Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History WW1

WW2 related, but on the subject of battlefields of Europe.
My great uncle was at Arnhem and taken prisoner, forced marched across germant and spent the war in a camp.
hen i was a teenager, many moons ago, i had an uncle in the forces in the Netherlands, and i used to visit every school hols, spent half my like on that air base (officers privaliges!!)
We would plot out all the DZ`s, LZ`s ( drop zones, landing zones)and routes taken by certain divisions to objectives!!
One year we actually found the DZ of my uncle, plotted his route to Arnhem and all the way up to the bridge.
It is the ONLY way that we will have any understanding of what these people went thru for freedom! I remember all the war cemeraries, and how they stretched for miles in all directions, until you see that, you cannot imagine the casualties of war!!!

In America they use the Flanders poppy too. It's sold by the organisation "Veterans of Foreign Wars", on more than one day of the year, I think. I bought mine on a visit to San Francisco. It's smaller than ours, but carries a label. Here's a pic.

HMS LIVERPOOL (1909) was a Bristol class light cruiser who took part in the rescue of the crew of HMS AUDACIOUS in 1914. When trying to take Audacious under tow the Audacious blew up and sank. Flying debris killed a Petty Officer on board the Liverpool. RMS OLYMPIC was the other ship that went to the aid of Audacious. Built for White Star Line she was the sister ship of TITANIC and GIGANTIC who was later renamed BRITANNIC after the sinking of Titanic. RMS is Royal Mail Ship, that are under contract to carry mail for the Royal Mail.

WW1 Footage [youtube]ZVDUXPB_sTs[/youtube]

Top find bert,excellent footage.The thing I liked the most about it is that it shown troops of both sides and all nationalities preparing for war.Superb.

The Battle of the SOMME, FRANCE, [youtube]52J5_Es8O60[/youtube] WW1

DOGS IN WAR. One of the vital roles Dogs had to play in WW1 was that of a messenger. They proved to be as reliable as soldiers in the running of messages. Communication was always a problem in the trenches, unreliable and breaking down. A human messenger was a large target for snipers and had trouble moving speedily over the terrain. Vehicles were problematic, they would breakdown or the roads would disappear. The Dog solved this problem, they were quicker than humans and move over any terrain, also a smaller target for snipers. A dog school was established in Scotland and Dogs proved they were very successful in getting the messages through.Dogs in the trenches, whether messenger dogs or not had a great psychological comfort on the troops as they reminded the men of that little bit of home.

The ability to communicate is essential to soldiers in the field. Without communications to their commanders or support units in the rear area, soldiers on the front line can't send messages about their progress, request needed supplies, or call for help when things reach their worst.

During World War I, messages were sometimes transmitted by wire (telegraph of field phone), but two-way radio communications had not yet become available. Sometimes a unit was ordered to attack over a broad and often difficult terrain, making it impossible to string the wire necessary for communications. In these situations, a field commander often carried with him several carrier pigeons.

Pigeons served many purposes during the war, racing through the skies with airplanes, or even being fitted with cameras to take pictures of enemy positions. But one of the most important roles they served it was as messengers. An important message could be written on a piece of paper, then that paper neatly folded and secured in a small canister attached to a pigeon's leg. Once the pigeon was released, it would try to fly to its home back behind the lines, where the message would be read and transmitted to the proper military planners.

The United States Army is divided among several different specialties, the men from each specialty trained for a particular kind of work. Infantrymen are trained to fight on the ground, artillerymen are responsible for the big guns, armor refers to the men who fight in tanks, and the Air Service was the name for the group of soldiers who fought in the air during World War I. One of the oldest of these groups of soldiers was the members of the U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS. Since the birth of our Nation, it was these men that were responsible for insuring that messages between all units, (including messages to other branches of service like the Navy and Marines), got through. The Army Signal Corps identifies itself by a torch with two crossed flags. These represent SIGNAL FLAGS, a common way that messages were passed using code.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Army Signal Corps was given 600 pigeons for the purpose of passing messages when it couldn't be done by signal flag or field phone. The pigeons were donated by bird breeders in Great Britain, then trained for their jobs by American soldiers.

During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the 2-month battle that finally ended World War I, 442 pigeons were used in the area of Verdun to carry hundreds of messages. This is how the system worked:

When a commander in the field needed to send a message, he first wrote it out on paper, trying to be both brief and yet as detailed as possible. Then he called for one of his Signal Corps officers, who would bring one of the pigeons that went with the soldiers into battle. The message would be put in the capsule on the birds leg, and then the bird would be tossed high in the air to fly home.

