Americans in France: HEROIC MEASURES WWI Tour October 2014, 9 days, for Students, Men and Women

Americans in France:
Heroic Measures WWI Journey

9 Days in A.E.F's Footsteps

WWI American Battlefields in France:
A comprehensive tour for men, women and students of Americans' experience in France during The Great War, 1917-1919

   With more than 30 years' researching the American experience in France during The Great War, I lead this tour of the American battlefields of The Great War. Designed for everyone who has an interest in this first massive American military experience abroad, this tour gives you a comprehensive look at the war before the United States declared war in April 1917 until most troops and support services departed in the summer of 1919.

   Managed by prestigious travel corporation KER and DOWNEY, the tour features museums, American battlefields, memorials, and cemeteries with talks by various experts.
   Staff include me as the historical guide, a local French expert and the van driver.

Brief schedule:

Land Only Includes:Oct 13 2014 - Transfer - Meet and Assist at Paris airport (CDG)
Oct 13 2014 - Transfer - Charles De Gaulle airport (CDG) to Paris Hotel
Oct 13 2014 - Excursion - Dinner in Paris
Oct 13 2014 - 1 night in Paris at Marriott Ambassador Opera - Standard Room - BB - 12 x Room
                               - Includes breakfastOct 14 2014 - Transfer - Paris to Compiegne
Oct 14 2014 - Excursion - Visit to the Museum de la Grande Guerre
Oct 14 2014 - Excursion - Dinner at Hotel
Oct 14 2014 - 2 nights in Picardy at Hotel Les Beaux Arts - Standard Room - BB - 12 x Room
                               - Includes breakfastOct 15 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Cantigny Battlefield Tour
Oct 15 2014 - Excursion - Lunch on Excursion
Oct 15 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Armistice Museum Tour
Oct 16 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Oise-Aisne American Cemetery Tour
Oct 16 2014 - Transfer - Compiegne to Reims
Oct 16 2014 - Excursion - Lunch on Excursion
Oct 16 2014 - Excursion - Dinner at Hotel
Oct 16 2014 - 2 nights in Champagne at Hotel de la Paix - Standard Room - BB - 12 x Room
                               - Includes breakfast
Oct 17 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Belleau Woods Battlefield Tour
Oct 17 2014 - Excursion - Lunch on Excursion
Oct 17 2014 - Excursion - Visit to Chateau-Thierry Monument
Oct 18 2014 - Transfer - Reims to Verdun
Oct 18 2014 - Excursion - Dinner at Hotel
Oct 18 2014 - 4 nights in Meuse at Chateau des Monthairons - Standard Room - BB - 12 x Room
                               - Includes breakfastOct 19 2014 - Excursion - Half Day St. Mihiel American Cemetery Tour
Oct 19 2014 - Excursion - Lunch on Excursion
Oct 19 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Mont Sec Memorial Tour
Oct 19 2014 - Excursion - Dinner at Hotel
Oct 20 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Meuse-Argonne Cemetery Tour
Oct 20 2014 - Excursion - Lunch on Excursion
Oct 20 2014 - Excursion - Half Day Montfaucon Memorial Tour
Oct 20 2014 - Excursion - Dinner at Hotel
Oct 22 2014 - Transfer - Verdun to Paris

For more details

Please download the PDF at www.jo-annpower.com 
to read the complete itinerary.

For reservations and more information, please contact:
Trista Gage
Custom Travel Consultant
Tel: +1 (800) 423-4236
Fax: +1 (281) 371 2514
Email: tgage@kerdowney.com
Web: www.kerdowney.com

TOMORROW, 99th Anniversary of Armistice! Honor the women and men who fought in The Great War and read HEROIC MEASURES

     When the British, French, Americans and Germans and Austrian-Hungarians signed the Armistice agreement November 11, 1918 in Compiegne, France, the world celebrated a cease fire, the end of the slaughter that typied the war.
     Here is the famous picture of those who signed the agreement in the railroad car along the front in northern France.

