Opening Post

In 2010, Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies published Through the Mud and the Blood, a set of wargame rules designed to depict tactical-level combat on the Western Front of the Great War. I had been corresponding with him for about two years at that point, discussing history and gaming and other topics. Reading my newfound friend's powerful and heartfelt advocacy of the "anti-donkey" school of Western Front history, and the opportunity to acquire a small library of volumes on the Great War sparked an interest in me in a field of military history that I had never found terribly interesting before.

Mud and Blood, as it has become known, became popular quickly, and the rules have been extended and adapted to many different theatres and conflicts. Other concerns and projects diverted me, and my correspondence with Rich fell somewhat into abeyance. But I continued to add slowly to my World War One library, just as he continued to publish more work on the Great War.

Last year I helped my older sister clear out some old tat of my parents'. Among the rubbish, we found a few small treasures, including a Verdun medal that had apparently been awarded to my grandfather during his service in the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in France. It now lives in a display case with the flag from his funeral (many years after the war) and a poppy from the British Legion, kindly supplied by the British Embassy. Near it sit a French novel that bears his name inside the cover, along with the inscription "Hqtrs. 151st Inf. Brig.", and an original copy (separately acquired) of the AEF manual Instruction in the Offensive Action of Large Units in Battle (thankfully, clearly marked as declassified in June of 1990!)

I never knew my grandfather, but by all accounts he was a gentle, quiet, and introspective literary man (after the war, he taught Elizabethan literature at Yale) who struggled with some unknown demons. I can only wonder if these had anything to do with his service in France. He and his brother Robert (who became a hugely brave and decorated flier) served as volunteers with a Red Cross ambulance unit attached to the French Army before America joined the war. I've been able to find almost nothing about his service with the US Army, such as where he was stationed or what he was involved in (the 56th Brigade, which he was transferred to after the 151st, was part of the 28th Division and fought in the Argonne, which is probably where the medal comes from). I do wonder, if shell shock had been as well recognised and addressed in their day as post-traumatic stress disorder is in ours, whether my grandfather might have lived a longer and happier life after the war.

So, while still not as deep an object of fascination for me (yet), as the American Revolution, the Great War has come to have a deeper and deeper interest for me as I read and learn more about it and as I feel more strongly the family connection. Hence this blog, which I hope will include information about both my historical research, my family research, and my Great War gaming.