The carrier pigeon would fly back to his home coop behind the lines. When he landed, the wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer, and another soldier of the Signal Corps would know a message had arrived. He would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and then send it by telegraph, field phone or personal messenger, to the right persons.

Carrier pigeons did an important job. It was also very dangerous. If the enemy soldiers were nearby when a pigeon was released, they knew that the bird would be carrying important messages, and tried their best to shoot the pigeon down so the message couldn't be delivered.

Some of these pigeons became quite famous among the infantrymen they worked for. One pigeon named "The Mocker", flew 52 missions before he was wounded. Another was named "President Wilson". He was injured in the last week of the war and it seemed impossible for him to reach his destination. Though he lost his foot, the message got through to save a large group of surrounded American infantrymen.

CHER AMI

Probably the most famous of all the carrier pigeons was one named Cher Ami, two French words meaning "Dear Friend". Cher Ami several months on the front lines during the Fall of 1918. He flew 12 important missions to deliver messages. Perhaps the most important was the message he carried on October 4, 1918.

Mr. Charles Whittlesey was a lawyer in New York, but when the United States called for soldiers to help France regain its freedom, Whittlesey joined the Army and went to Europe to help. He was made the commander of a battalion of soldiers in the 77th Infantry Division, known as "The Liberty Division" because most of the men came from New York and wore a bright blue patch on their shoulders that had on it the STATUE OF LIBERTY.

On October 3, 1918 Major Whittlesey and more than 500 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, many were killed and wounded in the first day. By the second day only a little more than 200 men were still alive or unwounded.

Major Whittlesey sent out several pigeons to tell his commanders where he was, and how bad the trap was. The next afternoon he had only one pigeon left, Cher Ami.

During the afternoon the American Artillery tried to send some protection by firing hundreds of big artillery rounds into the ravine where the Germans surrounded Major Whittlesey and his men. Unfortunately, the American commanders didn't know exactly where the American soldiers were, and started dropping the big shells right on top of them. It was a horrible situation that might have resulted in Major Whittlesey and all his men getting killed--by their own army.

Major Whittlesey called for his last pigeon, Cher Ami. He wrote a quick and simple note, telling the men who directed the artillery guns where the Americans were located and asking them to stop. The note that was put in the canister on Cher Ami's left leg simply said:

"We are along the road parallel to 276.4.
"Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us.
"For heaven's sake, stop it."

As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire. For several minutes, bullets zipped through the air all around him. For a minute it looked like the little pigeon was going to fall, that he wasn't going to make it. The doomed American infantrymen were crushed, their last home was plummeting to earth against a very heavy attack from German bullets.

Somehow Cher Ami managed to spread his wings and start climbing again, higher and higher beyond the range of the enemy guns. The little bird flew 25 miles in only 25 minutes to deliver his message. The shelling stopped, and more than 200 American lives were saved...all because the little bird would never quit trying.

On his last mission, Cher Ami was badly wounded. When he finally reached his coop, he could fly no longer, and the soldier that answered the sound of the bell found the little bird laying on his back, covered in blood. He had been blinded in one eye, and a bullet had hit his breastbone, making a hole the size of a quarter. From that awful hole, hanging by just a few tendons, was the almost severed leg of the brave little bird. Attached to that leg was a silver canister, with the all-important message. Once again, Cher Ami wouldn't quit until he had finished his job.

Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division, and the medics worked long and hard to patch him up. When the French soldiers that the Americans were fighting to help learned they story of Cher Ami's bravery and determination, they gave him one of their own country's great honors. Cher Ami, the brave carrier pigeon was presented a medal called the French Croix de guerre with a palm leaf.



Though the dedicated medics saved Cher Ami's life, they couldn't save his leg. The men of the Division were careful to take care of the little bird that had saved 200 of their friends, and even carved a small wooden leg for him. When Cher Ami was well enough to travel, the little one-legged hero was put on a boat to the United States. The commander of all of the United States Army, the great General John J. Pershing, personally saw Cher Ami off as he departed France.

