How do I donate this letter by a medical officer about the German Spring Offensive bombing March 21, 2018

[LeCauroy]

Hi folks,

       I am new to the forum. I have already received some generous help from some of you here about another topic. (Thank you, Keith, Frogsmile, Michel, Guepe, Christina)

     Below is a typed transcription of a letter my American grandfather Lt. Arthur Lawrence Washburn MD from New York City wrote to his father Jacob Washburn about his experiences on March 21, 1918, the morning of the German Spring Offensive  bombing while serving at the RAMC 45th Casualty Clearing Station n Achiet-le-Grand.

     He was an American doctor at the Edinburgh City Hospital when America entered the war. He signed up in England and was sent to the 178th Brigade Notts and Derby Sherwood Foresters with the 59th Division at Le Cauroy in Dec. 1917. While serving with the RAMC 2/3 North Midland Field Ambulance there, he was sent to the 45th Casualty Clearing Station in Achiet-le-Grand for the month of March 1918. 

   There is nothing personal of any significance in the letter. As it is a hundred years after the events, it should now be part of the historical record. I would like to know how my family could donate this letter (the original perhaps to a war museum, the transcription to some web sites). The letter contains a vivid description of an officer's first-hand experience while his medical unit was destroyed by the bombing on the first day of the German Spring Offensive  Therefore it should have some historical and educational value and should be shared with the public. 

      He wrote the letter from Coblenz after the Armistice on Dec. 21, 1918 while serving in Evacuation Hospital No 2. 

       I have attached a transcription of the letter below and have attached pdfs of the transcription and the original as well as the unit diary for the 45th Casualty Clearing station for the month of March 2018. I have also attached the page from the unit diary for March 21, 1918. (Because the attachment size is limited for one post, I have added the pdfs to the next post.)

               I also have the photo from the Daily Graphic he refers to in the letter of him talking with King George about the bombing a week later, as well as the photo him and his staff standing in front of the Third Army Mobile Laboratory that he commanded. I can share these as well. 

               In addition, I have a lot of information on his service during the war, but there are gaps in the record, especially for when he joined the AEF in August 1918. Perhaps some of you can help me research this. 

       Please let me know if you have any information on how one could donate and share this letter. 

       Thanks,

         

[LeCauroy]

 

The files are too heavy for one post, so I will have to do attach them in segments. Here is the photo of him talking with King George about the bombing at Achiet-le-Grand a week later as well as the cover of the Daily Graphic that he refers to in the letter.

 

Typed transcription Lt Arthur L. Washburn letter to father Jacob Washburn of Dec 21, 1918 Coblenz copy.pdf

[LeCauroy]

Here is the original handwritten letter

the original letter from Arthur L. Washburn to his Father Jacob Washburn WW1 copy 2.pdf

Here is the unit diary for the month of March 1918 for the 45th Casualty Clearing Station which was stationed at Achiet-le Grand on the day of the bombing

 

CCS #45 Unit Diary (Month of March, 1918) 45th Casualty Clearing Station copy.pdf

[LeCauroy]

This is the photo he refers to in the letter of him with the staff of the Third Army Mobile Laboratory, as well as a close-up of him with his Belgian-Mallinois, Brutus,

who he found in an abandoned farmhouse and who was his companion for over a year. He took Brutus back home with him to America.

[TEW]

My suggestion would be The Museum of Military Medicine.

https://museumofmilitarymedicine.org.uk

Much of their collection has been digitised and made available online via The Wellcome Collection.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xqc9qs4x

I'm intrigued by his opening sentence IE. being CO of the 3rd Army Mobile Laboratory.

There are in fact four 3rd Army Mobile Labs with diaries that cover this period so I'm not sure which one he means.

Free to download once registered. Can't seem to copy the link!

TEW

[LeCauroy]

He wrote notes on the back of two post-card size copies of the photo of him and the 3rd Army mobile laboratory. He refers to the photos in the letter and included these photos and notes in his letter. Below I have attached the notes with transcriptions. 

 

 

[LeCauroy]

       Thanks so much TEW. I would really like to get the diary. Can you tell me what website they are on? I

         I found the British archives very easy to use. When I tried to find American unit diaries for this and other units, I found it much more difficult. I didn't find them on the NIH website or the AMMED website. I am also wondering how I would know which Mobile Laboratory he commanded.

 

 

7 minutes ago, TEW said:

My suggestion would be The Museum of Military Medicine.

https://museumofmilitarymedicine.org.uk

Much of their collection has been digitised and made available online via The Wellcome Collection.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xqc9qs4x

I'm intrigued by his opening sentence IE. being CO of the 3rd Army Mobile Laboratory.

