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A Frozen Hell: The Battle of Suomussalmi and the Winter War

The Winter War and Battle of Suomussalmi. Joseph Stalin, World War II and the frozen confrontations at the border.

As Joachim Von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov signed the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, linking Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Europe was split into two. This Pact created two spheres of influence that the Nazis and the Communists would dominate after World War II.

Finland had never had normal relations with the Soviet Union. As this poor country broke free from the Tsardom of Russia and saw a political revolution ensuring the victory of the “Whites” against the Finnish Bolsheviks, it became the target of the Soviet Union.

Operation Barbarossa and Stalin

When you look back at the events of 1941 and Operation Barbarossa, it is easy to understand why the Soviets were so aggressive towards Finland during the 1930s, and why it ultimately led to war. Joseph Stalin said: “We can not move Leningrad back from the frontier, so we will have to push back the Frontier“.

Finland and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact in 1932 and negotiations took place between the two countries to normalize their relationship and to reassure Stalin about his frontiers, the Finnish one being a possible theater of war since the Finnish government (and Finnish socialists too) was so anti-bolshevik.

The ultimate negotiations in November 1939 were nearly done but the Finns refused to lease the Hanko Harbour for 30 years, and so, they ultimately failed. The fate was sealed and war was thus inevitable.

The beginning of a disaster

The 28^th of November 1939, a false flag attack was carried by the Soviet Union. They attacked one of their own village near the Finnish border with artillery shots and killed 4 of their own soldiers. Moscow thus immediately asked for excuses from the Finnish Government, and as they refused to excuse themselves, war broke out the 1^st of December 1939. The Winter War had started.

The Soviet tactic was not a well thought one. They decided to attack in waves, but the terrain wasn’t the best for it. It proved to be absolutely disastrous when performed in forests – which covers most of Finland and its borders.

In Suomussalmi, not too far north but of strategic importance, the Soviet attack was a catastrophe. The original Soviet plan was to punch through the town and the Region, then to cut off Finland in two at Oulu at the Bothnia gulf coast. With its country split into two, it could be impossible for Finland to keep fighting and it would have been a fantastic victory for Stalin and the Soviet Union.

But something was not being accounted for: the sisu. The Sisu is a concept of hard determination, bravery, resilience. The Finns would have rather all died than let their country becoming a Soviet satellite state.

As the Soviets decided to attack to Oulu, the Finnish only had one battalion located outside Suomussalmi, at Raate. That was only one battalion to face enormous enemy forces, around 45 to 55,000 Soviets.

On December 7^th, the Battle started. Suomussalmi was easily taken by the Soviets but in their retreat, the Finnish practiced the tactic that later saved the Soviet Union in 1941, the scorched-earth. The Winter War was exceptional because of the extreme temperatures the troops had to face during winter 1939-1940.

The very first day of the offensive was a victory. The following days would lead from disaster to shipwrecks. On Decembre 8^th, the Soviets kept attacking through the lakes west of Suomussalmi but they never managed to break through the Finnish defensive line. The next offensives would prove to be even more and more disastrous. They also tried to attack farther north-west but it failed completely too. As the Soviet morale was sinking in the bottom of the lakes surrounding Suomussalmi, the Finnish were reinforced by a fresh battalion, led by intrepid Col. Hjalmar Siilasvuo. The initiative was not on the Soviet side anymore. Low morale, heavy casualties, failing tactics, equipment shortage, disaster was looming the soldiers of the Red Army.

Reinforced the 9^th, Siilasvuo reorganized the units and went on the attack to recapture Suomussalmi, which proved to be a pyrrhic victory. The Soviets would not budge from the town and the Finnish would suffer (relatively) heavy casualties. The Soviets had bad tactics, but their art of defense would prove later to be a problem for Nazi Germany in Operation Barbarossa.

In Modern Warfare, mobility is the key and the Soviets with their heavy equipment and their tanks would try to push farther and farther in Finland but would stick to the roads. The objective to cut Finland in half, rushing to Oulu has made no sense since the region they had to cross was a forest. A giant one. As the Soviets were getting stuck on the roads and would progress very slowly, the Finnish would start attacking them, day and night.

Their mobility with the skis was the key to victory. They would harass the Soviet divisions and finally cut them off from reinforcements. Most of the 45 to 55,000 men were then totally encircled with no shelter and no equipment.

The end of the 163rd Division

The legendary Motti tactics then happened. Motti is very simple: You have to cut the enemy into different parts and encircle them. You then have two choices, either you can assault frontally and destroy the enemy pocket or you can let the Motti “cook” itself and wait for the enemy to starve and die by himself. On the 26^th, most of the enemy forces were encircled and most of them were starting to die or surrender.

On the 27^th, the Finnish would finally retake Suomussalmi.

This was the end of the Battle of Suomussalmi. The casualties for the Finnish were high if you consider their very low manpower, as they lost 900 men. But in comparison with the Soviet casualties, they were inexistent. On the ~50,000 men the Soviets engaged in the Battle, half of them were killed in action or missing in action, so at least 25,000 casualties.

One battle leads to another…

The consequences following the end of the Battle were immediate and harsh for the Soviets. The 163^rd Division was destroyed and the 44^th Division, trailing by a few kilometers was the next target of the Finnish, on the Raate Road. 12 kilometers east of Suomussalmi, the 44^th was waiting for orders from its General, Alexeï Vinogradov. Unfortunately, for them, the 44^th was the target of attacks from all the available battalions from the Finnish side and this battle was even more costly than the one that took place only a few days before.

Starting the 5^th and ending on the 7^th, the 3,600 Finnish faced around 25,000 Soviets. It is estimated that more than 17,500 Soviets were killed or missing in action following these three days of hell. Vinogradov was held guilty by the High Command for not retreating fast enough from this tornado and was sentenced to death, and executed officially for losing 56 cantinas to the Finnish.

The Winter War 1939-1940 Medal

The Winter War 1939-1940 Medal and the Suomussalmi Battle Clasp

Those who took part in this slaughter on the Finnish side all received a medal: The Winter War 1939-1940 Medal. The Suomussalmi battle clasp was awarded to those who had barely a chance of winning the battle. Facing enormous mechanized troops from the East, they all deserved to get this award.

This medal, awarded in august 1940 was very simple. A black and red ribbon linked with a blackened iron plate with “Kunnia Isänmaa” inscribed on it, which could be translated as “Motherland“.

The criteria for the award of this medal was as follows: The medal was ‘established to commemorate the war of 1939–1940 and the unanimous will to defend it and the deeds done for the benefit of the motherland.’ The medal was generally very liberally granted to those engaged in some form of war work. This could range from those who cooked and baked in canteens to soldiers and young boys and girls who helped pass messages and washed uniforms.

Conclusion

Little Finland had no chance had the beginning of the War and nobody expected them to hold for such a long time. For a few months, the Finnish destroyed divisions, tanks, planes all day long. This performance was absolutely stunning but in the end, even with their heroic defense, they couldn’t hold forever.

In late February, the situation was pretty clear: the Mannerheim line was breached in the South and, the Soviets were starting to push hard through Finland. The end of the war was near and, the Soviets searched for an armistice.

Even though some people may argue that the Soviets lost the war, I believe they are mostly wrong. Since the Soviets obtained even more then what they asked before the breakout of the war, they are victorious, but at a terrible price. This war served as a good lesson for the Soviets and what they saw in Suomussalmi and the scorched-earth tactic would be later employed in Belarus and Ukraine to slow the German advance in Operation Barbarossa.

We can all wonder what would have happened to Finland if the Soviets had cut them off in two. But thanks for to the defenders of Suomussalmi and the sacrifice, nobody knows it. They played a major role in this war and would be of great help when negotiations set off between Finland and the Soviet Union.

This battle, and many others, would shine all over the world and the Finnish would always be seen as a harsh warrior.

Guest Contributor: Kjetil Vion is a writer and a history enthusiast. A passionate of France and modern military history, he has a special interest into the Prussian state, specially since the Sadowa battle against Austria. Always wanting to learn more, he now looks to spread his knowledge in history.

Why Even the Allies Admired Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and The Medals He Won

While Erwin Rommel would become one of Germany’s most respected and honored generals, he did not grow up in a military family.

While Erwin Rommel would become one of Germany’s most respected and honored generals, he did not grow up in a military family. Rather, born in Heidenheim, Germany on November 15, 1891, Rommel was the son of a teacher.

Who Was Erwin Rommel?