Back in the United States the story of Cher Ami was told again and again. The little bird was in the newspapers, magazines, and it seemed that everyone knew his name. He became one of the most famous heroes of World War I. Years after the war a man named Harry Webb Farrington decided to put together a book of poems and short stories about the men and heroes of World War I. When his book was published, it contained a special poem dedicated to Cher Ami:

Cher Ami died of his multiple war wounds on June 13, 1919--less than a year after he had completed his service to the United States Army Signal Corps. Upon his death a taxidermist preserved the small pigeon for future generations, a bird with a story that became an inspiration to millions over the years.

Today, visitors to the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. can still see Cher Ami, preserved for history alongside the French Croix de Guerre with palm that was awarded to him by the French government. In the years following Cher Ami's death, there were rumors the bird had also been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Though there is ample documentation that General John J. Pershing did in fact, award a "silver medal" to the brave carrier pigeon, there is NO record of the DSC being awarded.

WAR DOGS as they were known carried out many tasks, non more important than first aid duties. their role of going to the aid of a wounded soldier with water and medical supplies was invaluable,The breed used and trained for this type of war work by the Germans was mainly the German Shepherd Dog gaining the respect and admiration of allied forces. In 1918 a young litter of pups along with their mother were saved from a bombed war dog kennels by American troops. There started the legend of Rin Tin Tin. Corporal Lee Duncan took 2 pups back to the states with him, unfortunately one of the pups died but her brother survived to become a legend. Going on to make 26 pictures for Warner Bros, Rin Tin Tin was credited with saving Warner Bros from going bankrupt. Descendants of Rin Tin Tin have gone on to make films and tv work and is one of the most influential blood lines in German Shepherd breeding to this day. The British Tommy also recognized The brilliance of this breed and brought them back with them from the front. In 1918 hostilities to anything German forced the breed to take on a different name in this country. In Britain the name German Shepherd Dog was changed to Alsatian taken from the area of Alsace Lorraine where the British Tommy first came across them.

During the second world war, the Russians used dogs to destroy tanks and vehicles!
They would train them to seek food out under tanks, then send them out onto the battlefield with mines strapped to their backs!! Pooch wants din dins, then he go boom boom!!!

Did`nt either we or the Germans who done a similar thing with Dolphins and ships?

WAR HORSES ...During the first world war all sides lost a total of 8 million horses. 2.5 million ending up in veterinary hospitals with 2 million returning to duties. Mainly used for transporting of materials and moving artillery guns. Some cavalry charges did occur but were deemed futile against trenches, barbed wire and machine guns.

Not sure if it went on during the world wars but definitely during the sixties on, the American Navy were teaching Dolphins and Killer Whales to plant magnetic mines on the hulls of enemy vessels. The mines had a timer delay which gave the depositor time to return to its mother ship. It was only when it was thought that the vessel had diver patrols that the mines went off on contact. Even then it had to be a big prize to lose such a highly trained creature.

I knew I heard or read something about it.Thanks Bert.

Sorry about the quality, but these are pictures of pictures as I don't have access to my scanner ATM.



Here are some more pictures and info on the Lochnagar Crater:





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochnagar_Mine

The Lochnagar mine was an explosive-packed mine created by the Royal Engineer tunnelling companies, located south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme département of France, which was detonated at 7:28 am on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Lochnagar mine, along with a neighbouring mine north of the village known as the Y Sap mine, contained 24 tons of ammonal. At the time these mines were the largest ever detonated.

The explosion was witnessed from the air by 2nd Lieutenant C.A. Lewis of No. 3 Squadron RFC:

The whole earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up in the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet. There it hung, or seemed to hang, for a moment in the air, like the silhouette of some great cypress tree, then fell away in a widening cone of dust and debris.
Some of the British infantry waiting in no man's land were struck by falling debris and one man, having braced himself in a trench, had his leg broken and later required amputation.

The Lochnagar mine lay on the sector assaulted by the Grimsby Chums Pals battalion (10th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment). When the main attack began at 7:30 am, the Grimsby Chums successfully occupied the crater and began to fortify the eastern lip which now dominated the surrounding ground. However elsewhere the attack at La Boisselle went badly and infantry sought shelter in the crater, particular those who had been attacking up Sausage Valley to the south of the village. The prominent crater drew fire, including from British artillery although eventually it was learnt it contained sheltering infantry and the British shell fire ceased.

Memorial
The Lochnagar crater still exists today. Early attempts to fill it in were resisted and the land was eventually purchased by Richard Dunning to ensure it would be preserved. The Lochnagar memorial and a cross made with wood from Tyneside now mark the site.