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Books about the 1st infantry division during WW1


DirkvandenBol
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DirkvandenBol

Hello all,

 

Are there any good books about the part of the 1st Infantry Division during the WW1? I only found the book 'Days of perfect hell' of Peter L. Belmonte and it goes about the 26st Infantry regiment.

 

 

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I can recommend the following;

'First over There' by Matthew Davenport, a good overview of the 1st Div in WWI

'The Remains of Company D' and 'Five Lieutenants' both by James Carl Nelson, these were both outstanding in showing a slice of life in the Great War.

Hope this helps,

Mark

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DirkvandenBol

Thank you Mark. They're aviable in the Netherlands, so this is of great help.

I can recommend the following;

'First over There' by Matthew Davenport, a good overview of the 1st Div in WWI

'The Remains of Company D' and 'Five Lieutenants' both by James Carl Nelson, these were both outstanding in showing a slice of life in the Great War.

Hope this helps,

Mark

 

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"The Fierce Lambs" is a vintage book...16th Infantry related...

"Cantigny"....post-war 18th Infantry lieutenant memoir....hard to find, but a great read.

"Shoot and be Damned".....16th Infantry memoir...vet was present during the first big German trench raid on the 16th Infantry, and was taken prisoner, if I remember correctly.

 

"This Side of Hell"....under-appreciated book about Dan Edwards...1st Div. vet who received the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross. Excellent read....not too hard to find.

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DirkvandenBol

Thank you for sharing the titles of the books. especially the books about the 16th are interessting.

"The Fierce Lambs" is a vintage book...16th Infantry related...

"Cantigny"....post-war 18th Infantry lieutenant memoir....hard to find, but a great read.

"Shoot and be Damned".....16th Infantry memoir...vet was present during the first big German trench raid on the 16th Infantry, and was taken prisoner, if I remember correctly.

 

"This Side of Hell"....under-appreciated book about Dan Edwards...1st Div. vet who received the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross. Excellent read....not too hard to find.

 

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Dirk,

Thanks for mentioning my book!

An older memoir is:

Abels, Charles H. The Last of the Fighting Four. New York: Vantage Press, 1968.

Charles Abels served in the 18th Infantry Regiment. It's a brief but good book about his service.

If you're interested in contemporary unit histories, you can find all four infantry regiments and some artillery regiments represented, as well as an excellent 1st Division history, circa 1920.

Pete

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DirkvandenBol

Dirk,

Thanks for mentioning my book!

An older memoir is:

Abels, Charles H. The Last of the Fighting Four. New York: Vantage Press, 1968.

Charles Abels served in the 18th Infantry Regiment. It's a brief but good book about his service.

If you're interested in contemporary unit histories, you can find all four infantry regiments and some artillery regiments represented, as well as an excellent 1st Division history, circa 1920.

Pete

 

 

Thank you Pete, I bought your book last weekend. Now waiting till it arives. Yes I'm interested in the unit history, because I have a main interest in the 1st Infantry Division during WW2, but last week I went to the battlefield area around Romagne-sous-montfaucon and to the American cemetry for one day. There I saw that a lot of men from the 1st Infantry Division are burried there. During the christmas holiday I'm planning to go back and visit it for a couple of more days.

 

That's the reason why I want to know a bit more about their part during WW1.

 

Dirk

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Hello Dirk

 

If you are going to the Argonne, please pay a visit to Saint Juvin-Fleville which is the main battlefield area of the First Division in October 1918.

You will find a 1st Div monument on the crossroad Saint Juvin -Sommerance road, direction TO FLEVILLE.

In the village of Fleville you also have the 26st Infantry monument.

Not far from this place you will find the village of EXERMONT where you may visit the inside of the church which remain the same as it was in 1918.

You have two Dutch guys in the area who each keep a museum related to the Argonne Battle.

The first one is in ROMAGNE sous MONTFAUCON, close to the ABMC cemetery, while the other guy is in NANTILLOIS ( Road from Romagne to Cunel).

Other Battlefields of the First are CANTIGNY and MISSY AU BOIS:SOISSONS, and NONSARD in the Saint Mihiel région.