In 1909, as an eighteen-year-old, Rommel first attempted to join the military either in the artillery or as an engineer, but was rejected. Finally, however, in 1910, Rommel was accepted into the Germany infantry. As a cadet, Rommel was considered to be a “useful soldier,” an appellation that the rest of his military career would confirm.

Rommel served in World War I in France, Romania, and Italy and quickly learned to love the vigor of war. He became known as someone who would participate in dangerous raids and recon missions, causing his men to joke, “Where Rommel is, there is the front.”

Quite the driven soldier, Rommel was intent on winning Germany’s highest military honor, known as the Pour le Merite or Blue Max, before the end of the war, which he would do in 1917. At the Battle of Caporetto, Rommel’s leadership of his company in a surprise attacked captured Mount Matajur and outflanked thousands of Italian troops, meriting the Blue Max. Rommel would proudly wear his Blue Max medal for the rest of his life.

In the mid-1930s, Rommel would write Infantry Attacks, a book that would perhaps completely alter Rommel’s military career. After Hitler read Rommel’s book in 1937, he was impressed and decided to appoint Rommel as the German Army’s liaison with the Hitler Youth. Two years later, Hitler gave Rommel command of his personal bodyguard during the Invasion of Poland in 1939.

Erwin Rommel and the Panzer Division

Finally, in February 1940, Hitler named Rommel as the commander of the 7th Panzer division, one of the new panzer units. It was in this command that Rommel would become a household name in countries beyond Germany. During the Battle of France, Rommel’s 7th Panzer division raced from Sedan on the border of Germany and France to the coast of the English Channel, covering 200 miles in just one week and capturing over 100,000 Allied troops as well as the French garrison of Cherbourg.

Due in large part to this success, Rommel was appointed commander of the German troops in North Africa, the Afrika Korps, a year later. At first, Rommel was unsuccessful in taking the port city of Tobruk from the British in December 1941, but when Rommel returned in June 1942, he took the city in an attack known as the Battle of Gazala. It was then that Hitler would promote Rommel to Field Marshal.

During the brief time of Rommel’s success in North Africa, which ended up lasting only several months, he would begin to win the respect of the Allies. Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Rommel “a very daring and skillful opponent” and even “a great general.” George Patton and Bernard Montgomery who both fought Rommel in North Africa likewise sang his praises.

Rommel too had a great regard for the military prowess of his enemies, Patton and Montgomery, noting that the former had “the most astonishing achievement in mobile warfare” and that the latter “never made a serious strategic mistake.”

In the fall of 1942, Rommel’s success would turn with the British recapture of Tobruk at the Battle of El Alamein and the eventual loss of North Africa in May 1943. No longer needed in Northa Africa, Rommel returned to Europe to oversee the defense of the Atlantic coast in early 1944, exactly where the D-Day landings would occur in June 1944.

Erwin Rommel and the 944 July Plot

Although Rommel had trusted Hitler’s leadership up until this point and did not question the Fuhrer, Rommel began to change his tune in 1944 because he believed that Germany was going to lose the war.

Although Rommel doubted Hitler’s abilities for peace-making, evidence suggests that he did not want to dispose of him. Even so, Rommel’s contact with the conspirators in the 1944 July Plot, which was an assassination attempt against Hitler on July 20, 1944, implicated the Field Marshal in the plot against Hitler.

Given the option of facing a public trial or committing suicide, Rommel opted for the latter in order to protect his family. On October 14, 1944, German officers arrived at Rommel’s home to take him to a remote location where Rommel committed suicide through a cyanide capsule. He was 52 years old and received a full military burial, likely to appease the German public who did not know of Rommel’s connection to the assassination attempt.

Some of Erwin Rommel’s Medals

See all German Medals

The Panzer Badge or Tank Battle Badge (Nazi Germany)

Orden of Merit Pour le Mérite

The Memel Medal

Nazi Germany Medals and Awards: The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (EK 1939)

Nazi Germany Medals and Awards: The German Cross

The German Cross (Nazi-Germany)

The Iron Cross (EK 1914)

In fact, the German government even told the people that Rommel had died from injuries due to Allied aircraft strafing Rommel’s car earlier in 1944. Rommel had actually won his last victory from a hospital bed recovering from these injuries. Rommel had encouraged defensive preparations at the strategic city of Caen that ended up holding the Allies at bay and inflicting heavy casualties. The truth about Rommel’s suicide would not be revealed until after the war.

Respected by his comrades and his enemies, Rommel became known as the “Desert Fox” due to his penchant for surprise attacks and the “People’s Marshal” among his countrymen. Widely regarded as one of Hitler’s most successful generals and one of Germany’s most popular military officers, Rommel has continued to be honored to this day.

In addition to the adulation Rommel received from friend and foe alike, Field Marshal Rommel’s list of decorations and awards is extensive:

Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross: 27 May 1940, Generalmajor, Commander of the 7th Panzer Division.
- Oakleaves (No. 10): 20 March 1941, Generalleutnant, Commanding General of the Afrika Korps.
- Swords (No. 6): 20 January 1942, General der Panzertruppe, Commanding General of Panzer Group Afrika.
- Diamonds (No. 6): 11 March 1943, Generalfeldmarschall, Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Afrika.
Prussian Pour le Mérite Order: 10 December 1917, Oberleutnant, Commander of a Battle Group of the Württemberg Mountain Battalion.
Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914) with 1939 Bar
Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914) with 1939 Bar
Württemberg Military Merit Order, Knight’s Cross
Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion, Knight’s Cross 2nd Class with Swords
Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords
Austrian Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration
Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918
Armed Forces Long Service Award, 1st Class (25-year Service Cross)
Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal)
Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938 with Castle Prague Bar
Commemorative Medal for the Return of the Memel District
Wound Badge in Gold (WWII award): 7 August 1944 (for sixth wound received on 17 July 1944 per his obituary)
Panzer Assault Badge in Silver
Luftwaffe Combined Pilot/Observer in Gold with Diamonds
“AFRIKA” Campaign Cuff Title

In contrast to other well-known World War II-era Germans, Rommel has largely not been vilified. His name can be seen on two military bases, several German streets, and a monument in his hometown. While Rommel did have experience with the Nazi party and was close to Hitler, most historians agree that Rommel seemed to care more about winning military victories and promoting his own military career than condoning Nazi atrocities.

Sources

Guest Contributor: Rachel Basinger is a former history teacher turned freelance writer and editor. She loves studying military history, especially the World Wars, and of course military medals. She has authored three history books for young adults and transcribed interviews of World War II veterans. In her free time, Rachel is a voracious reader and is a runner who completed her first half marathon in May 2019.

The Maginot Line: A Defensive Barrier for World War II

World War I has just ended. France is victorious but it has cost it dearly. It’s necessary for France to defend its frontiers.

World War I has just ended. France is victorious but at a great cost. Millions of Frenchmen have died in the war, the Spanish Flu is destroying the country, and political agitation in Germany is scaring the French Government. A “Defense Council” is formed with Marshal Petain, Marshal Joffre, and Marshal Foch, the French Minister of War and the French President in the late 1910’s.

It was decided that France was no match with Germany’s demography and industry, and that it was necessary for France to defend its frontiers. Was it a good decision to focus on a defensive, rather than an offensive, strategy? Marshal Petain was strongly against it, stating that France should focus on a Maneuvering Army and not a Static one.

The Frontiers of France

The French government decided to enact a law that would initiate the construction of a defensive line on the frontiers of France, near Switzerland and Belgium. The former had been neutral since 1815, and the latter was an ally of France. André Maginot, Minister of War in 1929, pushed hard for this law, and thus gave his name to what would later become the Maginot Line.

The Maginot Line was not a defensive line just at the German frontier, as the first Bunkers were built in Nice at the Italian Frontier in southeast France. Italy was no more a friend to France, and Benito Mussolini was increasingly more aggressive towards Savoie and the Nice territory. You can even find a lot of these bunkers in the Alps and get in if you dare to!

As the Occupation of the Rhineland was coming to an end in 1930, the French government decided to take the initiative by starting to build the defensive line at the German frontier in 1929. Until 1935, the German Frontier saw the acquisition of increasingly more defensive positions, artillery nests, bunkers, and tank traps.

How was the Maginot Line designed?

As you previously guessed, yes, the Maginot Line was a series of defensive position along the frontiers of France, some more armored than others and some more protected by terrain (the Alps is a fantastic wall, and Italy would never cross them in 1940).

The following description applies specifically for the German border. The structure of the line was very simple yet proved to be both great and really bad. The Line was divided in 4 different ones.

