Category: World War I

Three mournful toots from the locomotive split the night air. It woke many of the weary passengers who had nodded off under the hypnotic clicking cadence of the train wheels. A series of long shrieks followed, metal grinding on metal as brakes were applied. Slowing down in shuddering jerks roused the last of the slumberers. …

Continue reading "The Russians are Coming"

At 11am sharp, one hundred years ago today, a German machine gun crew, hunkered down for days in a muddy dug-out near Le Catelet in northern France, fired a dramatic 1,000 round burst into the gray autumn sky. When they had finished, the men stood up in front of their guns, took off their forage caps, …

Continue reading "Going Home, at last"