Photographer unknown. In public domain in EU, UK and USA.

     Millions in tiny villages and large cities across the world came out to mark the end of this tragic conflict. Some danced. Most cried. Millions mourned their loss of  friends and family. For thousands who served, many decried the impairment of their health. Bitter and devastated, the millions who survived had before them an extremely difficult time recovering. Whole towns had disappeared. Home and farms were destroyed. Landscapes were forever altered by huge bombs, tunnels and gas warfare.
    People had to deal with the loss of millions of their loved ones. In Britain, so many young men had been killed that the Government soon developed a program for unmarried women to move abroad so that they might find husbands in the Commonwealth countries. Wounded, largely due to the improvement in medical care, survived by the hundreds of thousands. As amputees, many learned to use prostheses. Others who were facially wounded underwent new skin grafting techniques that were to be the solid basis for the development of plastic surgery.
     Today, the park and forest around Compiegne's treaty site are peaceful sites. Like that day when the Entente military leaders and their German counterparts met in a railroad car, the foliage is thick. And as then, it is so deep you cannot see the sky. On that day, the Entente leaders wanted aerial coverage as protection but the canopy was so dense this was impossible.

Museum at site of Armistice signing.
Inside is Railroad Car, next in sequence of actual car since destroyed in fire.

Aside from this car, the museum houses wonderful panoramic pictures of all aspects of military life.
I estimate ninety percent of these are not duplicated anywhere else.

Outside in the clearing, this statue
to French General Foch
who received the German agreement to the cease fire for 11.11.18.

Memorial to the Heroic Soldiers of France
Defenders of the their country
and the glorious liberators of Alsace and Lorraine.
This stands directly opposite the building in above picture
which houses the replica of the train car where Germans agreed to cease fire.

18+ Days in A.E.F.'s footsteps: Day 9, St. Mihiel Battle and Montsec Memorial

     St. Mihiel is a little town along a peacefully flowing river in eastern France. South of Verdun, the town was vital to that city and to all points west for its control of train traffic. When the German Army attacked the town and held it in a tight grip in 1918, General Pershing decided to attack their fortifications and open communications and transportation before attacking the Germans in the Meuse River-Argonne Forest region to the north.
     In only 3 days, the Americans fought fiercely taking the ridges and the valley near St. Mihiel.
Today, the area consists of small villages and many farms.

American engineers march into St. Mihiel after taking the area within 3 days fierce fighting in September 1918.

The Montsec Memorial to those AEF forces who took this ridge and the towns below within 3 days is a beautiful tribute to the men who fought here. With a commanding view of the valley that they struggled to take, this Memorial offers a panoramic view—and inspires you to marvel at the feat these men accomplished.
In these few photographs, I attempt to show you a glimpse into their efforts–and their victory.

Montsec Memorial to AEF's 3 day battle of St. Mihiel

A closer view

A panorama into the valley near Thiacourt

Inside the rotunda sits a relief map of the valley that the AEF had to take from entrenched German Army.

Official description of the Battle of St. Mihiel at Montsec Memorial. Do enlarge to read.

Army Medical Corps cadeusus. Atop each pillar of Montsec is the insignia of a corps unit
contributing to the AEF's victory in this valley.

Atop Montsec, this floor map shows the villages AEF soldiers took in the 3 day offensive.

Dedication on steps up to top of Memorial.

To show the irony of both world wars, this plaque details how this land was once again a battleground.

18+Days in the AEF's footsteps: Day 8, Traveling through Champagne, East to the extended American front line and City of Verdun

 

Town Center of City of Verdun
This statue symbolizes the resistance
of the people of Verdun
to the German advances north of the town
in the Ring of Forts

     As the First Division arrived in France in 1917 and more Divisions came to fill in the ranks and enlarge the battalions, the American front line became more of a reality, less of a concept.
 