The first one was the weakest one, being a simple series of outposts with sentries, barbed wires, and mines. It was designed in a way that the sentries could quickly alert the second line that danger was coming. The barbed wires spread a distance of 10 to 15 meters. This was plenty for the machine guns from the second line to shoot down anything that could move in this zone as the French machine guns could shoot up to 1,200 meters.

The second line was the strongest one. Full of bunkers, more barbed wires, and mines, it was located around two kilometers behind the front line. With tank traps and machine gun nests located under heavy artillery cover, it was designed not only to hold, but also to inflict heavy casualties to the enemies.

The third line was designed to provide cover to the fighting troops in the field. With machine gun nests and bunkers, this line was designed to hold the enemy if it got through the first two lines through close quarter combat.

The fourth and last line was the logistic line: barracks, ammunition, and artillery. It was designed to provide support only. The enemy was not supposed to reach it and never really did.

The main goal of the Maginot Line was to inflict major casualties and to experience as few casualties as possible. The French demography was in no match for the German demography, and French blood had to be spared as much as possible.

The Maginot Line had a political goal too, as it was designed in a way to make the Germans attack through Belgium. Since the United Kingdom had guaranteed the independence of Belgium, if Germany dared to attack Belgium again, then the British would declare war to Germany again. But the French Government was then sure that Germany would never dare touch Belgium again.

This looked great but as General Patton said…

“There is no such things as successful defense.”

The defensive lines, even designed with extreme caution, had flaws. One of them is that, as you will see later on, there was no escape for some bunkers. Soldiers were trapped in shelters, cut from reinforcements and fresh air.

But the biggest flaw was that the line was incomplete because of diplomacy. To maintain a good relationship with its neutral neighbors of Belgium and Switzerland, the line at the borders of these two countries were lightly defended. It was a diplomatic strategy, but it proved to be an enormous mistake. Why? Not only because Germany did something that the French High Command did not really expect, but even worse, the line was designed in a way to defend the border and forbid the crossing of it. The back of the line was thus very vulnerable if a flanking attack happened and took the line from behind.

“Peace for our time…”

From 1936 to 1939, the line was fully occupied for different reasons and different lengths: the Rhineland re-militarization in ’36, the Anschluss, and the Sudeten crisis in ’38.

The Sudeten crisis had a major impact on the line. Political? Maybe. Strategic? No more than being a different crisis until the breakout of the war. For the Maginot Line itself, it was a disaster. When Germany annexed the Sudetenland, the Czech fortifications were thus captured and, as they were built with the help of French engineers, the Wehrmacht tested the fortifications and figured out how to break them. A few years later, this would prove to be a disaster for France.

The Phony War

Poland had just rejected Germany’s demand about the Danzig corridor. War would breakout in a matter of time. The 21^st of August 1939, France decided to mobilize and thus garrison the fortifications. Total mobilization would start on the 2^nd of September, and war between Germany and France would start the 3^rd after France declared war. During the first days of the war, nothing would happen. Besides some artillery shots, nothing. The Sarre offensive would do nothing as well.

Soon the phony war started. During winter of 1939-1940, the fortifications would continue to grow until May 1940. Did the French High Command ever expect what would follow?

“Fall Gleb”

It is the 10^th of May 1940. Nothing changes as the Phony War continues. There are no casualties, and the soldiers are waiting. Waiting for what? Are they expecting anything? No. The French High Command has its “wall,” and the Army is believes that the enemies will not attack through it. They think that even attempting it would be a suicide mission.

The Wehrmacht has an other idea.

The Fall Gleb plan consisted of cutting through the Netherlands and Belgium and Luxemburg, bypassing the strongest elements of the Maginot Line. The French High Command didn’t really expect that. Even worse, they didn’t expect Germany to pierce the front in the Ardennes range and its deep forest. The Germans met some fortifications of the Maginot Line but they were only lightly defended as it was so unthinkable to attack through the Ardennes. What the Germans did was pretty simple. They basically dodged the strongest line of defense and attacked where it was weak. Punching hard in the Ardennes and in the direction of Sedan, like in 1870, the French High Command realized a disaster was happening.

The worse was yet to come as “Plan Dyle” started as a response to the German attack. The Allies entered in Belgium with the desire to counter-attack the Germans. A disaster happened during the following days through the application of the plan. The Germans were attacking deeper and deeper behind the Allies, and they were now flanking them. The Wehrmacht then attacked and pushed to the Channel and encircled most of the Allied armies in Belgium. Most of the French Armies, the British Corps, and the Belgian army began to surrender, completely cut off from the back. The Maginot Line saw little to no action. Most of the fortifications the Germans ran into were so lightly defended that it was impossible for the French troops to hold any attack there. Most of them were captured with small confrontation since the Germans were so dominant in every way. Some forts fought hard though. A strange case happened too with a fortification that would prove to be a major flaw for the Maginot Line. A bunker was isolated and couldn’t retreat and would not surrender. It was attacked, and trapped in the bunkers the soldiers were attacked by engineers. Trapped and with no fresh air, they all suffocated.

Later on, during the “Fall Rot,” it would happen many times.

“Fall Rot,” or the End of the Battle of France

For a short period of time from the 25^th of May until early June, the front was stabilizing and even with the loss of thousands of soldiers encircled and trapped in Belgium, the French dug behind the Aisne and the Somme rivers, and nothing happened for a few days. The Germans then launched their final battle plan, Fall Rot, which finally made France surrender.

During this final plan, the Germans attacked through the rivers and the strongest fortifications of the Maginot Line. Heroic defense from the French during 15 days would push back the Germans but the line would finally be breached on the 19^th of June and then during the last 3 days of the Battle of France. The Latiremont Sector would fire up to 1577 shells a day to push back the assault groups, and even with the help of the “Big Bertha” and the Skoda Artillery Guns (305 mm), the line would hold in most of the fortifications.

The main danger would finally come from the back of the line, as General Heinz Guderian would push his panzers far behind the defensive line and encircle the French, too.

On the 22^nd of June, the French Army would finally surrender to Germany, completely destroyed.

What about the Alps Front?

The Maginot Line was weaker there, but the Mountains were a fantastic defensive position for the French as the Germans or Italians would never break through. The Italians declared war the 10^th in a very unfavorable terrain, and it proved to be a disaster. Only the German Armistice forced the French to surrender to Italy on the 25^th of June.

There is also a very “internet famous” battle that happened during this short period. The “Battle of the Pont-Saint-Louis” gained fame, when 9 French soldiers held an enormous Italian attack, killing more than 150 Italians and only having two slightly injured soldiers.

Conclusion

The Maginot Line wasn’t so much of a bad idea in itself. It proved to be reliable, and it never really fell. Its only problem was that it was 30 years late. War changed during peace time, and the French stayed with the World War 1 strategies, which proved to be a total disaster. The war was now moving at a very fast pace.

The Blitzkrieg and the encirclement maneuvers of the Germans were very simple, and, in the end, not that well thought out. Their success was great but only because the French strategy was simply not possible during World War 2.

Joseph Joffre: The Man Who Resisted the Germans and Held Paris

A disaster loomed over Europe. The Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was murdered, and the Russians had guaranteed the independence of Serbia. Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum to Serbia was rejected, and Germany planned to stand by its ally, Austria-Hungary.

Since France was a part of the Entente, a military alliance with the Russian Empire, the German ambassador in Paris asked for an answer about the French posture. Rene Viviani, president of the French Republic, answered on August 1^st that “France will draw on its interests.”

On August 3^rd, the German Empire subsequently invaded Luxemburg as part of the Schlieffen Plan and declared war on France. France and its high command was ready. The “Plan XVII,” drafted by Joseph Joffre, was already fully operational.

Joseph Joffre's Early Years

Born in 1852 in the Pyrénées range south of France, Joseph Joffre was a career officer. His career started in late 1869, and he was already second lieutenant when France declared war on Prussia in 1870 and ended up participating in different artillery battalions. He was highly disappointed by the disastrous defense of the French army during the war and was hostile towards the “Commune de Paris,” a communist rebellion during 1871.

Back to school at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, Joffre went to different French colonies all around the globe: Madagascar, French Indochina, French Sudan (today’s Mali). Additionally, he studied and progressed through the ranks, finally coming back and settling down in Paris where he got his final position, the highest one: “Généralissime” of the French Army. At 59 years old, he was one of the youngest generals in the Army to obtain this rank and during the few months before hell was unleashed during World War II, he spent most of his time reorganizing the French Army and designing the “Plan XVII”.

This plan was simple and was one of the major reasons why France did not capitulate in a matter of days during the terrible month of August 1914. In a very short time, the French Army was able to mobilize and transport thousands of men in the direction of the German frontier. However, what happened during the first days of the war was unexpected, and the breaking point was nearly reached.