There are in fact four 3rd Army Mobile Labs with diaries that cover this period so I'm not sure which one he means.

Free to download once registered. Can't seem to copy the link!

TEW

 

[LeCauroy]

       

         Hi again folks,

           I wanted to mention that it seems strange (at least to me) that he had a dog throughout the war— for over a year from his joining the the RAMC in early 1918, throughout his time with AEF and Third Army and up  to his departure to America in May 1919. I didn't realize that the British and American armies allowed soldiers to have their own dogs? I guess he was an officer and a doctor, so maybe that was why he got away with it. He even took Brutus home with him on a military ship. I am pretty sure that the photo below must be of him and Brutus on the ship home to America from Brest. This is because the Naval man holding the little dog appears to be in an American uniform. 

        I would like to share the photos on websites too if you can suggest some.

        Thanks again for any help you can give me. 

[TEW]

They are at TNA or National Archives. I use the advanced search.

The diary refs which you can paste into the search box are.

WO95/419/2

WO95/419/1

WO95/419/4

WO95/419/5

There could be others that simply don't have a diary.

TEW

[LeCauroy]

Thanks TEW!! I have spent so much time trying to find things like this. Now I am thinking, why didn’t I job just go on forums and ask people who know? So much easier

[LeCauroy]

1 hour ago, TEW said:

They are at TNA or National Archives. I use the advanced search.

The diary refs which you can paste into the search box are.

WO95/419/2

WO95/419/1

WO95/419/4

WO95/419/5

There could be others that simply don't have a diary.

TEW

TEW,

      I trying finding it on site but couldn't. Can you send me a link to where it is in the collection?

[clk]

Hi,

WO95/419/2 - link

WO95/419/1- link

WO95/419/4 - link

WO95/419/5 - link

After a straight forward registration, you should be able to download them free of charge.

Regards
Chris

[LeCauroy]

Dude you are the best

[LeCauroy]

13 minutes ago, clk said:

Hi,

WO95/419/2 - link

WO95/419/1- link

WO95/419/4 - link

WO95/419/5 - link

After a straight forward registration, you should be able to download them free of charge. 

Regards
Chris

Chris,

      Probably wasn't clear. This was Third Army American Expeditionary Force. : (

[MaureenE]

10 hours ago, LeCauroy said:

       

       

        I would like to share the photos on websites too if you can suggest some.

     

Perhaps you could make a digital book (pdf) and upload it as a book to the Internet Archive (Archive.org)

See my previous post "Upload your transcriptions to Archive.org (Internet Archive)"

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/230450-upload-your-transcriptions-to-archiveorg-internet-archive/?tab=comments#comment-2635488

 

Regarding the dog, ""In the Indian Army dogs were practically part of the Officers equipment, because they slept on our beds and ensured that marauders didn’t steal our arms and gave the alarm if anybody came in".^[1] 

[1]Audio: 1980 Interview Lt Col R. Banks, with transcript Indian Army life and career 1914-c 1937 Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge.

Perhaps he argued that the required the dog for protection, or to guard narcotic drugs, or similar. I had a female cousin, now sadly deceased, who was a doctor, a general practitioner, who used to take  two Alsatians, quite large dogs, with her when she did house calls.  ( If I remember correctly, she was able to offset the cost of the dogs as an occupational expense from her income tax assessment)

Maureen

[LeCauroy]

Thanks Maureen. That was fascinating. I will look at those links. I can imagine all sorts of benefits of having a dog in combat, especially a malinois.

     I am just wondering if it was technically allowed by the British and American army. And if not, how did he get away with it. Maybe officers were given permission.  I can’t imagine enlisted were allowed to have dogs, otherwise everyone would have one. 

    My grandfather found Brutus in an abandoned farmhouse so maybe keeping a stray was allowed because it was an unusual circumstance.

      I am also wondering if Brutus rendered any service. I’ve read that using Belgian Malinois for various roles in WWI was common, including medical roles. Since Arthur was  doctor, perhaps the dog provided some services like that. 

[LeCauroy]

Here are some pictures of Malinois serving medical roles in WWI

[MaureenE]

You could have a lion as a pet if you were senior enough, so probably having a dog was relatively easy if you were an officer.