     Remember that the American sector, such as it was defined, was a creation of General Pershing who refused to combine the American forces with those of the French or British. Those allies wished for more men to fill out their ranks, decimated as they had been by three years of bitter trench warfare.
 
    With the arrival of more and more American soldiers and Marines, Pershing foresaw that he could build a fighting force as strong or stronger than his allies'. He wisely engaged French and British instructors in every type of training from flame-throwing to grenade use to efficient medical procedures. Furthermore, Pershing was an advocate of aggressive tactics and refused to fight the inch-by-inch warfare that had stymied the French and British efforts to get out of the trenches and pierce the German lines.
 
    Driving east from Chateau-Thierry through the Champagne is a peaceful agrarian scene. Bright yellow with mustard plants or grape vines along the rolling hills, the land is a lovely vision. Pictures of the landscape in 1917-1918 show a stark contrast. Awed as we were by the huge expanses of crops and large number of privately held farms, my husband and I had to research the level of farm production in France. Sure enough, it is huge, producing 20% of all food for Europe. Although this French percentage to the food basket of Europe is larger today than in the war years, we saw the potential that Germany must have gauged. Germany, before the war, had a prosperous economy with a growing population. Given the emphasis on industrial production, fertile French land must have been a lure to feed their hungry people.

Along the banks of the River Meuse stand these five French soldiers of
La Grande Guerre. Ever-mindful of the enormous efforts of the French military
to save the City manning The Citadel and in the Ring of Forts,
the citizens prize this sculpture which represents
each type of soldier who served in the war.

 
     We chose to make our base the City of Verdun as we explored the areas of the American eastern front lines. We were happy we did. Why? The City is one of the loveliest and best preserved even from that period. Assaulted as it was from most sides, the City represents to this day the stalwart nature of the French who retained the land at the cost of hundreds of thousands of French poilus, the near-starvation of the City's populace and the Americans who came to help them save it.

  On Sunday along the west bank of the quai, we ate our dinner. Prosperous, the citizens shop, eat, take their children and walk their dogs along the River. (Enlarge this pix to see the 5 French soldiers situated near the pole here, but along the eastern bank of the Meuse.)

   We stayed in a hotel along the banks of the Meuse, within walking distance of The Citadel. (Return for my next post when I take you there.) Verdun today is a serene city along the River Meuse. There on a weekend, we strolled along the quai and ate in a riverside cafe. We marveled that this city was once the prize fought over by millions of men on both sides of the conflict. But nestled as it is along the ridge of mountains near the Alsace and German border, we see the town's vulnerability. Controlling it meant access to the other rivers and major cities west, including Paris.

   We marveled too at the influence of Americans and Germans. How did we gauge it? Everything—signs, brochures, menus and more—are most often given in triplicate: French, German and English. (A treat for this gal whose German-American family taught her the German language!)

18+ Days in AEF's footsteps: DAY 7, Chateau Thierry and the Second Battle of the Marne

USA Monument to those who fought and fell at Chateau-Thierry
sits atop a hill overlooking the prosperous city.

(River Marne to the left of pix and this road which runs along the river.) 

Sculpture on the Chateau-Thierry Monument
France and USA, holding hands,
Partners in War and Peace

