World War One

Find old World War 1 articles here. Find information on uniforms, women, gas warfare, prisoners of war and more.

When the U.S. Navy Got A Little Larger… (Current Literature, 1912)

This article heralds the construction of two American battleships that would later become famous for the rolls they played during the Second World War. Both ships, U.S.S. Oklahoma and U.S.S. Nevada, would be commissioned in 1916 and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet during the Great War; Oklahoma protected convoys and later, in 1919, escorted President Wilson to France to the Versailles Treaty.

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‘Dogs of Battle, Dogs of Mercy” (Vanity Fair, 1916)

We are happy to say that in the course of performing our daily duties, the scanning and posting of historic magazine articles, no dogs were harmed in any way; but sadly no such boast can be made by any participant of the Great War. Published during the bloodiest year of that conflict, this VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE article lists a good many of the particular services dogs were trained to perform on behalf of their belligerent masters.

The French war dogs are divided into five classes, each of which performs a special type of work. There are sentinel dogs, patrol dogs, ambulance dogs, dispatch dogs and drought dogs. In all these departments of military activity they have proved their worth.

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‘Dogs of Battle, Dogs of Mercy” (Vanity Fair, 1916)

We are happy to say that in the course of performing our daily duties, the scanning and posting of historic magazine articles, no dogs were harmed in any way; but sadly no such boast can be made by any participant of the Great War. Published during the bloodiest year of that conflict, this VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE article lists a good many of the particular services dogs were trained to perform on behalf of their belligerent masters.

The French war dogs are divided into five classes, each of which performs a special type of work. There are sentinel dogs, patrol dogs, ambulance dogs, dispatch dogs and drought dogs. In all these departments of military activity they have proved their worth.

‘Dogs of Battle, Dogs of Mercy” (Vanity Fair, 1916) Read More »

‘Dogs of Battle, Dogs of Mercy” (Vanity Fair, 1916)

We are happy to say that in the course of performing our daily duties, the scanning and posting of historic magazine articles, no dogs were harmed in any way; but sadly no such boast can be made by any participant of the Great War. Published during the bloodiest year of that conflict, this VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE article lists a good many of the particular services dogs were trained to perform on behalf of their belligerent masters.

The French war dogs are divided into five classes, each of which performs a special type of work. There are sentinel dogs, patrol dogs, ambulance dogs, dispatch dogs and drought dogs. In all these departments of military activity they have proved their worth.

‘Dogs of Battle, Dogs of Mercy” (Vanity Fair, 1916) Read More »

American Horses in the First World War (American Legion Monthly, 1936)

I have read many interesting stories about heroes of the war and interesting accounts of pigeons, and police dogs, etc., but very little about the horses that served…Many of them were taken prisoner by the Germans, taken back into Germany and exhibited in their American harnesses and equipment. After the war, immediate plans were made to return the American men to their native country, but the equine warriors were forgotten…


This article is about the 32 American horses that were captured in the war and never repatriated.

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The Need for French Military Glory (Literary Digest, 1900)

Appearing on newsstands fourteen years prior to the outbreak of the First World War was this small piece from THE LITERARY DIGEST declaring that the thirst for military glory was woven into the very fiber of the French Republic:

Not within the memory of living men has France been the mistress of continental Europe; yet the memory of her military glory is still vivid among her people, and the expressions of many of her writers show that she has not given up her proud preeminence.
Revenge for Sedan is a sentiment necessary to our national existence.


Click here to read a 1912 article about the expansion of the Imperial German Navy.

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Chateau-Thierry: Setting the Record Straight (Literary Digest, 1919)

It has been said that when the U.S. Army’s senior staff officers had learned of the great victory that the U.S. Marines had achieved at the Bois de Belleau in the summer of 1918, one of them had remarked, Those head-line hunting bastards! When reading this next piece you will immediately get a sense that the army was fed-up with the folks at home believing that the same Marines were responsible for the Army’s success at Chateau-Thierry. The war was already over by the time this piece appeared, making it clear to all that Chateau-Thierry was a feather in the cap for the Army.

Click here to read an article about the American snipers in W.W. I France.
Click here to read about W.W. I art.

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