ROBB CENTRE NEWS GEORGE S. ROBB CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF THE GREAT WAR AT PARK UNIVERSITY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
ARMISTICE DAY BY ASHLYN WEBER Members of the American Expeditionary Forces awoke on 11 November 1918, awaiting their orders along the FrenchBelgian-German lines of the Western Front, unaware that Allied and German staff had spent the sunrise writing the final armistice arrangement in a train car outside of the Compiègne Forest. The initial draft, dated 7 November, demanded nearly 35 separate conditions from the Allies-including the complete evacuation of German-controlled territories (many that had been held for nearly 50 years), the stripping of heavy artillery and armaments and the forming of blockades to restrict the transport of supplies into Germany. The German command staff had
casualties within the last six-hour period, ending with the death of American Henry N. Gunther, the War’s final victim, at 1059 a.m. Confusion, lack of communication and a general heightened awareness of how impactful the final hours of war would be to the history books, pre-planned attacks remained on schedule, pushes to gain ground continued to act as the main objective and commanding officers were left to their own devices. In the following years, statements from personnel of nearly a dozen Army and Marine Corps divisions made statements expressing disappointment in the lack of clarity from the Supreme Allied Commanders resulting in residual bitterness for years to come.
precious hours to concede, nevertheless, signing the armistice at 0500 hours French-time, 11 November, with peace to return at 1100 hours. An element of confusion remained as to how the Armies would behave in the meantime; some commanding officers believed any losses within the morning would be a waste; others, that the German army would be shown no mercy until the very end. Skirmishes took place all
NOVEMBER CALENDAR 10th: 245th Birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps 20th: Battle of Cambrai (20 November-4 December 1917)
along the Western Front, resulting in nearly 3,000 Allied NOVEMBER 2020, VOLUME 3
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