The Explorers' Club, № DCLIV

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part IX
Wilfred Owen, M.C. (1893-1918), the English poet, best known for wartime works such as "Dulce et Decorum Est" & "Anthem for Doomed Youth;" Owen was committed to the Craiglockhart War Hospital in 1917 for treatment of shell shock, & later cleared foe home duty safely in England, but insisted on returning to the front; he was killed in combat crossing the Sambre-Oise Canal on 4 November 1918.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Hundred Days Offensive
№ DCXXXII: The Battle of Amiens (Part I)
№ DCXXXVI: The Second Battle of the Somme (Part II)
№ DCXXXIX: The Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin (Part III)
№ DCXLI: The Battle of Saint-Mihiel (Part IV)
№ DCXLIV: The Battle of the Canal du Nord (Part V)
№ DCXLVI: The Battle of the Saint-Quentin Canal (Part VI)
№ DCXLVIII: The Lost Battalion (Part VII)
№ DCXLVIII: "Sergeant" York (Part VIII)

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLVIII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part VIII
8 October 1918: Corporal Alvin York (1887-1964) of the American 82nd Infantry Division*, originally a conscientious objector, conducted a solo feat of arms against a well-positioned German machine-gun company; he returned to his own lines with one hundred thirty-two German P.O.W.; promoted to sergeant, York received the Medal of Honor, the French Croix de guerre, & fifty sundry decorations.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: *The far-famed 82nd wouldn't become airborne 'til 1942. Clean-shaven actor Gary Cooper won an Oscar for playing the eponymous moustachioed sharpshooter in the 1941 motion picture Sergeant York. Cooper's non-moustachioed visage is typical, even emblematic of Hollywood's contempt for historical accuracy.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLVII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part VII
2-8 October 1918: The Lost Battalion—Nine companies of the American 77th Division, commanded by Major Charles Whittlesey (1884-1921) were cut off from the Entente lines & surrounded by the Germans; six days of fierce fighting ensued, with the 77th fending off the Central Powers while sometimes being shelled by their own artillery, & communicating via the homing pigeon "Cher Ami."

Lest we forget.

Commentary: Your humble narrator first learned of the "Lost Battalion" in 2001, with the release of the made-for-television movie, The Lost Battalion, starring Rick Schroder as Major Whittlesey.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLVI

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part VI
29 September-10 October: The Battle of the Saint-Quentin Canal—A British, Australian & American assault, preceded by the largest artillery bombardment of the war & the first use of British-produced mustard gas, & accompanied by hordes of tanks, first breached the formidable "Hindenburg Line" (the Siegfriedstellung); the German High Command (Oberste Heeresleitung) realized the war was lost.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLIV

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part V
27 September-1 October 1918: The Battle of the Canal du Nord—British, Canadian, & New Zealand troops assaulted the German defensive works along the uncompleted Canal du Nord, one of four Entente offensives launched in five days, to prevent the Germans from reinforcing any particular sector of the front; in initial pre-dawn attack took the German front line by complete surprise.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXLI

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part IV
12-15 September 1918: The Battle of Saint-Mihiel—A meticulously planned Entente attack, led by General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing & executed by his American Expeditionary Forces with clockwork precision, caught the Germans in the process of withdrawing & captured the Saint-Mihiel salient; the American tank contingent was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: Amidst many other laudable facets, Pershing's thoroughly detailed Saint-Mihiel plan also introduced the terms "D-Day" & "H-Hour."

The Explorers' Club, № DCXXXIX

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part III
31 August-3 September 2018: The Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin—In a daring frontal assault (which might have been condemned as reckless had it failed), the Australian Corps seized Mont Saint-Quentin, the high ground that was the key to the Germans' defense of the River Somme, & the town of Péronne; the Germans had anticipated & prepared for the attack, but were still forced to retreat.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXXXVI

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part II
21 August-2 September: The Second Battle of the Somme—Instead of reinforcing the offensive around Amiens, which had ground to a halt as supplies lines were stretched & the Germans had brought up reinforcements, the Entente's Anglophones (British, Canadian, Australian, & American) attacked around Albert, pushing the Germans back to the "Hindenburg Line" (the Siegfriedstellung).

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DCXXXII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Hundred Days Offensive, Part I
8-12 August 1918: The Battle of Amiens (or, the Third Battle of Picardy)—An Entente attack took the Germans largely by surprise, advancing seven miles on the first day & capturing over ten thousand P.O.W.; the battle buoyed Entente morale & shattered German morale out of all proportion to the territorial gains & losses, General Ludendorff calling 8 August the "black day of the German Army."

Lest we forget.