of neutrals and international justice." ((3), more)
"We are now at Saulty, a village just off the Doullens—Arras road (about twelve miles from Arras). Marched fifteen kilometeres to-day, reaching Saulty at 2.30. A sunny day with cold east wind. I am sitting on a tree-stump, in the peaceful park of a big white château which one sees among the trees. The sun is looking over the tree-tops now, and birds singing a way off, and a few little deer grazing; nothing to remind me of the battle, except the enormous thudding of guns from eastward. The brown of the trees and undergrowth grows purple, and the birds sing, thrushes and blackbirds, while a few rooks flap overhead. The bombardment must be terrific. Three Army Corps are reported to be attacking between Arras and Lens. We move to our final concentration to-morrow (Easter Sunday!) — about four miles from here. . . .Aeroplanes are humming in the clear sky, and the sun is a glint of crimson beyond the strip of woodland. And still that infernal banging continues away on the horizon." ((4), more)
"In February, 1917, [Wilhelm] Frankl became the acting commander of Jasta 4, which he led until his death. As leader of Jasta 4, he scored his 16th victory, but was once again transferred to the test command. Near the end of March, 1917, Frankl returned to action, and on the 6th of April, was at the peak of his flying career when he succeeded in downing three enemy aircraft during one day. Unfortunately, he met his demise two days later, over Vitry-Sailly. By a strange twist of fate, the date was on Easter Sunday, April, 1917." ((5), more)
(1) One element of the preparations for the Battle of Arras was the tunnels that would conceal British troops, and bring them safely to the front line. Miners had been engaged for tunneling, mining, and counter-mining, but not for advancing troops on the scale seen in Arras or at Vimy Ridge. General Edmund Allenby commanded the Third Army in the battle.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, pp. 31–32, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
(2) Excerpt from the notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas whose regiment was marching to the front to play a role in the Nivelle Offensive.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 308, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
(3) Article I of the Republic of Cuba's Declaration of War on the German Empire on July 7, 1917, the day after the Declaration of War by the United States was signed by President Woodrow Wilson. Panama declared war the same day. The President who would marshal Cuba's resources was Mario Garcia Menocal.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. V, 1917, p. 148, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(4) First and penultimate paragraphs from the April 7, 1917 diary entry of Siegfried Sassoon, British poet, author, Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and recipient of the Military Cross for gallantry in action. Sassoon heard the preparatory bombardment for the Battle of Arras, his battalion held in reserve.
Siegfried Sassoon Diaries 1915-1918 by Siegfried Sassoon, pp. 151–152, copyright © George Sassoon, 1983; Introduction and Notes Rupert Hart-Davis, 1983, publisher: Faber and Faber, publication date: 1983
(5) With the death of Oswald Bölcke on October 28th, 1917, recipient of the Pour le Mérite (the Blue Max) Leutnant Wilhelm Frankl became Germany's leading ace. He led Jasta 4 from February, 1917 until his death two months later. On April 6, 1917 Frankl downed three enemy planes. Two days later, on Easter Sunday, as the British prepared to launch the Arras Offensive, he was killed in combat with a total of 20 victories. He was twenty-three. A German Jew who converted to Christianity when he married, Frankl was omitted from a 1938 German history of recipients of the Pour le Mérite. The Luftwaffe named a barracks after him in 1973. 'Vitry-Sailly' are the adjacent villages of Vitry-en-Artois and Sailly-en-Ostrevent, east of Arras, France.
The Jew with the Blue Max by Heinz Joachim Nowarra, page 7, copyright © John W. Caler 1967, publisher: Aeronautica John W. Caler, publication date: 1967
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