Posts Tagged World War I

Soldier demonstrates his scar and pierced helmet, during World War I. This photograph would have made ideal propaganda material as its accompanying caption demonstrates. The soldier in the middle of the scene is happy and triumphant. Despite the bandaging on his head, he is still carrying all his equipment and looks ready for action. The story, helmet and resulting scar would probably have provided first rate barrack entertainment! [Original title reads: 'Saved by shrapnell [sic] helmet. This soldier, on the way to hospital after being bandaged at Field Dressing Station, shows the helmet which saved his life.’]

(National Library of Scotland)

Anyone watching the news, browsing the internet or is a fan of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster, Titanic, knows that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. While the ill-fated voyage is certainly getting a great deal of media attention and new information seems to find its way to the top (ugh…no pun intended), I decided to take a different route. No, I’m not going to see Titanic 3-D, because let’s be honest it will always end the same, except this time I would get the added bonus of a slight headache due to the 3D glasses. Nor am I going to bid on the estimated 5,500 recovered artifacts from the Titanic’s watery grave because it seems a bit creepy and sacrilegious. Instead, during the media/information overload I came across an iconic Titanic photo and it was not the subject of the ship that intrigued me, but rather the story of the newsboy in the picture.

The Boy in the Picture

Newsboy Ned Parfett sells his papers in front of the White Star Line’s London offices, April 16, 1912.

Every now and then you come across a photo and you began to think about the people in it and their stories (or it could just be me). This was the case when I stumbled upon the photograph of newsboy Ned Parfett. The particular photo has been listed among the iconic photographs about the Titanic. The National Archives (UK) described it as: “One of the most poignant images of the Titanic disaster is of a young newsboy outside the White Star Line offices in London, holding an Evening News poster announcing ‘Titanic Disaster Great Loss of Life’.”

As I did a little more research into the photograph, I found the story of Ned Parfett’s short life. About six and a half years after this photograph was taken, Ned was killed in World War I. At the time of his death he was only 22 years of age. Ned, along with his three other brothers, joined the British forces during The Great War. In 1916, he enlisted into the Royal Artillery where he served as a dispatch rider. Later, he would be assigned to reconnaissance duties. Though he was young, his youth did not factor in on his sense of duty. Because of his gallant conduct and bravery in a series of missions, he was awarded the Military Medal.

On October 29, 1918, while Ned was collecting some clothes before going on leave, the Germans begun a bombardment. A shell landed on the quartermaster’s stores, killing Ned. Tragically, it was just days before the Armistice and the end of the war. His other three brothers served in other disastrous and bloody battles against the German army, one brother was wounded and gassed at the third battle of Ypres. But Ned was the only one who did not make it home.

An officer, who recommended Ned for special recognition, wrote to one of his brothers after Ned’s death:

On many occasions he accompanied me during severe shelling and I always placed the greatest confidence in him.

[Zim's Note: If you have been reading many of my war posts and the battle of Ypres sounds familiar, you may be thinking about a previous post - Henry Tandey's History Changing Decision. Quite a while ago I also did a post on the Cancelled Passengers of the RMS Titanic.]

Information – National Archives (UK)
Photograph – Smithsonian Institute

Bath in a ruined wood, Western Front, during World War I. This image of a British soldier curled up in the remains of a cast-iron bath in the middle of a devastated wood is typical of a range of ‘joke’ photographs taken by the war photographers. It is not clear if these were intended as artistic perceptions by the photographer, or if they were simply a record of a lighter side of war. The juxtaposition of banal and jokey images in a scene of war has been continued by war artists in more recent conflicts. A notable example would be John Keane’s Gulf War painting, ‘ Mickey Mouse at the Front’, painted in 1991.

John Keane’s “Mickey Mouse at the Front,” 1991

“A view along the beach at Kuwait City with blocks of hotels and beach defences lining the seafront in the background. In the foreground there is a shopping trolley filled with anti-tank rockets, the Kuwaiti flag, dead and damaged palm trees, and a Mickey Mouse model from a fairground ride. The beach is also covered in excrement.”

