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WORLD WAR I: As Centenary Nears, Bay County's Role is Recalled

January 24, 2014       1 Comments
By: Dave Rogers

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Recruiting poster for Americans for Polish Army in World War I, joined by 23 men from Bay City.
 

(NOTE: This is the first of a series of articles on World War I. A book on production of mustard gas in Midland during World War I by the author of this column is slated for public release at a launch party 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Vno New Age Restaurant, 510 W. Midland St. Published by Historical Press, the book is entitled "The G-34 Paradox: Inside the Army's Secret Mustard Gas Project at Dow Chemical in World War I.")

The start of World War I in 1914 is the subject of commemoration events to be held across the globe for the next four years.

The U.S. has opened a World War I memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, that originally was the Liberty Memorial erected in 1919.

The war involved an estimated 65 million participants and marked "the most dramatic period of social change in human history," said Matthew Naylor, president of the museum.

World War I, dubbed "The Great War," was the second deadliest conflict in history, with an estimated 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded. An estimated 60 million, including civilians, died in World War II

The U.S. did not enter the war for three years. Finally, in 1917 after unrestricted submarine warfare caused extreme provocation, especially concerning American deaths in the sinking of the liner Lusitania, President Wilson and Congress were prompted to ask the nation to join the conflict.

The national will to raise an army was exhibited by the efforts shown by local draft boards to meet their quotas and to suppress draft evasion and shirking.

In Bay City, the Times-Tribune headlined 10 August 1918: "DRAGNET OUT FOR DRAFT EVADERS: About 150 Men Caught Without Registration Certificates."

Repeating a drive that had been mounted the previous April, officials under supervision of lumbering firm executive Otto E. Sovereign of the Bay County War Board sent police into the streets, poolrooms, cigar stores, soft drink parlors and even to the dance floor of the Wenonah Beach Casino where young men were described as "tripping the light fantastic" with female dance partners.

Men in custody were taken to city hall where their cases were considered individually. The newspaper proclaimed: "The men who comprise the War Board in this city are determined that Bay City shall not harbor any slackers, and that the work or fight regulation must be strictly observed to the letter."

Draft evader Monte Kelly was arrested in rural Hampton Township, jailed briefly and taken to Camp Custer near Battle Creek for induction into the Army.

A similar campaign in Detroit netted 2,000 suspected evaders, although most were not carrying their cards at the time they were checked and were ultimately released.

So-called "war loafers," described as men ages 18-60 and physically fit to perform manual labor and not continually employed in a lawful occupation, business, trade, calling or profession and not making reasonable effort to procure employment or who has refused labor for compensation shall be deemed a "war loafer" subject upon conviction to a $100 fine and possibly six months in jail additional.

Even as the U.S. was recruiting soldiers, agents of the Polish government arrived in Bay City to recruit native Poles for their army, Tim Younkman has written in The Bay City Times. Many Poles had been induced to immigrate to mid-Michigan because jobs were plentiful in the lumber industry. In Bay City, some 23 Polish immigrants enlisted, and only one died during the war. A gala parade and a $100 check for each awaited the survivors in 1920.

"Polish statesmen called upon the thousands of Polish immigrants in the United States to join the Polish Army in France, a military force funded by the French government and organized by the Polish Falcons of America and Ignacy Paderewski, the world-famous Polish pianist," wrote David T. Ruskoski in 2006.

"Over 20,000 men trained in Canada and fought in the final months of the war on the Western front. While in France they were placed under the command of General Jozef Haller and became known as Haller's Army." They also were known as the 'Blue Army' because of their distinctive blue uniforms.

No one could have predicted that the most terrible weapon of the Great War would not be the deadly efficient machine guns that mowed down phalanxes of attackers as they rose out of trenches. A mere handful of German Maxim's, (maschinengewehr 08, an adaption of the British Maxim) firing 450-600 rounds a minute, mowed down entire regiments of British soldiers in the battle of the Somme in 1916.

Germany's super scientist Fritz Haber had brewed mustard gas and unleashed it on the battlefield in April 1917, after the use of chlorine had proven effective in opening gaps in enemy lines two years previously. The Allies and the U.S., just entering the war, were desperate to counter the new German strategy.

Modern observer Daniel P. Jones commented: "As soon as any power was gained over nature which could be turned toward making war more efficient, it has been the story of mankind that he has applied the power to this end."

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"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers!

mgbcma Says:       On January 29, 2014 at 10:09 AM
Hi Dave. Very interesting as I knew term "mustard gas" but not much more. Thinking it's a local point of interest is fascinating. Thanks for researching this. Printed it off and am sharing it with family. Mary
Agree? or Disagree?


Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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