    Chateau Thierry is a lovely town along the Marne River approximately 50 miles east of Paris. In the spring of 1918, the Germans decided to attack their lines in France with great force and hopefully win the war before the Americans could arrive in massive numbers.
   A year had passed since America had declared war and finally, the country had enough recruits, transportation routes and sufficient supplies to convey a million men to Europe, feed, clothe and care for them.
   No small part of this was the need to provide medical care. While a few Base Hospitals (as the primary structure of medical personnel was called by the Army Medical Corps) had arrived in France in spring 1917, they assisted the French and British caring for those nationals.
   Now with the arrival of American men, other based hospital units arrived in huge numbers. Consisting of doctors, dentists, orderlies and pharmacists and nurses, these units could vary in numbers. (In fact, as the Spring Offensives of 1918 proceeded, the US Army called for more recruiting of doctors and nurses. The Army originally thought 50 nurses per Base would be sufficient but soon sought 100 per Base.) While Army Nurse Corps recruits assisted in the Operating Rooms and ran the wards, American Red Cross nurses who had much less training worked as their staff. Usually 50 to 100 nurses worked the Base Hospital wards and surgical units along with 50 or more doctors and dentists. Orderlies and pharmacists (or trained orderlies who did this work) were fewer in number and varied according to location, total force numbers in the area and notice of imminent attack of the enemy.
   Within one mile of the town was a major Base Hospital at Aulnois. Here, the nurses often sponsored dances for their patients. Men who played instruments practiced in the wards and became pick-up bands. These entertainments were welcomed by the staff and the soldiers breaking the tedium of their days and the journey back to health.

One of Operating Rooms, Mars Hospital Center, France*
Note cinder block structure in this OR
as opposed to wooden structures or tents used for Mobile Hospital Units.
Note, too, nurses in grey crepe uniforms with white butcher aprons used in ward duty.
*Mars was composite center far back of front lines and not in Chateau-Thierry sector but farther east near Toul.

Lab at Mars Hospital Center, France
Orderly Mixing Compounds

Memorial atop a hill overlooking the town.
Inscription: "This monument has been erected by the United States of America to commemorate the services of her troops and those of France who fought in this region during the World War. It stands as a lasting symbol of the friendship and cooperation between the French and American Armies."

   Traveling the area around Chateau-Thierry, I easily saw the importance of this town along the Marne. Hold it and any military force could easily attack or defend the river's access to the capital city of Paris.
Do see the picture at the top of this post once more. There on that hilltop, I capture its position which was a disputed territory taken eventually by the American First, Second and Third Divisions. See also views east and west along the Marne, now serene.

Along the River Marne, looking in the same direction
as American Monument

View of the Marne, flowing east, in this lovely city.

American troops crossing the Marne in Chateau-Thierry.

American troops in public square after capture
of Chateau-Thierry,  July 1918.
This square facing Hotel de Ville to the right of picture and Marne to the left is now a parking lot!

Ruins of Chateau-Thierry, in upper right you see Hotel de Ville, City Hall.

American troops clearing a road in Chateau-Thierry.

Aisne-Marne Salient Map on the American Monument high above Chateau-Theirry.

18+ DAYS in AEF's Footsteps, DAY 6: Aisne-Marne Cemetary, Belleau Wood, France

U.S. Government photo, public domain
(disputed locale: either Belleau Wood or in the Argonne)

The battle of Belleau Wood, June 1-26, 1918 along the Marne River northeast of Paris was the battle that the US Marine Corps marks as one of its most honorable.

Pursuing Germans across an open wheat field toward a dense woodland heavily defended by the enemy, the Marines suffered as many casualties in these woods in a few days as they had previously lost in all former engagements since their founding in 1775. Here they encountered Germans heavily armed with machine guns and well entrenched in foxholes and dug-outs in the slippery muddy hillside. They also encountered gas attacks, escaping the woods only by forming a long line and placing one hand on the shoulder of the man in front so that they could march out of the battle zone.

Gas Attack Victims in line of evacuation; this is a British unit, 1918.

A nurse administers eye drops to gas attack victim.

Aerial view of chlorine gas attack, WWI.

1920 Picture of various types of gas masks used during WWI.

At left, we see one picture of that devastated forest as the Marines fire at the enemy.

Second Battle of Marne, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry

The Marines fought so vigorously to gain and retain their hold of the woods that the Germans dubbed them Devil Dogs, or Teufel Hunden. To this day, the Marines honor the valor of the men who fought there by using it as their own nickname.

