One Hundred Years Ago

[Rix Gins]

Haha I wonder if Mabel was pinching some clothes to wear.

Re the stolen corset, their use by men was not unknown in the decades prior to this period -- I remember seeing a picture of a young Winston Churchill in a hussar uniform that suggested such devices might be appreciated.

Haha, that could have been what Mabel was after.  Did you notice that she was mentioned in the previous days news? Last seen wearing the one piece bathing suit...they kind of intimated that she might have been abducted. 

I liked the two cartoons from The Evening Star.  The Republican elephant listening to the Democrats proclaiming that no taxes are to be raised or placed on anything.  The second cartoon was just flat out clever. 

[K_Dubb]

Josef Huber was killed at one of the locations listed above (Maurepas) but the town is not listed on his memorial card.  The German War Graves Office will send out information on Germans who died during WWI.  The office can be emailed a form that you fill out and if there is anything they have on record, they will let you know about it.  You got to be kind of careful though because all of the 'conversing' is in German.  For Josef, they had the location of his death plus info on where he was buried.  In this case, he was buried at a cemetery in Vermandovillers, France.  Block number 2, grave number 62-74...a group grave perhaps?

Josef was from the town of Hinterhankl and was a member of 11 Company, 12 Bavarian Reserve infantry Regiment.  He was killed at the age of 30 by a mortar on August 16, 1916.  It was probably a French mortar because history tells us that the French were raiding trench works at Maurepas on this day, one hundred years ago. 

Below is a sample clipping of a reply from the German Graves office.

Oh that's interesting, Rix!  I sure wonder what ersatz-reservist meant.  I only know the term to mean "fake, or substitute", as in ersatz coffee made from burnt toast.

The Canadian government will send you copies of WWI military records, and I've always wanted to get my great-grandfather's.  But when I last checked (several years ago) you had to give them your credit card info to pay a graduate student to pull the file and copy, with no estimate or upper limit on the charges.  Some of the files are hundreds of pages, and I was a little squeamish.  If anyone has any experience with the process recently, I'd be grateful for some guidance.

[K_Dubb]

Haha, that could have been what Mabel was after.  Did you notice that she was mentioned in the previous days news? Last seen wearing the one piece bathing suit...they kind of intimated that she might have been abducted. 

I liked the two cartoons from The Evening Star.  The Republican elephant listening to the Democrats proclaiming that no taxes are to be raised or placed on anything.  The second cartoon was just flat out clever.

Yeah, that reminded me of the lady in the locker.  Some intrigue, for sure.

Those cartoons are great -- like John Bull fishing for the Deutschland, too.

[Rix Gins]

Oh that's interesting, Rix!  I sure wonder what ersatz-reservist meant.  I only know the term to mean "fake, or substitute", as in ersatz coffee made from burnt toast.

The Canadian government will send you copies of WWI military records, and I've always wanted to get my great-grandfather's.  But when I last checked (several years ago) you had to give them your credit card info to pay a graduate student to pull the file and copy, with no estimate or upper limit on the charges.  Some of the files are hundreds of pages, and I was a little squeamish.  If anyone has any experience with the process recently, I'd be grateful for some guidance.

Re, ersatz.  Merriam Webster has a good definition: 

ersatz reserve
noun  Definition of ersatz reserve:  a reserve of the German army (as in World War II) drawn upon when necessary to fill out regular units and made up of men not qualified for the regular army or the landwehr

Actually Wikipedia had a good description but I can't find it anymore.  Basically it was made up of men who were considered too old (30 and up) to be in the regular service.  I remember Wikipedia stating that the men were used predominantly to secure and guard towns that had been taken over by the regular troops.  Of course, the war action often returned to these so called 'secure' towns, and many ersatz reservists found themselves in the thick of the fighting.   

[K_Dubb]

Re, ersatz.  Merriam Webster has a good definition: 
Actually Wikipedia had a good description but I can't find it anymore.  Basically it was made up of men who were considered too old (30 and up) to be in the regular service.  I remember Wikipedia stating that the men were used predominantly to secure and guard towns that had been taken over by the regular troops.  Of course, the war action often returned to these so called 'secure' towns, and many ersatz reservists found themselves in the thick of the fighting.