(National Library of Scotland; Imperial War Museums)

(via: the-seed-of-europe.tumblr; original source)

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, was the first chief executive to hold White House press conferences on a regular basis.

Ernie Couch, comp. Presidential Trivia. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996, 68.
Photo

Hannah Höch's "Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany," 1919-1920: Photomontage and collage with watercolor.

Before Dada was there, there was Dada.

Hans (Jean) Arp, "Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance)," 1916-1917: Collage made from torn-and-pasted paper on colored paper.

The early 20^th Century brought on many changes, the advent of machine-dominated workforces, world wars and the sense of separation permeated popular literature and culture. Art movements documented these changes and new movements arose that symbolized a changing world. One particular movement that formed as a reaction to the political and war-torn environment was a movement called Dada.  

The creation of Dada is largely contributed to Hugo Ball, a poet and theorist. In February 1916, he opened Cabaret Voltaire, a cabaret bar, in Zürich. Cabaret Voltaire promoted artistic expression and Zürich soon became a hot spot for artists fleeing their war-ridden countries for neutral Switzerland. Artist Hans Arp stated that Zürich Dadaists soon equated pre-war art with high-class egoism.

Revolted by the butchery of the 1914 World War, we in Zürich devoted ourselves to the arts. While the guns rumbled in the distance, we sang, painted, made collages and wrote poems with all our might. We were seeking an art based on fundamentals, to cure the madness of the age, and a new order of things that would restore the balance between heaven and hell.

The war perpetuated the idea of the “professionalization” of art and its merits based solely on the result and not the process or idea. Dada artists began to stress the importance of artistic process and of the idea’s originality. By rejecting society and society’s ideas of art, Dadaists found new freedom in displaying their talents.

Marcel Duchamp's "L.H.O.O.Q.," 1919: Readymade: pencil markings on a "Mona Lisa" reproduction print.

Dada popped up in the United States almost simultaneously with the Zurich’s movement. It started in New York City by two artists Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. Both were known within the French Cubist circles before the war. Duchamp, particularly, believed that ideas should replace the actual skill when looking and dissecting art, it was very much the idea of “art-for-art’s sake.”

By the early 1920s, the war was fading and new movements beginning to emerge, Dadaists and the movement ended. Many of the artists slowly dissolved into the Surrealist movement. The impact of Dada on art was long lasting, especially though the techniques that Dada popularized such as collages, photomontages and readymades. Some of the artists associated with the Dada movement include the following: Max Ernst, George Grosz, Marcel Janco, Hans Arp, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Tristan Tzara and Hannah Höch.

What’s in a name?
Reportedly, there were many reasons for the selection of the name “Dada,” but many like it because the word seems open-ended. It also is similar to a child’s first sound therefore symbolic of a new beginning.
             – In Rumanian, it means “yes yes.”
             – Dada means a “sign of foolish naiveté” in German.
             – In French, it is the word for rocking horse.

Further Reading
Elger, Dietmar. Dadaism. Los Angeles: Taschen, 2004.
Hopkins, David. Dada and Surrealism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. website.
DADA Companion website.

Hannah Höch’s collage found online here.
Hans Arp’s photomontage and collage found online here.
Marcel Duchamp’s readymade found online here.

Private Henry Tandey

During World War I, Henry Tandey’s actions during the Battle of Marcoing changed the course of  history. Tandey, a Private in the British Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, won the Victoria Cross for his bravery on the French battlefield. He not only captured a machine-gun nest but also led a bitter hand-to-hand combat battle between Allied and German forces.

Upon learning the wounded man’s identity years later, Tandey remarked, “If only I had known what he would turn out to be. When I saw all the people, women and children, he had killed and wounded I was sorry to God I let him go.”

Henry Tandey's heroism depicted in a painting by Italian artist Fortunio Matania.

It was reported that Hitler highly regarded Tandey and his decision to spare his life. So much so that Hitler acquired a large photograph of a painting of Tandey, by that time a war hero, carrying a wounded soldier. He hung it up at Berghof, his mountaintop residence located in Berchtesgaden.