August 1914. France was on the edge of the cliff.

During the first few days of the war, no one would predict that the French army could stand against the terrible attack and the implementation of the Schlieffen Plan.

Defeated on the majority of the front, the French infantry despite their courage and determination could not hold against the enemy cannons. Until the end of August, the French Army was in full retreat on the entire front, excepting Alsace-Lorraine. The “Plan XVII” drafted by Joffre had been a failure even though some good things resulted. The French had advanced in Alsace-Lorraine, but the German Army opened a major breach west of Lorraine in the Ardennes and Belgium. The highest success of the “Plan XVII” had been the fast mobilization of the French army.

The cold-blood of Joseph Joffre surely prevented an even greater disaster, and he is now famous saying: “Surtout, pas d’affolement!”, translated as “Above all, do not panic!”

But the German Headquarters made some fatal mistakes. The first one was that Joffre decided to counter-attack every time he could against the Germans. Fixing divisions was crucial for the French as they could reorganize their army all along the Marne river.

The Germans were also very stubborn about their beloved Schlieffen Plan which had been proven to have major flaws. The first and perhaps the most important one was that the Plan needed to cut through Belgium, which dragged another country into war when the Belgians refused to let through the German troops. This subsequently brought the United Kingdom into war as they had guaranteed Belgium’s independence.

The second major mistake was that the Germans wanted to destroy Belgium and their forts by any means. Fixing more than 150,000 men and most of their artillery in an attempt to destroy the Forts of Liège, Namur, and Anvers, the Germans experienced a crucial time and manpower loss. Instead of directing their force against France and destroying the French armies, the Germans lost time which they would never get back again and would finally cost them Paris.

“The Marne Miracle”

As stated before, Joffre declared a Full Retreat, and all the units capable of organizing the defense were sent off behind the Marne River, one of the last major rivers before Paris. Some 70 kilometers away from the front, British General John French was already thinking about evacuating the British Expeditionary Force.

General Kitchener convinced General French to listen to Joffre. During the retreat, August 29 would become a significant day and permit the success of the Marne Battle. During this crucial day, General Lanrezac held an important German attack at Guise, which fixed German troops and cost them time. During this battle, Joffre found time to reorganize the army and refine his strategy to block the Germans.

During this time, Joffre carefully analyzed how the German Army was organized to try and find something interesting. Strategy is all about opportunities, and, since the beginning of the War, nothing was interesting enough for France. Joffre spotted gaps between the 9^th and the 4^th German Army, and came up with the main objectives of destabilizing the frontline and completing encirclement maneuvers around the enemies. A recon plane spotted that the German Army was making a move in direction of Meaux, which indicated the moment when the French and British should attack.

After several hours of hesitation, Gallieni and Joffre decided that the attack should be completed as soon as possible. And in the early morning of the 6^th of September, the decisive Battle of the Marne started. Possibly the most important battle of WWI, this battle was of strategic importance. The French and the British attacked and destroyed multiple German divisions, pushing them 100 kilometers back in a matter of days! “The Miracle of the Marne” happened and saved France from collapsing, thanks to the sacrifice, the courage, and the determination of its infantry.

Even if the tactics and the strategies were already long obsolete, it was enough for the Germans to be stopped and drove back from Paris’s region.

Following the Marne Battle, the Aisne Battle (another river in northern France) began, but no movement from both sides were decisive enough, the Germans finally settled down behind a river and the French were exhausted by this enormous effort.

This battle proved that the Schlieffen Plan was indeed a failure, and the belligerents could not go on with a war movement which was very costly for both sides. Thus began Trench Warfare.

In this “Miracle,” Joffre’s cold blood prevented major disasters and his ability to convince General French to withdraw his troops contributed to this strategic victory. His mind was a key-factor in the final victory of France in WWI.

Bloodbath after Bloodbath…

At the end of the Aisne Battle, the infamous Trench Warfare started. As the belligerents started to dig themselves deeper and deeper, offensives from both sides looked disastrous. So began enormous casualties for insignificant victories, and the horrors of the Trench Warfare developed.

The “Chemin des Dames,” the Flanders Battle, the Champagne Battles, Ypres, all of these battles were disasters for multiple reasons. First, the French Army always lacked ammunition and firepower to break the lines. The bravery of the Infantry shined on the battlefield but no major breakouts could be achieved from October 1914 until the end of 1916, when Joffre was sacked. Second was the appearance of a new weapon: lethal gas. It was not the best way to attack since the attacking side could also suffer from the effect of the gas, but when used as a defensive means, it was very reliable since one army could absolutely choke the whole no-man’s land with it.

The last major battle directed by Joffre was the Somme Battle. As the Verdun Battle had already been raging on for several months during 1916, the Somme was an ideal objective for Joffre to break the enemy frontline but dissensions in the Allies Headquarters sabotaged the effort. Like the previous battles, the Somme ended in a useless bloodbath and was very costly for France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The Status Quo stood.

Joffre proved several times he was a real general and probably saved France in September 1914, but within several years, his tactics were outdated, and it was time for change. Robert Nivelle became the new commander of the Allied Armies in France on the 26^th of December 1916. Joffre was out.

The same day, Joseph Joffre was named Marshal of France.

His legacy

Seen as a savior by some and as a butcher by others, everyone had his opinion about Joseph Joffre. It is possible to discuss the horrific battles that took place under his command but despite having significantly fewer troops and firepower than German General Von Moltke, Joffre did what he was tasked for: resist and hold.

Even though his Plan XVII was ultimately a failure and France nearly collapsed, his strategy to push the enemies of the French Republic back were a success, and it is important to remember the sacrifices and bravery of the men that died under his orders.

After all, we can see Joseph Joffre as a true savior because Paris did not fall to the hand of the German Imperial Army. As in 1871, it could have caused major troubles to the French war effort. Revolution, revolts, mutinies? What could have happened if the cold blood of Joffre did not prevent the Germans from entering Paris as they did 40 years before?

In the end, France won the Great War with enormous casualties, and every effort from the entire French population was vital for the war. Joffre had been their leader, the leader of a nation every step of the way.

Odette Sansom: The Most Decorated Woman of World War II

The most decorated woman of World War II was a spy. Her name was Odette Sansom, a woman born in France that moved to Britain. This is her story.

Did you know that the most decorated woman of World War II was a spy? That’s right. Her name was Odette Sansom, a woman who was originally born in France and later moved to Britain, married an Englishman, and had three girls.

Odette would survive several years in prison after being captured by the Germans before the war ended. She was a determined, audacious woman whose adventurous and loyal spirit made her one of Britain’s best spies. Odette, better known by her code name of Lise, was also World War II’s most highly decorated spy.

Who Was Odette Sansom?

Odette Marie Céline was born on April 28, 1912 to Gaston and Yvonne Brailly who lived in Amiens, France. Her brother Louis was born a year later in 1913. In 1914 when World War I broke out, Odette’s father joined the Infantry Regiment and received the Croix de Guerre and Médaille Militaire for his bravery. He died trying to find two of his men who had gone missing after the Battle of Verdun. Thus, Odette and her brother Louis grew up never knowing their father except his brave deeds.

Odette was a sickly child, but she managed to grow out of that when her mother enrolled her at a convent near the English Channel. When Odette graduated from high school, the nuns wrote in their final report that Odette was intelligent but also petulant. This streak would be seen clearly in Odette’s later activities as a spy.

Bessie Dora Bowhill was a woman who served alongside of Dr. Inglis. Although Bowhill is less well-known than Inglis, she nevertheless did much to improve the lives of the Serbians she served. Bowhill had served during the Boer War and joined one of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in Serbia during the First World War. She retained her senior position as a matron of the unit until she left Serbia in 1916. Like Dr. Inglis, Bowhill experienced the German occupation and did much to assist the suffering Serbians. Bowhill received the Serbian Cross of Mercy as well as the British War Medal and the British Victory Medal due to her nursing work in Serbia.

Odette married an Englishman, Roy Sansom, in 1930, and they moved to London after the birth of their first daughter, Francoise, 1932. They would later have Lily in 1934 and Marianne in 1936. After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and France and Britain declared war, Roy enlisted with the British army and Odette was left at home to take care of their girls.

In 1942, Odette happened to hear on the radio that the Royal Navy was asking for photos of France. Odette had spent a fair amount of time on the beaches around Calais with her brother when Odette was in high school, so she had photos to send. In addition, Odette also mentioned in an accompanying letter that her parents were French and she was well-acquainted with the coastal regions, and promptly (and mistakenly!) sent the letter to the War Office.

