The recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918

[barryqwalsh]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

 

[shockedcanadian]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War, where so much is known and the intrigue and interwoven sub plots are endless. However, WWI was brutal, with the death of so many millions and often the fight was for a foot of land.

Thanks for this.

 

[usmbguest5318]

They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.

As well they should have. Tenacity is a key success factor for those who haven't yet obtained experience.

Anyone who's ever hired very well trained kids -- particularly undergrads, though sometimes masters degree students as well - - right out of college knows exactly what I mean.

 

[barryqwalsh]

There are several other episodes in the series, all very interesting.



Voices of the First World War


Dan Snow brings together the sound archive collections of the Imperial War Museums and the BBC for the first time to tell the story of World War I through the voices of those who were there

BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War

 

[sparky]

Both my GF's served , maybe i can find more on them there, so thx! ~S~

 

[rightwinger]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

By 1918 after four years of viscous fighting and no end in sight, the morale of the troops was horrible. They were ready to revolt

The infusion of fresh American troops turned the tide

 

[whitehall]

The "well trained" U.S. Military units in Bellau Wood weren't just Soldiers, they were U.S. Marines who were called "devil dogs" by the Germans.

 

[Unkotare]

[.....

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War.....

Wow, you really don't understand WWI at all.

 

[shockedcanadian]

[.....

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War.....

Wow, you really don't understand WWI at all.

Please enlighten me. I'm serious, I welcome the education.

 

[Unkotare]

[.....

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War.....

Wow, you really don't understand WWI at all.

Please enlighten me. I'm serious, I welcome the education.

WWI was anything but "primitive." The late 1800s were considered a high point in scientific method and inventiveness. Just prior to that terrible war, most people thought we were entering into a golden age of human accomplishment. WWI was unprecedented in its horror and bloodiness because so many innovations in the means of war were introduced then. The threat to the world had never been so great. Not for nothing was it called The War to End All Wars. And, of course, WWII was in certain ways the product of WWI.

 

[rightwinger]

[.....

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War.....

Wow, you really don't understand WWI at all.

Please enlighten me. I'm serious, I welcome the education.

WWI was anything but "primitive." The late 1800s were considered a high point in scientific method and inventiveness. Just prior to that terrible war, most people thought we were entering into a golden age of human accomplishment. WWI was unprecedented in its horror and bloodiness because so many innovations in the means of war were introduced then. The threat to the world had never been so great. Not for nothing was it called The War to End All Wars. And, of course, WWII was in certain ways the product of WWI.

The introduction of gas was horrific

 

[Unkotare]

[.....

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War.....

Wow, you really don't understand WWI at all.

Please enlighten me. I'm serious, I welcome the education.

WWI was anything but "primitive." The late 1800s were considered a high point in scientific method and inventiveness. Just prior to that terrible war, most people thought we were entering into a golden age of human accomplishment. WWI was unprecedented in its horror and bloodiness because so many innovations in the means of war were introduced then. The threat to the world had never been so great. Not for nothing was it called The War to End All Wars. And, of course, WWII was in certain ways the product of WWI.

The introduction of gas was horrific

 

[Picaro]

[.....

I rarely pay much attention to the history of the First World War. It was just so primitive and the risk to the world not as great as the Second World War.....

Wow, you really don't understand WWI at all.

Please enlighten me. I'm serious, I welcome the education.

The training and mindsets of the Generals was behind the technology curve, definitely. As for the technology, we had radios, automatic weapons, medical advances of all kinds, long range artillery, aircraft, tanks, trucks, etc, all used for the first time, and to deadly effect.The sophisticated logistics involved in modern war count as 'advancements' as well, war being conducted over much larger areas than ever before, and at the same time, and tuned in with industrial management as well.

On the politcal front, it was the last gasp of Feudalism in Europe, as represented by the Kaisers, Tzar, assorted German states, and diplomacy developing to a more important place in foreign relations, and a more internationalist economic milieu, with varying degrees of success and lot more failures than successes, but key to surviving in the coming nuclear age and more effort at recogniizing common grounds and defense issues. Most don't like to think so, but we're a more stable world than then, Roosevelt's policies of ending colonialism and promotion of trade and alliances led to modernizing in a lot of countries, those with cultures capable of modernization became wealthier and more civilized, not less so, the main blights being the rise of Marxism and the folly of handing new technologies to Islamic savages being singular exceptions.

You should get a copy of Cataclysm: WW I As Political Tragedy for a very detailed study of the consequences of polices before, during and for some time after WW I. It was a far more interesting period than most in history, and the imperfections in the learning curve resulted in WW I: Part II, and the American cult-like devotion to laissez faire economic policies' and its massive failures in Germany led to the rise of Communist street armies and Adolph Hitler's reactionaries. The Democratic Party now insists on repeating the latter, being vermin themselves. WW II was relatively boring stuff compared to WW I.