Awesome, Rix, thanks!

[Rix Gins]

Awesome, Rix, thanks!

You are most welcome, K.

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 17, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 17, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Devils Lake World, August 17, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Manchester Journal, August 17, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, August 18, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 18, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, August 18, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, August 19, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 19, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Bismarck Daily Tribune, August 19, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Evening Star, August 19, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Karl Hinterleitner was a member of the Pioneer Corp. k.u.k. (third battalion) 10th Company, 14th Infantry Regiment.  Not much info on this soldier, other than his military status and the fact that he was killed on the Gorzer front on August 19, 1916.  (I couldn't locate any information on the Gorzer front.)  He was 33 years old.

An actual photograph of Karl has been pasted to this card.  Nice hat.  Austrian or is it a part of the 'Pioneer' uniform? 

[K_Dubb]

Karl Hinterleitner was a member of the Pioneer Corp. k.u.k. (third battalion) 10th Company, 14thInfantry Regiment.  Not much info on this soldier, other than his military status and the fact that he was killed on the Gorzer front on August 19, 1916.  (I couldn't locate any information on the Gorzer front.)  He was 33 years old.

An actual photograph of Karl has been pasted to this card.  Nice hat.  Austrian or is it a part of the 'Pioneer' uniform?

Nice hat!  Definitely Austrian.  "Kaiserlich und königlich" shows up everywhere in the old empire.

Here's a cool one with an edelweiss for their mountain troops:

[Rix Gins]

Nice hat!  Definitely Austrian.  "Kaiserlich und königlich" shows up everywhere in the old empire.

Here's a cool one with an edelweiss for their mountain troops:

Wow! Now that's something else.  Thanks, K.

[Rix Gins]

The Sunday Star, August 20, 1916.

[K_Dubb]

The Sunday Star, August 20, 1916.

I wonder what a Squash Center was.  The drink, maybe, rather than the sport, given their age?  Cool picture -- I'd forgotten William Jennings Bryan was still around now.

[Rix Gins]

It is interesting.  I noticed two pipe smokers there, good for them.  I'm surprised that none of them mentioned Teddy R. who briefly flirted with running but then (perhaps wisely) dropped the idea.  The old gents mentioned some other names that I don't recognize.  (Recognized 'Hank' Ford, tho. haha) 

[K_Dubb]

It is interesting.  I noticed two pipe smokers there, good for them.  I'm surprised that none of them mentioned Teddy R. who briefly flirted with running but then (perhaps wisely) dropped the idea.  The old gents mentioned some other names that I don't recognize.  (Recognized 'Hank' Ford, tho. haha)

Good point, where is TR?  The fellows with pipes are the first thing I noticed, too, as I sit here smoking on a sultry afternoon.  It will be a few years before I can smoke it with such equanimity hahaha.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/18/shipwreck-of-hms-falmouth-brought-back-to-life-on-100th-annivers/

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, August 21, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Chicago Day Book, August 21, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Evening Star, August 21, 1916.

[K_Dubb]

The Chicago Day Book, August 21, 1916.

Well there is my battered woman, and in unremarkable circumstances, too.  I guess they do make the paper.  I'm still struck by how many of these stories are about women throwing crockery.

I'd never considered the grenade as a defensive weapon to be hurled at an approaching enemy above ground, but I guess when they're coming you give them everything you've got.

[Rix Gins]

Well there is my battered woman, and in unremarkable circumstances, too.  I guess they do make the paper.  I'm still struck by how many of these stories are about women throwing crockery.

I'd never considered the grenade as a defensive weapon to be hurled at an approaching enemy above ground, but I guess when they're coming you give them everything you've got.

Yes, I noticed Mrs B's plight too.  Kind of horrifying to think but the paper didn't state if the husband was hauled off to jail.  Kind of like she had it coming?  The police were mentioned in the piece though, so here's hoping.

That is a very long hand grenade.  Not sure I've seen that type before.  I do know that the Germans had a grenade that was globular in shape with the required handle for throwing.  The British, in a somewhat macabre manner, labeled them as being 'Toffee Apples'.