—Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Breakfast of Champions
Operation AXIOM: The 103rd Anniversary of the Armistice of Compiègne
One hundred three years ago to the day, 11 November 1918, "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month," the guns fell silent on the Western Front. The "War to End All Wars" was over. Tens of millions were dead. Empires lay in ruins. Revolution was in the air. The world that had existed before the summer of 1914 was shattered utterly, torn asunder by unfathomable bloodshed.
The world had never seen madness as red as the World War; pray to the Almighty that we shall not see madness so red in our own lifetime. A century later, only the ignorant &/or the foolish would say we do not live in a world yet scarred by 1914-1918, haunted by the ghost of a war most of us prefer to pretend never happened. Western civilization barely survived the suicide attempt of 1914-1918, & might yet succumb to the wound. It all ended—in triumph, in defeat, in exhaustion, in jubilation—on 11 November 1918, one hundred three years ago today.
"Trench Duty"
by Siegfried Sassoon, C.B.E., M.C. (1886-1967)
Shaken from sleep, and numbed and scarce awake,
Out in the trench with three hours' watch to take,
I blunder through the splashing murk; and then
Hear the gruff muttering voices of the men
Crouching in cabins candle-chinked with light.
Hark! There's the big bombardment on our right
Rumbling and bumping; and the dark's a glare
Of flickering horror in the sectors where
We raid the Boche; men waiting, stiff and chilled,
Or crawling on their bellies through the wire.
"What? Stretcher-bearers wanted? Someone killed?"
Five minutes ago I heard a sniper fire:
Why did he do it?... Starlight overhead--
Blank stars. I'm wide-awake; and some chap's dead.
"Disarmament"
by John McCrae (1872-1918)
One spake amid the nations, "Let us cease
From darkening with strife the fair World's light,
We who are great in war be great in peace.
No longer let us plead the cause by might."
But from a million British graves took birth
A silent voice—the million spake as one—
"If ye have righted all the wrongs of earth
Lay by the sword! Its work and ours is done."
The Wayback Machine Tour of Armistice Day: Lest We Forget
Armistice Day '20 + Armistice Day '18 + Armistice Day '17
Armistice Day '16 + Armistice Day '15 + Armistice Day '14
Armistice Day '13 + Armistice Day '12 + Armistice Day '11
Armistice Day '10 + Armistice Day '09 + Armistice Day '08
Armistice Day '07 + Armistice Day '06 + Armistice Day '05
Armistice Day '04 + Armistice Day '03 + Armistice Day '02
The Explorers' Club № DCLVI: 11 November 1918—The Armistice
The Explorers' Club № DCCXVI: 11 November 1919—The First Armistice Day
The Explorers' Club № DCCLXXXIII: 11 November 1920—The Second Armistice Day
The Explorers' Club № DCCCLVII: 11 November 1921—The Third Armistice Day
The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Armistice Day
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, "Amazing Grace" from Highland Cathedral (Mike Papa Whiskey)
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