Odette Sansom Turns Into Lise

Around a week later, Odette was summoned to the War Office where a Major Guthrie asked if she might be interested in some part-time work. Shortly thereafter, she received a letter from Captain Selwyn Jepson, who Odette would later discover worked for the F (France) Section of the SOE—Special Operations Executive—a secret organization that was supposed to assist with resistance efforts in Nazi-occupied countries and perform acts of sabotage in those countries.

Captain Jepson asked if she would be willing to undergo training to see if she would be fit for the role of saboteur. That day and for weeks later, Odette said no, saying that she had to take care of her children. Finally, she relented, just to prove Captain Jepson wrong that she was not fit for the job. But ironically, it turned out that she was, and Odette loved the training and was propelled by her desire to assist those in France.

After several failed attempts to get her to France, Odette under the code name Lise, arrived in Cannes on October 1942 to temporarily join Peter Churchill, who had the code name Pierre Chauvet, Michel, or Raoul, and the SPINDLE circuit. Odette was later supposed to go on to Auxerre to establish a safe house, but Peter—unrelated to Winston Churchill—pulled some strings, and Odette joined his circuit, which included one of the best radio operators, Adolphe Rabinovitch who had the code name Arnaud.

Odette Sansom and Peter Churchill Are Captured

For six months, Odette, Peter, Arnaud, and the SPINDLE circuit together incited mayhem and avoided Germans, which required relocating several times. Unfortunately, though, a member of their network, Andre Marsac, had been captured and a sweet-talking Abwehr—the German intelligence organization—officer Hugo Bleicher, known as Colonel Henri, convinced Marsac to name members of his organization. On April 16, 1943, Odette and Peter were captured, and by this time, had developed a romantic connection so it was fairly easy to play that they were married.

From that point on until the end of the war, Odette and Peter would move into different prisons and concentration camps, sometimes together, but other times not. Odette tried to save Peter by convincing the Gestapo that she was the mastermind, not Peter, and she mentioned that Peter, who she called her husband, was the nephew of the Prime Minister Winston Churchill. These intelligent acts certainly saved Odette and Peter’s lives for some time.

Odette Sansom’s Medals:

The George Cross (Great Britain)

The Order of the British Empire

Pre-WW1 Medals and Awards: The Legion of Honour

The Legion of Honor

The War Medal 1939-1945

The France and Germany Star

The 1939-1945 Star

The Gestapo brutally tortured Odette since they considered her the mastermind and asked her for the location of some individuals which only Odette knew. Even when a red hot poker was placed on her back and all of her toenails were pulled out, Odette simply replied, “I have nothing to say.”

In July 1944, Odette was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp and was kept in a dark bunker completely isolated for three months and 11 days at one point during her stay. Even though she was extremely emaciated and her hair and teeth were falling out, Odette still had her wits about her.

The camp commandment Fritz Suhren decided to take Odette with him to the American forces in May 1945, knowing that the Allies had entered Germany and that Odette had said that she was related to Winston Churchill. Odette, however, told the Americans to take him prisoner. Although Suhren would escape several times, he was eventually hanged for war crimes due in part to Odette’s testimony.

On August 19, 1946, Odette received news that she had received the George Cross, Britain’s second-highest honor, and it was decided that she and Peter would receive their British awards together at the investiture on November 17 of that same year. The only woman out of about 250 soldiers and officers about to be decorated, Odette was given the honor of leading the investiture.

Odette’s George Cross Citation:

‘The KING has been graciously pleased to award the GEORGE CROSS to: Odette Marie Celina, Mrs. SANSOM, M.B.E., Women’s Transport Service (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry).
Mrs. Sansom was infiltrated into enemy occupied France and worked with great courage and distinction until April, 1943, when she was arrested with her Commanding Officer. Between Marseilles and Paris on the way to the prison at Fresnes, she succeeded in speaking to her Commanding Officer and for mutual protection they agreed to maintain that they were married. She adhered to this story and even succeeded in convincing her captors in spite of considerable contrary evidence and through at least fourteen interrogations. She also drew Gestapo attention from her Commanding Officer on to herself saying that he had only come to France on her insistence. She took full responsibility and agreed that it should be herself and not her Commanding Officer who should be shot. By this action she caused the Gestapo to cease paying attention to her Commanding Officer after only two interrogations. In addition the Gestapo were most determined to discover the whereabouts of a wireless operator and of another British officer whose lives were of the greatest value to the Resistance Organisation. Mrs. Sansom was the only person who knew of their whereabouts. The Gestapo tortured her most brutally to try to make her give away this information. They seared her back with a red hot iron and, when, that failed, they pulled out all her toe-nails. Mrs. Sansom, however, continually refused to speak and by her bravery and determination, she not only saved the lives of the two officers but also enabled them to carry on their most valuable work. During the period of over two years in which she was in enemy hands, she displayed courage, endurance and self-sacrifice of the highest possible order.’

The Reunion of Odette and Peter

After the war, Odette and Peter reunited after fifteen months of being separated and were married on February 15, 1947 although they would later divorce in 1956, but Peter never spoke ill of his ex-wife who married Geoffrey Hallowes later in 1956. Odette died on March 13, 1995 at the age of 82.

One of only three F Section agents operating in France to receive the George Cross, Britain’s second-highest honor, Odette was the only one to receive the award in her lifetime. In addition, Odette was the second SOE agent and the first female who had faced the enemy to receive the award. Odette did not like being especially singled out and asked that the award be regarded as acknowledgement of all who had assisted to liberate France. Even though some individuals disputed Odette’s receipt of the George Cross and asked it to be revoked, Prime Minister Macmillan refused to entertain the idea, as Odette had duly received the award.

In addition to the George Cross, Odette received the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.), the Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur, the the 1939-1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the War Medal 1939-1945, the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, and the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1950, Odette’s story was made in a film called Odette, and the Royal Mail released a stamp in Odette’s honor in 2012.

Sources

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100273
Loftis, Larry. Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy. Gallery Books, 2019.

A Visit to the Arromanches Museum in Normandy

1944, Normandy. The sky is grey and the fog is compact. The night is dark. The wind blows but somehow, the most intrepid of all men decided on their own to jump over France. It is the 5th of June, and some of them will never see their homeland again. But in the name of Freedom and Democracy, they decided it was their duty to help those who are oppressed.

The museum is a monument in the name of those who decided to jump above Normandy and land at the beaches. It is a monument for those who made possible what would later lead to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Fascism in Europe.

What is the Arromanches Museum about?

Why would you go to this museum in the first place? Well, it is nearby all the bridgeheads of the Normandy landings.

If you start your journey from Utah Beach, the most western of all the beaches, you’ll have the luck to go across all the beaches from West to East and the final stage in this trip is naturally, Arromanches, which was a crucial point during the Liberation of France. Or if you take the trip in the other way around, it is the first necessary stop on your way to knowledge.

The museum has two particulars addressed subjects: the first one is as you guessed, the Normandy landings and the second one is the Mulberry Harbor. This harbor was capital for the landings as the Dieppe Landing (1942) proved that the Allies couldn’t not breach the Atlantic Wall to capture a harbor. Even though the Allies finally captured Cherbourg and its precious harbor, the Mulberry harbor was still in use for 10 months after the initial landings. More than 2,500,000 men, 500,000 vehicles and 4 million tons of supplies landed in the harbor.

But why would you buy a museum just by this particular site? French President René Coty pushed hard in the 1950s for a museum to be built in the area, to show the magnificent war effort that was done just for the landings and to help supply the troops that were liberating France.

So as you guessed, in this museum, you will have the luck to see everything about the harbor. You will enter first a big room where you will see a mock up of the harbor. Every aspect of the harbor and how it worked is detailed on this mock up that is around 20 meters long!

You can find many other things in the museum. You’ll find different uniforms used by the troops of both sides, some rifles, some German equipment… There is also a movie describing the Normandy landing and the role of the Harbor, its conception and the strategic importance it had.

At the end of your tour in the museum, you will of course happen to land… in a souvenir shop like every museum in the world. Outside the museum, and next to the usual flags that you can find pretty much all across the Normandy coast, you will find some interesting pieces of artillery, from both England and Germany.

Outside the museum…

Not only you should go to the museum for all the things you can learn inside the museum, but the most important thing in Arromanches is the scenery offered to the visitor. Not only Arromanches is a beautiful city on the Channel Coast, but the sea is just by the museum, on the shore.

The most impressing thing in all of that is that ashore, you can still see what used to be a harbor. As Lord Mountbatten said: “If we dispose of no harbors, we will bring our own.”

