Posted: November 8, 2024 1:56 pm
By Nicholas Gehlmann. Nick is a volunteer who has been researching military history for JAHA. We’re sharing his research on JAHA’s World War I artifacts for Veterans Day, as part of our JAHA at Home series.
2024 marks the 110th anniversary of the onset of the First World War, the “war to end all wars.” The conflict touched nearly every corner of the globe, involving not just major powers, but also their respective commonwealth nations and colonial claims. Here is more information about several World War I-related artifacts in JAHA’s collection.
The first item is a small lapel pin from a Canadian battalion. Numerous volunteer units raised from all manner of communities represented the Canadian Commonwealth. Among these was the 60th Canadian Overseas Battalion, one of the battalions to carry name of the Victoria Rifles. The 60th Battalion, represented here by a lapel pin bearing their unit number, was authorized for overseas service in April 1915. They departed for European battlefields seven months later with an initial strength of a little more than 1,000 men.
From their entry into combat in Northern France until their withdrawal from combat, the 60th participated in some of the fiercest battles of the Western Front. The battle record for the Victoria Rifles includes contributions to the Battles of the Somme, Flers-Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, and Arras alongside their British and French comrades. While official roster or casualty numbers for this specific battalion are not readily available, the Canadian Expeditionary Force altogether suffered nearly 140,000 casualties while engaged all along the Western Front. The Rifles were pulled from the front line in mid-1917 at which point the men were filtered into other units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force where they continued to fight until the end of the war in 1918.
On the topic of the First World War’s most vicious battles, few of them rise above the Battle of Verdun. The medal shown below, though unofficial as far as military dress uniform standards were concerned, was given to those that participated at any point during the battle’s 10-month duration. The medal’s front-facing script reads “On ne passe pas.” The famous slogan, translated to “They Shall Not Pass” in English, was adopted by French soldiers after their commander, General Robert Nivelle, exclaimed “you shall not let them pass!” to his men at the height of the battle.
On the reverse side, a raised fortified structure stands prominently with the name “Verdun” over the date the battle began, “21 Fevrier 1916.” The fortification on the back represents not only the strength and resolve of the French forces from during the fight, but also the various forts that make up the landscape of the Verdun sector to this day.
The battle itself saw the French suffer 400,000 men wounded and killed, while the Germans suffered 350,000 casualties. Artillery bombardment, while incredibly fierce throughout the war, was particularly heavy and violent along the Verdun salient. So severe was the bombardment that shell craters and unexploded ordnance still litter the landscape. The villages of Douaumont, Beaumont, Fleury, Orne, and Vaux, among others, were completely levelled in the fight, with the French government memorializing them after the war as having “died for France.”
One of the more storied units of the American Expeditionary Force was the 2nd Division. The 2nd, otherwise known as the Indian Heads from their distinctive shoulder patch, was a combination unit formed in 1917 from Army and Marine servicemen. The uniform coat shown here belonged to a yet unknown member of Battery E of the 15th Field Artillery, an individual unit attached to the 2nd Division. The coat features the collar pins denoting the 15th Field Artillery, the Indianhead patch on the sleeve, ribbons signifying victory in the war and inter-allied cooperation, and service/wound chevrons.
The five battle stars on the victory ribbon, a supplement to the full victory medal, signifies the wearer’s presence and participation in a corresponding number of major engagements in the war. For the 15th Field Artillery, the engagements might include Chateau-Thierry, the Marne, St. Mihiel, Soissons, or the Meuse-Argonne. The inter-allied ribbon is an unofficial decoration, not officially recognized by the Army, but worn by many American servicemen. The most personally telling elements of the coat are the chevrons on the sleeves.
The left sleeve contains three gold chevrons, signifying how many 6-month stretches the wearer spent in combat. There are no specific dates tied to the coat itself, but the American participation in the war lasted for 18 months, the length of this member’s service as told by the chevrons. One the opposite sleeve is a single gold chevron. If a chevron was present on the right sleeve, it signifies that the wearer was wounded in combat. Though exactly how this soldier was wounded is unknown, even minor wounds could be dangerous. Even without a specific identity for the serviceman that wore this coat, the awards and adornments paint a picture of a young man that answered the call for his country, served in the face of immense danger, and survived the war to return home safe.
The World War I Victory Medal, and its corresponding ribbon bar, is a colorful award that was presented to American military personnel after the Great War’s end on November 11, 1918 — and JAHA has two examples in its collections.
The concept for such an award arose within months of the war’s end. An inter-allied group of military leaders approved the proposal for a medal that met a to-be-determined set of criteria to which all 16 of the Allied and Associated nations would adhere. The award was originally named the “Allies’ Medal,” but was renamed as the original technically excluded the United States, an “Associated” power rather than “Allied.”
The design of the medal for every nation that sought to issue it followed a specific set of requirements – each was to feature a 36 -millimeter bronze medallion with the figure of Victory on the front, with the inscription “The Great War for Civilization” in the issuing nation’s language on the reverse. The American medal’s design featured all Allied and Associated nations on the reverse side. In conjunction with the medallion, all awards featured a ribbon colored by two rainbows oriented so their red bands met in the center. The announcement of the forthcoming award came in April 1919, with final approval occurring on November 14 of that year, and general distribution in mid-1920.
In addition to the medal itself, special clasps were authorized for distribution. These clasps denoted where particular recipients performed their duty. The first of two such medals in JAHA’s collection (seen above) features clasps that associate the recipient with the Meuse-Argonne and Defensive Sector engagements of the war. The Meuse-Argonne clasp denotes the wearer’s presence and participation in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which took place September 26, 1918 until the war’s end on November 11, 1918. The 47-day campaign involved nearly 1.25 million American servicemen at a cost of 117,000 casualties. It was deemed the largest battle ever fought by the American military to that point. The Defensive Sector clasp denotes presence and participation in one of the 13 major combat operations of the war, which later included AEF operations in Russia and Siberia in 1919-1920. In this case, it is likely associated with the aforementioned battle.
The second example in the collection also associates the recipient with the same combat action as the first (Meuse-Argonne and Defensive Sector), as well as with two others: the Champagne-Marne and Saint-Mihiel. The Champagne-Marne clasp denotes the wearer’s presence and participation in a portion of the Second Battle of the Marne which took place July 15-18, 1918. This battle was the final major offensive undertaken by the Imperial German forces. The entire offensive lasted until August 6, 1918, resulting in an estimated 12,000 casualties. The other clasp attached to this medal is the one signifying presence and participation in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. The battle was the first led by the American Expeditionary Forces under General John Pershing and took place between September 12-16, 1918.
Aside from its significance in command, Saint-Mihiel was also the first major action by both the U.S. Army Air Service led by Colonel William “Billy” Mitchell, and U.S. tank units under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton. The American forces suffered 7,000 casualties during the short battle. Yet they were so effective in their action that it not only convinced British and French commanders of American capability, but their performance also deemed the United States worthy of a prominent role in the post-armistice negotiations.
The bright colors and generally positive demeanor of the awards not only signify the United States’ proud and gallant feats in the first of the world’s great multi-national conflicts, but also subtly remind us of the darkness that soldiers in the mud and trenches of the war overcame in an age of ever-changing and increasing danger. In the words of English poet Laurence Binyon:
“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.”