 

[Picaro]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

By 1918 after four years of viscous fighting and no end in sight, the morale of the troops was horrible. They were ready to revolt

The infusion of fresh American troops turned the tide

Yes, and Wilson screwed it all up with his attempts at secret peace deals with the Kaiser, only to have our allies find out about all three of them, and the result was they sued for peace without completeing the military victory in order to keep him from dictating the peace terms and shutting them out. He was an arrogant idiot, much like Obama was, and with the same results.

 

[Picaro]

Both my GF's served , maybe i can find more on them there, so thx! ~S~

One of my grandfathers went to France, as a quartermaster corps officer. He helped organized the massive shipments of trucks from the GM plants in the U.S. to the railyards, then onto the ships to France, and their unloading and distributions and setting up the motor pools and depots. The trucks cost the U.S. military $600 each,, while they sold in the U.S. for $2,000-$2,500, and GM and the other manufacturers talked the govt. into leaving them in France after the war was over, many thousands of them, to keep them off the U.S. surplus markets, and thereby creating France's trucking industry out of next to nothing, along with an export market for spare parts and tires from the U.S.

Later they built the car and truck plants in Germany and Russia, as part owners of Opel and other European companies, and these plants in turn is where the Panzers, armored cars, and trucks came from that Hitler used in the blitzkreigs 20 years later.

 

[rightwinger]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

By 1918 after four years of viscous fighting and no end in sight, the morale of the troops was horrible. They were ready to revolt

The infusion of fresh American troops turned the tide

Yes, and Wilson screwed it all up with his attempts at secret peace deals with the Kaiser, only to have our allies find out about all three of them, and the result was they sued for peace without completeing the military victory in order to keep him from dictating the peace terms and shutting them out. He was an arrogant idiot, much like Obama was, and with the same results.

Wilson campaigned on keeping us out of war and fought off the war hawks for two years after the Lusitania was sunk
Instead of bringing the US into a war that was very unpopular. Wilson tried to broker a peace between the warring factions. There was no legitimate grievance for the war.
Wilson tried, but ultimately failed. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have tried

 

[rightwinger]

Both my GF's served , maybe i can find more on them there, so thx! ~S~

One of my grandfathers went to France, as a quartermaster corps officer. He helped organized the massive shipments of trucks from the GM plants in the U.S. to the railyards, then onto the ships to France, and their unloading and distributions and setting up the motor pools and depots. The trucks cost the U.S. military $600 each,, while they sold in the U.S. for $2,000-$2,500, and GM and the other manufacturers talked the govt. into leaving them in France after the war was over, many thousands of them, to keep them off the U.S. surplus markets, and thereby creating France's trucking industry out of next to nothing, along with an export market for spare parts and tires from the U.S.

Later they built the car and truck plants in Germany and Russia, as part owners of Opel and other European companies, and these plants in turn is where the Panzers, armored cars, and trucks came from that Hitler used in the blitzkreigs 20 years later.

As a rule, we generally leave our surplus where it was deployed
Costs too much to ship back

 

[Unkotare]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

By 1918 after four years of viscous fighting and no end in sight, the morale of the troops was horrible. They were ready to revolt

The infusion of fresh American troops turned the tide

Yes, and Wilson screwed it all up with his attempts at secret peace deals with the Kaiser, only to have our allies find out about all three of them, and the result was they sued for peace without completeing the military victory in order to keep him from dictating the peace terms and shutting them out. He was an arrogant idiot, much like Obama was, and with the same results.

Wilson campaigned on keeping us out of war and fought off the war hawks for two years after the Lusitania was sunk
Instead of bringing the US into a war that was very unpopular. Wilson tried to broker a peace between the warring factions. There was no legitimate grievance for the war.
Wilson tried, but ultimately failed. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have tried

Wilson was a lying sack of shit like the scumbag fdr.

 

[rightwinger]

Voices of the First World War


Enter America



Dan Snow hears the recollections of US soldiers who were sent to fight in France in 1918, and looks at the reactions of British and German soldiers to their arrival. They had received formidable physical training, but were naturally regarded as naïve by the battle-hardened 'old sweats' who'd served on the front for several years. But at the Battle of Bellau Wood, the Americans fought as tenaciously as any veteran unit, and helped to turn the tide of the war.


AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Voices of the First World War, Enter America

By 1918 after four years of viscous fighting and no end in sight, the morale of the troops was horrible. They were ready to revolt

The infusion of fresh American troops turned the tide

Yes, and Wilson screwed it all up with his attempts at secret peace deals with the Kaiser, only to have our allies find out about all three of them, and the result was they sued for peace without completeing the military victory in order to keep him from dictating the peace terms and shutting them out. He was an arrogant idiot, much like Obama was, and with the same results.

Wilson campaigned on keeping us out of war and fought off the war hawks for two years after the Lusitania was sunk
Instead of bringing the US into a war that was very unpopular. Wilson tried to broker a peace between the warring factions. There was no legitimate grievance for the war.
Wilson tried, but ultimately failed. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have tried

Wilson was a lying sack of shit like the scumbag fdr.

Wilson should have locked up the Japs....just to be safe

 

[Unkotare]

Like the scumbag fdr, Wilson also threw people into concentration camps.