Of course, like most fascinating stories, there are still some who doubt this event either entirely or with certain details. Some have speculated that this event happened earlier at the Battle of Ypres in October 1914 and not at the Battle of Marcoing in September 1918. The painting of Tandey by Fortunio Matania is based on his bravery during Ypres. The main argument is that since Hitler also fought at Ypres, the event occurred there. One thing not in doubt is that Hitler did indeed request and receive a photograph of the painting of Tandey and he did, in fact, hang it at Berghof. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler’s Berghof residence in 1938. He asked about the painting and Hitler reportedly said, “That man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again. . . .”

Steve Crawford, Strange but True Military Facts, New York: Metro Books, 2010, 46-47.
Henry Tandey’s photo found here; Painting of Tandey by Fortunio Mantania found here.

The modern Olympic Games have only been cancelled three times. They were cancelled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World War I and World War II.

Serial #1 Bike

William Harley and Arthur Davidson, joined later by Arthur’s brothers Walter and William, formed Harley-Davidson Motor Company in 1903.

Elvis Presley on a Harley-Davidson

While Harley-Davidson motorcycles are far from being the first motorcycle produced, it has become the largest, continuously produced American motorcycle company. Howard Roper, in 1867, created a motorcycle powered by coal with a steam engine. Years later, in 1885, Gottlieb Daimler, assembled the first gas-powered motorcycle when he attached the engine to a wooden bike.

Harley-Davidson’s early competitors were other new companies. These include Pierce, Merkel, Excelsior, Thor, Schickel and its main competitor, Indian. Only Indian lasted through the Great Depression, but it declined after World War II and eventually went bankrupt and stopped production in 1953.

The “Bar & Shield” logo of Harley-Davidson was first used in 1910. Besides minor changes, the logo has stayed relatively the same.

"Bar & Shield" Logo

In 1914, Harley-Davidson produced the first sidecar for their motorcycles.

Nearly 20,000 motorcycles were manufactured for the United States government during World War I. Corporal Roy Holtz was the first American to enter Germany after the Armistice signing and he rode in on a Harley-Davidson.

During World War II, the majority of Harley-Davidson motorcycles went to help the war effort and many were shipped overseas to US allies in Britain and France.

In 2004, the William Harley, Arthur Davidson, Walter Davidson and William Davidson were inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame. The United States Department of Labor states the following about the men:

Through periods of both war and economic depression, Harley-Davidson has endured because its founders both used and believed in its products and relied on the dedication of its employees to produce quality motorcycles. Today, with over 9000 employees worldwide, Harley-Davidson builds well over 300,000 of the most well-known and popular motorcycles in the world.

Further Reading

Harley-Davidson Website (location of photos used)

Library of Congress

US Department of Labor

Yosemite Valley

The Yosemite Valley got its name in 1851 by an expedition battalion that came upon the valley while trying to dispose of the American Indian tribes that settled there. The battalion thought that “Yosemite” was the name the tribes had give the area, but they were mistaken. The tribes called Yosemite Valley, “Ahwahnee” which means, “the place of the gaping mouth” and the tribe’s name was Ahwahneechees. According to the tribal language, “Yosemite” was the word used to describe threatening people and it translates into “among them are killers.”

- Yosemite National Park was the third national park to be signed into law on October 1, 1890.

Clare Marie Hodges, the first female ranger

- In 1918, Clare Marie Hodge became the first woman ranger in Yosemite. World War I had created job shortages all around the country with few men to fill them, so they turned to women. According to the Yosemite website, “[Clare] applied to the superintendent, Washington B. Lewis, and said, ‘Probably you’ll laugh at me, but I want to be a ranger.’ He responded, ‘I beat you to it, young lady. It’s been on my mind for some time to put a woman on one of these patrols.’ Her job consisted of taking the gate receipts from Tuolumne Meadows to park headquarters, an overnight ride on horseback.”

- Yosemite first hit 1 million visitors annually in 1954 and 2 million in 1967. Now the annual visitors average between 3.5 and 4 million.

Further Reading

Yosemite website

Duncan, Dayton. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

[Photos via Yosemite Valley and Clare Marie Hodges]