A US Marine Corps Recruiting Poster

The Aisne-Marne Cemetery, known to many as Belleau Wood Cemetery, lies five miles east of Chateau Thierry. The Battle of Belleau Wood and Chateau Thierry are part of the larger campaign, known as the Second Battle of the Marne.  Driving in this area, you can readily see the importance of maintaining control of the wide, easily navigable Marne River. Along the same parallel as the city of Meaux, where La Musee de la Grande Guerre is, these two battle sites are significant in that they were disputed territory between Germans and French for many years of the war until the American AEF forces took up positions along these lines and held them, then advanced them in the Spring Offensive of 1918.

In this cemetery, 15% of the men buried here are Marines who lost their lives in this Second Battle for the Marne. All others buried here are US Army and National Guard. No nurses are buried here.

Like other American cemeteries, the land is meticulously landscaped. Beneath pristine white marble crosses are the remains of 2,289 American servicemen. Another 1,060 men who are missing in action are commemorated in the chapel where their names are inscribed on the walls.

The cemetery is on the slope of a hill adjacent to Belleau Wood. Here in close-up you note the detail on the outside, including the sculpture of a nurse, 3rd from left.

   In graceful arcs, the graves mark the slope of the hill. On the half hour, the chimes in the chapel ring out. As in other American cemeteries, the songs played bring tears to your eyes. They include The Battle Hymn of the Republic, God Bless America, Saving Grace and The National Anthem.

18+ Days in AEF's Footsteps, Day 6: Belleau Wood battleground, Retreat? Hell, we just got here!

Memorial Plaque in center of Belleau Wood display of captured German armaments

"Retreat? Hell, we just got here!"

This famous American  response to an order to fall back was offered up at Belleau Wood by a Marine leading his men through this dense forest. Defended by combat-hardened Germans armed with machine guns, the terrain rolls and pitches.

While it is never my intent to recount military battles as I leave that to the experts on strategy, I will tell you that to go to Belleau Wood is to once again see landscape that clarifies a battle's necessity and to understand why so many soldiers...or in this case, Marines and Germans died in this particular battle.

We entered the woods through the entrance to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, often called Belleau Wood Cemetery. (The Aisne-Marne Campaign, so named for the rivers the AEF sought to capture control of, comprises a number of battles including that for Chateau-Thierry, a town a few miles away.)

Captured armaments

Here in this clearing with this memorial are a number of armaments, all German, all captured by the Americans, Marines and Army soldiers. The array of cannon and more is impressive. Other elements of the woods explain much of the battle.

The woods, I will tell you, are very dense. Even on the sunny and humid spring day that we were there, we could not see through the foliage. To fight here must have been an enormously difficult task for both armies.

We walked the pathways into the forest and at every step, you see foxholes, machine gun dugouts and trenches. One hundred years later it is and you marvel that men fought in these conditions.

Bullets remain in the trees.

Today, flowers bloom in the forest. They did before the battle, too. Many men note that in their memoirs. So do nurses. All contrast the beauty of the flowers with the devastation that occurred among the blossoms.

Along this hillside beneath the blue wild lilies, you see the remains of a trench.

At the edge of the forest, you come to a large wheat field. Here, in knee-high growth, the Marines and the Army soldiers advanced with only barrage for cover. The enormous courage a man must have summoned to to charge this field is much beyond my ability to imagine.

Looking toward Lucy Bocage from where the Americans advanced into the wood where this picture was taken.

Do return for the next post, a look at the Aisne-Marne Cemetery in Belleau Wood.

Finally, for those of you who prefer a video with solid historical synopsis and terrific original film footage, I recommend you go here to the Military Channel: http://military.discovery.com/battles-history/videos/world-war-1-videos.htm There are quite a few short films here, but one on the Battle for Belleau Wood.

(I will say one element of this monologue I did take issue with: The moderator claims this is the first battle of which the Germans remarked on Americans' tenacity. Hence the German name for the Marines who captured this wood: Teufel Hunden. Devil Dogs. Actually, it was the battle of Cantigny in which the First Division took that village where the Germans realized that the Americans might truly have the right stuff to wage significant warfare.)