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The First Aid Station at Auberge St. Pierre near Pont-à-Mousson, with men and two of the ambulances of the American Ambulance Field Service, from 'Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front,' by Leslie Buswell. A volunteer corps, the American Ambulance Field Service had over 200 ambulances in the field in 1916.
Postcard map of East Prussia and Polish Russia with a message and postmark, Vienna, August 20, 1915. From a series that asks, 'Do you know the high times?'
A French trench grenade launcher with a team of four — an observer, one to man the catapult, and two managing the grenades. Photograph from 'Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front,' by Leslie Buswell. Most of Buswell's book consists of his letters in June, July, and August, 1915. A volunteer corps, the American Ambulance Field Service had over 200 ambulances in the field in 1916.
The rescue of the crew of the Italian battleship Amalfi, July 7, 1915, sunk by Austrian submarine U-26. The submarine was German submarine UB-14, but, because Italy and Germany were not at war, sailed under as an Austro-Hungarian vessel. From a painting by Harry Heusser, 1915. The message on the reverse was written March 22, 1916, and the card postmarked from Vienna the same day.
Field Marshall August von Mackensen at the map table. General von Mackensen was promoted to Field Marshall on June 23, 1915 with the fall and occupation of Lemberg, Austria-Hungary during his successful Gorlice-Tarnow offensive.
"The feast was to start at seven o'clock, and nearly every soldier in all the regiments round here knew it was the American Fête Day. Suddenly at two o'clock commenced a tremendous artillery duel — the whole earth seemed to tremble and the noise of rifle fire almost drowned the explosions of shells — the Germans had attacked!. . . We all rushed to our cars to be ready for the call, and about six o'clock every car was ordered to X— — poor little village already badly enough damaged by the bombardment of a few hours before! We worked late and I got to bed at three-thirty, having carried some fifty wounded a distance of about ten kilometres — ten trips — two hundred kilometres! In all we carried away over three hundred and fifty crippled wrecks who three hours before were the pride of their nation and families!" ((1), more)
"Monday, July 5, 1915.Between the Bug and the Vistula the Austro-Germans are continuing their march on Lublin.The Russian army is retiring, by swift and successive stages, on positions it has to abandon practically at once, owing to lack of arms and ammunition." ((2), more)
"Ever since Sunday, July 4th, there has been an attack and counter-attack, and life has been real hell for those poor fellows in the first line of trenches. Every imaginable kind of instrument of destruction has been hurled on them, mines (the narrow part fits into the gun which is a sort of mortar — radius about four hundred metres), torpedoes (radius about four hundred metres), '320's,' '250's,' '220's,' down to '77's,' burning petrol, chlorine — all this not in dozens, but in thousands and tons. No one can believe what it is like there; it is indescribable, and the Germans are getting the same thing too. I suppose the French have lost over twenty-five hundred this week in wounded and killed and many prisoners — and this over a line of seven kilometres! And the Germans? Many more!" ((3), more)
"The same day [July 7, 1915] the disaster many feared occurred in the northern Adriatic. That morning Cagni sent the large armored cruiser Amalfi, escorted by only two torpedo boats, to support a sweep by Italian destroyers. The Amalfi was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine UB14, the first naval disaster of the war for the Italians. The small submarine had only just been assembled at Pola, and a week after sinking the Amalfi it left for Aegean waters. Her commander, Oberleutnant zur See von Heimburg, and all the officers and men, save for a single Austrian officer embarked as a pilot, were German. Germany and Italy were not yet officially at war, however, and would not be for another year, and the submarine had the Austrian designation U.26." ((4), more)
". . . At Krasnik on July 2nd [1915], the army of Archduke Joseph of Austria, while advancing toward Lublin, was halted by a Russian Army under Gen. Loische. Three days later, the Archduke fell back upon an intrenched position north of the town, losing 15,000 men. The Russian losses were 8,000. The army of Gen. Mackensen also was stopped near Krastnostav on July 7th." ((5), more)
(1) Excerpt from a letter written July 6, 1915, by Leslie Buswell recounting the previous days. A driver with the American Ambulance Field Service, a volunteer organization attached to the French Armies, Buswell was stationed at Pont-à-Mousson, France, north of Nancy. His small book is a lively account of his experiences and grim work between June 17, and October 1915. Each unit of the Service consisted of 20 to 30 ambulances. In 1916 over 200 cars were in service.
Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front by Leslie Buswell, pp. 44, 45, copyright © 1915, and 1915, by Houghton Mifflin Company, publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, publication date: 1916
(2) Entry for July 5, 1915 from the memoirs of Maurice Paléologue, French Ambassador to Russia. The great retreat of the Russian army in the face of the combined German and Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive continued on a broadening front. The retreat was not a rout, as the Russians regularly halted, entrenched (if poorly), and briefly held their ground before continuing the retreat. Lublin, Poland is southeast of Warsaw, which the Russians continued to hold.
An Ambassador's Memoirs Vol. II by Maurice Paléologue, page 25, publisher: George H. Doran Company
(3) Excerpt from a letter written July 11, 1915, by Leslie Buswell recounting events of the previous week. The Germans had attacked on Sunday, July 4, taking ground the French had retaken from the invaders in the previous six months. The French retook the lost ground on July 5, 6, and 7. A driver with the American Ambulance Field Service, a volunteer organization attached to the French Armies, Buswell was stationed at Pont-à-Mousson, France, north of Nancy. Each unit of the Service consisted of 20 to 30 ambulances, each of which could carry three wounded lying down, and three seated. The Ford trucks could deliver men to a doctor in under an hour, greatly increasing their chances of survival. In 1916 over 200 cars were in service.
Ambulance No. 10; Personal Letters from the Front by Leslie Buswell, pp. 53, 54, copyright © 1915, and 1915, by Houghton Mifflin Company, publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, publication date: 1916
(4) On July 7, 1915, as Italian Vice Admiral Thaon di Revel made plans to occupy Austro-Hungarian islands in the Adriatic, Italian Rear Admiral Umberto Cagni ordered a naval force to clear the sea of enemy ships. Flying the Austrian flag, the German submarine left Pola, Austria-Hungary's primary port, and sank Amalfi with the loss of 67 men of a crew of 685. Sailing to the Aegean would put the Austro-German submarine in position to target Allied transport and naval support for the Gallipoli invasion.
A Naval History of World War I by Paul G. Halpern, page 148, copyright © 1994 by the United States Naval Institute, publisher: UCL Press, publication date: 1994
(5) German Commander in Chief Erich von Falkenhayn approved and General August von Mackensen led the joint German, Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive that broke through the Russian line in the beginning of May, 1915, driving Russian forces from the Carpathian Mountains and Galicia in north-eastern Austria-Hungary, and penetrating into Russian Poland. With severe shortages of artillery, shells, rifles, and ammunition, the Russians could do little more than retreat, dig in, attempt to hold a position, then resume their retreat. But on July 7, they halted, briefly, both the German and Austro-Hungarian armies.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 173, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
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