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/125306-lion-as-a-mascot/?tab=comments#comment-1204356

Maureen

[FROGSMILE]

There was a long tradition of commissioned officers keeping pet dogs in the officers’ mess pre war and for a long time they were taken on campaign in places like India and Africa as Maureene has mentioned.  WW1 was the first war on continental European soil that the British Army had engaged in since Napoleonic times and there do not appear to have been many dogs seen in the combatant arm units of the infantry cavalry and artillery.  They would have been difficult to take in and out of the line without interfering in trench routine and inhibiting movement so I doubt that they were officially permitted and this seems borne out by the lack of photos indicating their presence in such circumstances.  As always there must have been exceptions like that of your grandfather but relatively few I think.  The most likely areas would have been those dumps, stores, training schools, hospitals, convalescent centres and headquarters of the so-called “base area”, located all around the French and Belgian coast that became administrative hubs.

As regards a suitable deposit for your wonderfully evocative photos and documents, I agree with TEW that one obvious place is the Museum of Military Medicine.  Another might be the Imperial War Museum in London, which was first established specifically as a depository and display of the Nations (and at the time Dominion’s and Colonies) efforts during “The Great War to end all wars”, as it was thought to be at the time.

Edited 24 July , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[LeCauroy]

2 hours ago, MaureenE said:

You could have a lion as a pet if you were senior enough, so probably having a dog was relatively easy if you were an officer.

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/125306-lion-as-a-mascot/?tab=comments#comment-1204356

Maureen

 

Thanks Maureen. That lion story on the link is incredible. 

[LeCauroy]

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

There was a long tradition of commissioned officers keeping pet dogs in the officers’ mess pre war and for a long time they were taken on campaign in places like India and Africa as Maureene has mentioned.  WW1 was the first war on continental European soil that the British Army had engaged in since Napoleonic times and there do not appear to have been many dogs seen in the combatant arm units of the infantry cavalry and artillery.  They would have been difficult to take in and out of the line without interfering in trench routine and inhibiting movement so I doubt that they were officially permitted and this seems borne out by the lack of photos indicating their presence in such circumstances.  As always there must have been exceptions like that of your grandfather but relatively few I think.  The most likely areas would have been those dumps, stores, training schools, hospitals, convalescent centres and headquarters of the so-called “base area”, located all around the French and Belgian coast that became administrative hubs.

As regards a suitable deposit for your wonderfully evocative photos and documents, I agree with TEW that one obvious place is the Museum of Military Medicine.  Another might be the Imperial War Museum in London, which was first established specifically as a depository and display of the Nations (and at the time Dominion’s and Colonies) efforts during “The Great War to end all wars”, as it was thought to be at the time.

Frogsmile, 

     Thanks for the info. What you say about pets in WWI makes sense. And thanks for the suggestions on where to donate.

      The letter may not express personal feelings as much as others. (He was pretty reserved in personality.) But I think he does a good job describing what it was like to be one of the soldiers during the German Spring Offensive bombing of March 21, 1918, specifically in a medical setting. 

 

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, LeCauroy said:

Frogsmile, 

     Thanks for the info. What you say about pets in WWI makes sense. And thanks for the suggestions on where to donate.

      The letter may not express personal feelings as much as others. (He was pretty reserved in personality.) But I think he does a good job describing what it was like to be one of the soldiers during the German Spring Offensive bombing of March 21, 1918, specifically in a medical setting. 

 

Yes I think it’s excellent and am really pleased that you posted it.  The US Army History Centre did a piece on its medical activities in support of the British Army during WW1 that you can read here: https://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwi/AmericanArmyMCOfficersBEF.pdf

I hope that you might consider donating a copy of your papers and photographs to them too.

Edited 24 July , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[LeCauroy]

Great. What about websites where you can post WWI photos and letters digitally without donating the actual physical object?

[LeCauroy]

On 23/07/2021 at 09:34, LeCauroy said:

 

The files are too heavy for one post, so I will have to do attach them in segments. Here is the photo of him talking with King George about the bombing at Achiet-le-Grand a week later as well as the cover of the Daily Graphic that he refers to in the letter.

 

Typed transcription Lt Arthur L. Washburn letter to father Jacob Washburn of Dec 21, 1918 Coblenz copy.pdf 6.27 MB · 1 download

To add context to the letter and the photo. He got some blowback when the photo appeared on the cover of The Daily Graphic when people noticed

this American was standing at ease in front of the King of England. Probably just tired, he had just been through hell.

[FROGSMILE]

On 24/07/2021 at 13:26, LeCauroy said:

Great. What about websites where you can post WWI photos and letters digitally without donating the actual physical object?

I think there are a number of those, such as: http://www.ww1photos.com/worldwaronephotoarchive.html

Edited 27 July , 2021 by FROGSMILE