The gigantic dockyard that was used to pour equipment through the Channel and into France was located in the bay of Arromanches, just ashore of the museum! If the tide is low, you can even walk to the remains of the harbor! You’ll happen to find gigantic pieces of concrete that could float, and that was used as pontoons, going back and forth with the tide.

The remains of the harbor give you an idea of how enormous what the Allies decided to do. They didn’t bother asking themselves which sea harbor would be the best between Cherbourg, Le Havre or many more. They just built their own harbor in the middle of basically nowhere, in the only place where the shore is not a cliff in the area. The things you can discover inside the museum are truly interesting and is an important stop on your way to history and how everything happened. But outside, you can truly appreciate the effort that was done to help and supports the troops fighting Nazi Germany inland.

The Mulberry Harbour of Arromanches was of strategic importance, and there was no way Germany could disrupt its effort in any manner, considering the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine had no way to interfere. They could always sabotage the harbors they were holding such as what happened in Cherbourg, but the Mulberry of Arromanches stood and, it was one of the most important points of the Allies invasion of Western Europe.

The point of this museum is as stated before, not to be the most precise or detailed one, but to be a monument. A monument dedicated to the people who decided to do the impossible, the unthinkable. They decided to go for it, to liberate Europe from Fascism and Nazism. It is dedicated to those who thought and built the Mulberrys. Those who decided to fight for Freedom.

Women Who Received Military Medals During World War I: Serbia

Over 600 British women contributed to the war effort in Serbia during World War I, including Flora Sandes, Dr. Elsie Inglis, and Dr. Isabel Hutton.

Over 600 British women contributed to the war effort in Serbia during World War I, including women like Captain Flora Sandes, Dr. Elsie Inglis, and Dr. Isabel Galloway Hutton who are featured on Serbian stamps commemorating the centennial of World War I.

Women and Military Medals During WW1

Many of the British women who served in Serbia were doctors, nurses, and ambulance drivers, but Flora Sandes was unique: she was the only British woman to officially serve during World War I. Due to their substantial contributions, many of these amazing women received military medals from not only Serbia but also Russia, France, and Great Britain for their service. Here are just a few of their stories.

Dr. Elsie Inglis

Dr. Elsie Inglis was one of the first female graduates of the University of Edinburgh, and she was a suffragist who would not take no for an answer. When she first asked the War Office if she, as a qualified doctor, could open up a hospital and serve on the frontlines, she was told to “go home and sit still.”

Undeterred, Dr. Inglis decided to found her own hospital, which became known as the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. Hundreds of British women served at these hospitals overseas, including 60 doctors, but the most prominent locations were in Serbia.

Those who served alongside Dr. Inglis faced incredible dangers like a typhus epidemic in early 1915 and the “Great Retreat” of the fall of 1915. Dr. Inglis and others chose to remain with the hospitals even though they became prisoners of war under the Germans. Later, after the Germans had sent home Dr. Inglis and her staff, she traveled with the Serbs to the Russian front near the end of 1916 to set up two field hospitals even though Inglis had learned that she had cancer.

Although Dr. Inglis would not live until the end of the war—she died on November 26, 1917 in England, she posthumously received the highest awards in Russia and Serbia: the Gold St. George Medal and the White Eagle with Swords. It was an especially high honor, as Dr. Inglis was the first female recipient of these awards although she did not live to accept them in person.

Bessie Dora Bowhill

Dr. Isabel Galloway Hutton

Dr. Isabel Galloway Hutton was another example of a woman who was turned away from the War Office like Dr. Inglis and instead chose to serve in the Scottish Women’s Hospitals to support the war effort. Dr. Hutton—then Dr. Emslie as she married Major Thomas Hutton in 1921—started her service in 1915 and would serve until 1920 in France, Greece, and Serbia. Dr. Hutton was a trained psychiatrist who specialized in mental disorders, so she took the position of Assistant Medical Officer and Pathologist with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. She started in France and then later moved onto Serbia.

As Chief of the no. 2 Scottish Women’s Hospitals, Dr. Hutton is known for accompanying the Serbian army during its advance in 1918. She was awarded the Serbian orders of the White Eagle and St. Sava, the Russian Order of St. Anna, and the French Croix de Guerre (or Cross of War).

Medals

The Cross of Charity or Mercy

The Order of St. Sava

The Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)

Captain Flora Sandes

While women like Dr. Inglis, Bowhill, and Dr. Hutton put themselves in harm’s way often serving alongside the military, one woman did even more: Captain Flora Sandes. A British woman who was not content to sit on the sidelines, Sandes wanted to be in the fray.

But Sandes wanted to keep serving and asked the regiment’s commander, Colonel Milić, if she could stay on as a private in the Serbian army. The colonel agreed, and Sandes became a beloved part of the regiment. The men called her “Nashi Engleskinja,” or “Our Englishwoman,” and sometimes even called her “brother.”

In late 1915, Sandes fought alongside the Serbians during the Great Retreat across Albania. Once they reached the coast of Albania, Sandes began relief efforts for the remaining Serbs, and she was promoted to sergeant. After making a brief trip to England, Sandes returned to Serbia near the end of World War I to join the Serbian advance that pushed the Austrians, Bulgarians, and Germans out of Serbia in 1918.

Sandes had always been inspired by the charge of the British cavalry against the Russians during the Battle of Balaklava, commemorated by Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” When World War I broke out, Sandes was 38 years old, but she still wanted to serve. She applied to serve with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) but was turned down due to her connection to the suffrage movement. Sandes decided to try the Serbian Red Cross where she was more successful. She not only served as a nurse but also came back to England to raise money for the Serbian war effort in late 1914 and early 1915.

When the typhus epidemic broke out, Sandes was there just like Dr. Inglis. In the fall of 1915, Sandes joined a medical unit attached to the Serbian army in order to continue to work in Serbia. After the Bulgarians pushed the Serbian regiment to which Sandes and the medical unit was attached to an area without roads, the medical team could no longer follow in the ox wagons.

In June 1919, a special Serbian Act of Parliament honored Sandes and made her the first woman to be commissioned in the Serbian Army, promoting her to captain.

In addition, Sandes received seven medals during her service, including the Order of the Karađorđe’s Star, the highest decoration of the Serbian Military.

These four women are just a small sample of the over 600 women who served in Serbia during World War I, and each contributed in her own way, as the wide variety of medals that each woman received demonstrates. Whether on the battlefield or in a hospital tent, these British women made life significantly better for the Serbs during World War I and rightfully received some of the highest military medals for their service.

Notes:

Bessie’s medal record card can be downloaded, for a small fee, from the National Archives. It shows she was a Matron with Dr. Inglis’ Unit and the Scottish Women’s Hospital. See http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6068814

Sources

Sources:

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2017-11-28a.29.1
Allcock, John B., and Antonia Young. Black Lambs & Grey Falcons: Women Travellers in the Balkans. Berghahn Books, 2000.
Bourke, Joanna. “Women and the Military During World War One.” BBC News, 3 March 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/women_combatants_01.shtml. Accessed 30 December 2018.
Brocklehurst, Steven. “The female war medic who refused to ‘go home and sit still.’” BBC.
News, 26 November 2017, www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-42096350. Accessed 30 December 2018.
“Elsie Inglis to be commemorated for war achievements.” BBC News, 8 November 2017, www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-41915396. Accessed 30 December 2018.
Hartley, Cathy, editor. “Inglis, Elsie Maud.” A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Psychology Press, 2003, p. 237.
Sandes, Flora. The Autobiography of a Woman Soldier: A Brief Record of Adventure with the Serbian Army, 1916-1919. H. F. & G. Witherby, 1927, p. 220.

Florence Nightingale: The Life and Medals of the Lady With the Lamp

Florence Nightingale became a common household name due to her part in the Crimean War. She turned nursing into a respectable profession for women.

Born on May 12, 1820 to wealthy English parents, Florence Nightingale was named after the Italian city in which she was born—Florence, Italy—just like her sister Parthenope who had been born in Naples and was given the Greek name for the ancient city. When they returned to England, the Nightingale family divided their time between their two homes: Lea Hurst in Derbyshire for the summer and Embley in Hampshire for the winter.

Who Was Florence Nightingale?

Although many Victorian women did not attend universities, pursue professional careers, or receive an education, Florence’s father William believed that his daughters should have the opportunity to get an education. Thus, he decided to teach his daughters a variety of subjects, including Italian, Latin, Greek, history, and mathematics. Florence, in particular, excelled academically, and she received superb preparation in mathematics from her father and her aunt. It is due in part to Florence’s education as a child that her two greatest life achievements—pioneering the field of nursing and reforming hospitals—were possible.