Groetjes from Belgium

 

Teufelhund

EXERMONT

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FLEVILLE SAINT JUVIN MONUMENT

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Nice book in French

Lots of never seen photos and document related to the CANTIGNY Raid

As cheap as 18€

ISBN 9 782846 731195

Available on AMAZON

28lapao.jpg

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DirkvandenBol

Teufelhund, thank you for sharing the information. I will take it into my schedule. I visited the museum at Romagne-sous-Montfoucon once, that has been 10 years back. The owner is a passionate guy, we did a small tour in the surrounding woods with him and he knows al lot about the area. I definitely want to visit his museum, the other museum I did not know, so can visit that as well.

 

Groeten uit Son en Breugel.

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Hello Dirk

 

 

Here is the Webbsite of your "Landgenoot" in Nantillois next to the Montfaucon US monument.

Maarten & Wife are managing a B&B and a nice private WW1 Museum.

You can stay there for a nominal fee and travel around in the vicinity, not far from the Lost Battalion and other very known MOH sites.

http://www.14-18nantillois.com/museum.php?lang=en

Best wishes from

Waterloo-Belgium

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DirkvandenBol

Thank you for the site of the B&B. This can be a option for our stay.

Hello Dirk

 

 

Here is the Webbsite of your "Landgenoot" in Nantillois next to the Montfaucon US monument.

Maarten & Wife are managing a B&B and a nice private WW1 Museum.

You can stay there for a nominal fee and travel around in the vicinity, not far from the Lost Battalion and other very known MOH sites.

http://www.14-18nantillois.com/museum.php?lang=en

Best wishes from

Waterloo-Belgium

 

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Dirk

I'm glad you ordered my book, I do hope you'll let me know how you like it. Here are the 1st Division infantry regiment unit histories:

 

The Story of the Sixteenth Infantry in France. By the Regimental Chaplain. Frankfurt, Germany: Martin Flock, 1919.

 

Chastaine, Captain Ben H. History of the 18th U.S. Infantry, First Division, 1812-1919. New York: The Hymans Publishing Company, n.d.

 

The Twenty-Sixth Infantry in France, by the Regimental Adjutant. Martin Flock and Co, Frankfurt, Germany, 1919.

 

The Story of the Twenty-Eighth Infantry in the Great War. N.p., n.d., Germany, 1919.

 

And the First Division history:

The Society of the First Division. History of the First Division During the World War, 1917-1919. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1922.

 

The Division history comes with a nice slip-case box of maps that are excellent, but they are probably hard to come by.

I hope this helps,

Pete Belmonte

 

 

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DirkvandenBol

Pete,

 

I'll definitely let you know how I liked the book. Thank you for sharing the titles of the books. Hopefully I can order them in the Netherlands.

 

Dirk van den Bol

Dirk

I'm glad you ordered my book, I do hope you'll let me know how you like it. Here are the 1st Division infantry regiment unit histories:

 

The Story of the Sixteenth Infantry in France. By the Regimental Chaplain. Frankfurt, Germany: Martin Flock, 1919.

 

Chastaine, Captain Ben H. History of the 18th U.S. Infantry, First Division, 1812-1919. New York: The Hymans Publishing Company, n.d.

 

The Twenty-Sixth Infantry in France, by the Regimental Adjutant. Martin Flock and Co, Frankfurt, Germany, 1919.

 

The Story of the Twenty-Eighth Infantry in the Great War. N.p., n.d., Germany, 1919.

 

And the First Division history:

The Society of the First Division. History of the First Division During the World War, 1917-1919. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1922.

 

The Division history comes with a nice slip-case box of maps that are excellent, but they are probably hard to come by.

I hope this helps,

Pete Belmonte

 

 

 

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DirkvandenBol

Thank you Pete for sharing the link. The book "The Society of the First Division, Historry of the First Division During the World War' is easily to order in the Netherlands. The other books are a bit more difficult. My buddy Max Poorthuis, found also on the internet the book 'Story of the Sixteenth Infantry in France' online.

 

In weekend of 18 December my brother and a couple of friends are going to make a three day visit to the Meuse-Argonne area.

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Dirk,

I think the histories of the 7th Field Artillery Regiment and the 1st Engineer Regiment (both were in the 1st Division) are also available on-line. Try a search through Hathitrust.org -- that will get you going in the right direction.

When you visit the Meuse-Argonne area next month, I hope you will consider taking some photographs of the 1st Division area, and perhaps posting them!

Pete

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DirkvandenBol

Pete,

 

I always make some pictures of the area that I visit, so that would not be a problem. Thank you, I'll take a look at the Hathitrust internetsite.

 

Dirk

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