As Florence received her education from a young age, she also was very active in ministering to the ill and poor people in the village near her family’s estate. By the time she reached the age of 16, she believed that nursing was her calling and divine purpose. At first, her family did not take too kindly to this idea.

But Florence insisted. She turned down a marriage proposal and enrolled as a nursing student at the Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Germany in 1844.

Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

Florence Nightingale became a common household name due to her part in the Crimean War, which lasted from 1854 to 1856. In 1853, Florence had returned to London from Germany and began serving as an unpaid superintendent of an organization for gentlewomen suffering from illness and did so for a year. When the war broke out in 1854, Sidney Herbert, the Secretary of War, recruited Florence and 38 nurses to serve in Scutari during the Crimean War.

Florence and the nurses left London on October 21, 1854, crossing the English Channel, traveling through France to Marseilles, and sailing on to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) before arriving on November 3, 1854. Scutari was located near Constantinople, and the conditions were abysmal. The hospital was replete with vermin and lacked even basic equipment and provisions.

Moreover, the medical staff could not keep up with the substantial number of soldiers who were being shipped from across the Black Sea away from the fighting in Crimea. Even worse, more patients were dying from disease and infection than from battle wounds.

Florence Nightingale in Florence

Florence and her nurses got right to work. They turned the hospital into a significantly more healthy environment by washing the linens and clothes, improving the medical and sanitary arrangements, writing home on behalf of the soldiers, and introducing reading rooms. Within six months, the death rate of the patients fell from 40 percent to a mere 2 percent.

It was here at Scutari that Florence would acquire the nickname of “the Lady with the Lamp.” According to the Times, Florence would walk among the beds at night, checking on the wounded men with a light in her hand. This image—in a similar way to the flag-raising at Iwo Jima—captivated the public, and she became a celebrity with her own “cult following.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of many to admire Florence and immortalized her in his poem Santa Filomena:

Whene’er a noble deed is wrought

Whene’er is spoken a noble thought
             Our hearts, in glad surprise,
             To higher levels rise.
The tidal wave of deeper souls
Into our inmost being rolls,
             And lifts us unawares
             Out of all meaner cares.
Honor to those whose words or deeds
Thus help us in our daily needs,
             And by their overflow
             Raise us from what is low!
Thus thought I, as by night I read
Of all the great army of the dead,
             The trenches cold and damp,
             The starved and frozen camp, —
The wounded from the battle-plain
In dreary hospitals of pain,
             The cheerless corridors,
             The cold and stony floors.
Lo! in that house of misery
A lady with a lamp I see
             Pass through the glimmering of gloom
             And flit from room to room.
And slow, as in a dream of bliss,
The speechless sufferer turns to kiss
             Her shadow, as it falls
             Upon the darkening walls.
As if a door in heaven should be
Opened, and then closed suddenly,
             The vision came and went,
             The light shone and was spent.
On England’s annals, through the long
Hereafter of her speech and song,
             That light its rays shall cast
             From portals of the past.
A lady with a lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
             A noble type of good,
             Heroic womanhood.
Nor even shall be wanting here
The palm, the lily, and the spear,
             The symbols that of yore
             Saint Filomena bore.

After several months of working at the hospital in Scutari, Florence desired to witness the conditions of the army at Balaklava herself and left on May 2, 1855. In just a few days of arriving in the harbor, she was struck with “Crimean fever,” and it was feared that Florence would die. By the end of the month, however, Lord Raglan telegraphed London that she was out of danger. Nonetheless, her complete recovery was slow due in part to her demanding schedule as a nurse.

Florence’s experiences in the Crimean War completely changed her, and when she returned to England in August 1856, she began to campaign for the reform of nursing and the sanitation of hospitals. Within three years, the Nightingale Fund had reached over £40,000, which Florence used to establish the Nightingale Training School at St. Thomas’ Hospital on July 9, 1860. After nurses received their training, they were sent to hospitals across Britain to introduce Florence’s ideas.

Florence Nightingale's Books

Around this time, Florence also published two books, Notes on Hospital and Notes on Nursing, both published in 1859. These books, in addition to about 200 other books, pamphlets, and reports on hospital, sanitation, and other health-related issues, would lay the foundations for modern nursing.

Florence lived until the age of 90, dying on August 13, 1910. Even though she had the opportunity to buried in Westminster Abbey, her relatives declined the offer, and she was instead buried at St. Margaret Church in East Wellow near her parents’ home.

Florence’s work and achievement cannot be understated. She turned nursing into a respectable profession for women. Previously with the exception of nuns, most women who worked as nurses were working-class and often poorly trained and disciplined. Florence was determined to educate women in the field of nursing and turn it into a respectable occupation. Due in large part to her work in Crimea, Florence helped to transform the public image of nursing.

The Legacy of Florence Nightingale

Even today, Florence continues to be recognized for her pioneering work. New nurses take the Nightingale Pledge, and the Florence Nightingale Medal, issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross beginning in 1912, is the highest international award that a nurse can achieve.

Like the woman named in honor, the Florence Nightingale Medal is awarded to nurses or nursing aides who exhibit “exceptional courage and devotion to the wounded, sick or disabled or to civilian victims of a conflict or disaster” or “exemplary services or a creative and pioneering spirit in the areas of public health or nursing education.” In addition, International Nurses Day has been celebrated on her birthday (May 12) each year since 1965.

Less well known are Florence’s mathematical achievements. However, her reforms in hospital sanitation methods were due to her use of new techniques in statistical analysis. Florence developed a “polar-area diagram” to depict the needless deaths that had been caused by unsanitary conditions. In this way, Florence was innovative in collection, graphical display, interpretation, and tabulation of descriptive statistics.

Florence Nightingale Medal - WW1 British Mdals & Awards - Red Cross

The Florence Nightingale Medal

Florence even received an award from Queen Victoria herself: a jeweled brooch designed by Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, with the dedication: “To Miss Florence Nightingale, as a mark of esteem and gratitude for her devotion towards the Queen’s brave soldiers.”

Sources:

A Visit to the Athens War Museum in Greece

There’s a lot to see in Athens, and even though it’s been raining cats and dogs all day my brother and I are determined to visit the Athens War Museum. We’ve read the reviews: This behemoth of a structure seems to be loved and dreaded in almost equal measure.

Reviewing sites agree on calling it old fashioned, but we’re definitely a little old fashion, too. “I was bored out of my skull,” writes one lady, and rates it one out of five. We haven’t yet found a museum we haven’t enjoyed, so we are cautious. “This is an excellent place to spend 4 hours!” shares an enthusiastic guy from Brisbane, plastering the review with five shiny stars. So there we went, curious to see who was right, and anxious to learn more about non-classical Greek history (spoilers: Brisbane guy was right. The Athens War Museum is a gem and one of my new favorite places in the world.)

My Visit to the Athens War Museum

Four Incredible Levels

The Athens War Museum was inaugurated after the fall of the military regime in July 1975 as the museum of the Greek Armed Forces. Its exhibition areas are distributed over four levels and honor all those who fought for Greece and its freedom. It houses incredible historical treasures, opening with several British 25 pounder field guns that NATO nations used up to the end of the 20th century and a pair of horse-drawn cannon turrets from the late 19th hundred among many other fascinating pieces of hardware.

As you enter the museum, you are welcomed by a series of mannequins outfitted in the many military uniforms of past and present (and the friendliest reception staff in Europe). Climb the stairs, and begin to adventure through history: Each room covers a different time period, starting ancient warfare and continuing with the Greek war of freedom and World wars. The museum has guns and weapons from 1500 BC (Neolithic axes, bronze-age daggers) to the 20th century (guns, swords, bayonets).

We particularly enjoyed the plaster maps that explained the military tactics of the Persian invasions (incredibly enough, no documentary can help you visualize the Battle of Salamis, Marathon and Thermopylae so effectively. The maps helped us enormously when we then visited the actual places later in the week), and although a lot of the earlier objects are reproductions – albeit, you can see the real ones in other Greek museums!, they really do give you a great idea of the evolution of weapons and how they were used in conflict. As an anthropologist, I particularly appreciated being able to see what such weapons really looked like when they ‘brand new’ and imagine how they were utilized.

Visualizing War Thought Exhibits

The exhibits, in general, are in great condition – yes, they might look a little outdated compared to some of the new technologies other museums have incorporated, but the history remains the same! They all come with explanatory signs in both Greek and English (although the English ones tend to be shorter) and are carefully put together. One of the best things about this museum is that most exhibits are accompanied by related art, artifacts, scale models, video and photography, bringing the stories behind the objects to life. I’m a sucker for dioramas, and this museum has a ton of them. The whole thing is meticulously organized and presented.

The museum has a large number of weapons used during conflicts that involved Europe and Greece, including but not restricted to guns, knives, swords, and bayonets (they have flint axes, modern fighter jets and everything in between!). There’s also an excellent collection of arms on the bottom floor, most notably from the 1800’s, which I believe it’s probably one of the better ones around. And if this is not enough, venture into the underground toilets and be blown away by displays of international warfare equipment, such as tortoiseshell shields, spears and armor like you’ve never seen before.

Among the top floor highlights, you’ll find objects like ex prime minister George Papandreu‘s pocket pistol, a well as submachine guns with gold plated parts given by the Saudi Arabian government to Greece’s ministers. There are personal belongings, literature of the time pertaining to the events and in the WWII room there’s even a written command in Greek and German declaring the use of reprisal executions for acts of sabotage and resistance. And my favorite, as a medal collector: Awards accompanied by letters, photographs and even the uniforms of those that were recognized with them.

Greek Freedom and World Wars

Each time period is explained on a sign above the doorframes. The museum utilizes several rooms to tell the story of the Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire (Elliniki Epanastasi, or the Greek War of Independence) through art, objects and stories from those that were there. March 25, 1821 is what’s still celebrated as Greek Independence Day—when Germanos, archbishop of Pátrai, unfurled a Greek flag at the monastery of Ayia Lavra near Kalávrita.

The museum, of course, covers also WWI, the battles for Greece in WWII and the Greek Resistance in WWII. The showcases are powerful because they present real experiences, plus the social movements and practical equipment that accompanied them, like food supplies, flags and a whole lot of personal belongings. You might see a completely new side of war and of resistance.

Why you Should Visit the Athens War Museum

Although the related artifacts number the thousands, I personally found the photographs and personal objects the most compelling. On the whole, it all made for an unforgettable and very emotional experience. The museum galleries show ammunition, armors, uniforms, medals, flags, maps, photographs and all sort of documents related to military environment – but most of all, it shows sthe people behind them.

When you visit Greece, it’s not always easy to get a cohesive understanding of its complete history, from BC to today. Several aspects of Greek history escape the casual tourist, such as the matters of Greek nationalism and 20th century Greco-Turkish conflicts. The museum does a terrific job at displaying this country’s rich history in a way that is both logical (rooms arranged chronologically) and human.

I cannot but recommend a visit. Plus, it’s very accessible (easy to get there, has elevators and rooms with lots of space for people with reduced mobility), it has a great gift shop to ruin your baggage allowance and is very inexpensive: 3 euros.

And I shall reiterate, the staff was simply fantastic, as excited and honored to be there like us, humble history buffs.

The Poetry of The Great War

During the First World War, numerous poems, novels, diaries, letters, and memoirs were written by men and women, frequently observing the effects of the war on soldiers, spaces, and the homefront. This need to record the experiences of those involved in WW1 produced a boom in publication of war literature, for example in Britain, in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

WW1 Poets and Poems

Published poets wrote over two thousand poems about and during the war. Among the most popularly anthologized are lyrics by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, as well as poems by Ivor Gurney, Edward Thomas, Charles Sorley, David Jones and Isaac Rosenberg. However, only a small fraction of the total poems written during the Great War is still known today, with several poets that were popular with contemporary readers becoming obscure as time past.

We have compiled here some of the poems available through wikipedia and other websites. Below, you can also find a list of published work.

The Great War - WW1 Poetry

How to Die

by Siegfried Sassoon

Dark clouds are smouldering into red
While down the craters morning burns.
The dying soldier shifts his head
To watch the glory that returns:
He lifts his fingers toward the skies
Where holy brightness breaks in flame;
Radiance reflected in his eyes,
And on his lips a whispered name.

You’d think, to hear some people talk,
That lads go West with sobs and curses,
And sullen faces white as chalk,
Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses.
But they’ve been taught the way to do it
Like Christian soldiers; not with haste
And shuddering groans; but passing through it
With due regard for decent taste.

Kitchener

by George Orwell

NO STONE is set to mark his nation’s loss,
No stately tomb enshrines his noble breast;
Not e’en the tribute of a wooden cross
Can mark this hero’s rest.

He needs them not, his name untarnished stands,
Remindful of the mighty deeds he worked,
Footprints of one, upon time’s changeful sands,
Who ne’er his duty shirked.

Who follows in his steps no danger shuns,
Nor stoops to conquer by a shameful deed,
An honest and unselfish race he runs,
From fear and malice freed.

A Letter from the Front

by Henry Newbolt

I WAS out early to-day, spying about
From the top of a haystack—such a lovely morning—
And when I mounted again to canter back
I saw across a field in the broad sunlight
A young Gunner Subaltern, stalking along
With a rook-rifle held at the ready, and—would you believe it?—
A domestic cat, soberly marching beside him.

So I laughed, and felt quite well disposed to the youngster,
And shouted out “the top of the morning” to him,
And wished him “Good sport!”—and then I remembered
My rank, and his, and what I ought to be doing:
And I rode nearer, and added, “I can only suppose
You have not seen the Commander-in-Chief’s order
Forbidding English officers to annoy their Allies
By hunting and shooting.”
⁠⁠But he stood and saluted
And said earnestly, “I beg your pardon, Sir,
I was only going out to shoot a sparrow
To feed my cat with.”
⁠⁠So there was the whole picture,
The lovely early morning, the occasional shell
Screeching and scattering past us, the empty landscape,—
Empty, except for the young Gunner saluting,
And the cat, anxiously watching his every movement.

Thomas of the Light Heart

by Owen Seaman

FACING the guns, he jokes as well
⁠As any judge upon the Bench;
Between the crash of shell and shell
⁠His laughter rings along the trench;
He seems immensely tickled by a
Projectile which he calls a “Black Maria.”

He whistles down the day-long road,
⁠And, when the chilly shadows fall
And heavier hangs the weary load,
⁠Is he down-hearted? Not at all.
‘Tis then he takes a light and airy
View of the tedious route to Tipperary.

His songs are not exactly hymns;
⁠He never learned them in the choir;
And yet they brace his dragging limbs
⁠Although they miss the sacred fire;
Although his choice and cherished gems
Do not include “The Watch upon the Thames.”

He takes to fighting as a game;
⁠He does no talking, through his hat,
Of holy missions; all the same
⁠He has his faith—be sure of that;
He’ll not disgrace his sporting breed,
Nor play what isn’t cricket. There’s his creed.

World War I Poetry Available Online

Wikipedia has an extensive list of poems written about World War I by servicemembers or civilians from various countries. At the moment of writing this article, 234 poems had been added to the list.

See all WW1 poems on Wikipedia >

Operation Barbarossa and Stalin

The beginning of a disaster

The end of the 163rd Division

One battle leads to another…

The Winter War 1939-1940 Medal and the Suomussalmi Battle Clasp

Conclusion

Who Was Erwin Rommel?

Erwin Rommel and the Panzer Division

Erwin Rommel and the 944 July Plot

Some of Erwin Rommel’s Medals

See all German Medals

Sources

The Frontiers of France

How was the Maginot Line designed?

This looked great but as General Patton said…

“Peace for our time…”

The Phony War

“Fall Gleb”

“Fall Rot,” or the End of the Battle of France

What about the Alps Front?

Conclusion

Joseph Joffre's Early Years

August 1914. France was on the edge of the cliff.

“The Marne Miracle”

Bloodbath after Bloodbath…

His legacy

Who Was Odette Sansom?

Odette Sansom Turns Into Lise

Odette Sansom and Peter Churchill Are Captured

Odette Sansom’s Medals:

The Reunion of Odette and Peter

Sources

What is the Arromanches Museum about?

Outside the museum…

Women and Military Medals During WW1

Dr. Elsie Inglis

Bessie Dora Bowhill

Dr. Isabel Galloway Hutton

Medals

Captain Flora Sandes

Sources

Who Was Florence Nightingale?

Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

Florence Nightingale in Florence

Florence Nightingale's Books

The Legacy of Florence Nightingale

My Visit to the Athens War Museum

Four Incredible Levels

Visualizing War Thought Exhibits

Greek Freedom and World Wars

Why you Should Visit the Athens War Museum

WW1 Poets and Poems

The Great War - WW1 Poetry

World War I Poetry Available Online

Medals by Country

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