Recently, I have rekindled an interest in the Great War, now called World War I. Partly this interest stems from two books I have read and more recently, a movie I watched on HBO. Growing up as a child, I would hear about family related war stories but never paid much attention. Now I regret that I did not sit and listen to either my dad or my grandfather, and ask them about the Wars.
The first book which I read this past August, was the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Written in 1928, it tells about the brutalities of the war from a German Perspective. World War I was a trench war, with a large line called the Western Front with respect to Germany. Located mostly in Northeast France near Luxembourg and Belgium. It never reached to Paris but it consisted of a stretch of No-Man's land with trenches on one side filled with Germans and trenches on the other side full of French and British and their allies. Although the war started in 1914, it was not until 1917 that US entered the Great War. Remarque describes the horrors' of life in the trenches and the continuous bombings and snipers killing soldiers on both sides. Planes were new at this time but were used, as well as chemical weapons like mustard gas. There is a point where the main character gets a long leave and heads back to his hometown in Germany. He describes the feelings of not being able to discuss the front because people would not understand the brutality of it. A lot of soldiers on both sides were scarred for life mentally from the things they had saw.
The second book I read more recently, was the novel Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. Written in 1993, the plot follows two main characters living at different times: the first is Stephen Wraysford, a British soldier on the front line in Amiens during the First World War, and the second is his granddaughter, Elizabeth Benson, whose 1970s plotline follows her attempts to recover an understanding of Stephen's experience of the war. (Sounds familiar)
The book starts out in the French city of Amiens where Stephen is working at a factory, on loan from England. He is living with the boss of the factory and his family. Of course, the story is partly a love story, but the description of the war conditions becomes a large part of the novel. He is now a British soldier who is at the front. He befriends the tunnel diggers and goes underground a few times. They would tunnel under the no-man's land between the trenches to try and blow up the enemy. The problem was that both sides were doing that and the tunnels could get very close to each other. The trench warfare in the first novel was bad, but imagine being in a tunnel that in spots you cannot even turn around. If you are claustrophobic, I would not read this book.
Sometimes, the men get a short leave and head to the nearest town which happens to be Amiens where he was years earlier. They would try to get clean and have their clothes cleaned, but the lice eggs would survive and hatch when they got back to the trenches. Again, mud, lice, gas warfare, bombs, gunfire, a constant barrage of stressful moments. He describes in detail the PTSD that the soldiers of the Great War suffered.
My dad's father, Albia Provoncha, was in the US Army during World War I. He was born in 1893, so would have been 25 or 26 during his time in Europe. I have included a photo of him taken in France.
Another photo of Grandpa Albia was taken in Monkton Vermont with, I think at this time, his wife to be Lois Orvis, future mother to my father. The picture is staged in the yard, my Grandpa sitting in a rocking chair with my Grandma on the arm. They look such a sweet couple here, but now I wonder how much worry Lois must have had that Albia was heading into this foreign war. Would he come back? Just think, if he had not; I would not be here to write this.
I do know that Grandpa Albia had Basic Training in Burlington Vermont. His barracks during this time was at the Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Vermont. When I went to school there, this building had been renamed the Royall Tyler Theatre and housed plays done by the drama department. In the War, I know that Grandpa was an ambulance driver. After reading the books, I think of the horrors he must have seen.
As to the Great War, it did not just effect my Grandparents. My Grandma's little sister Esther Orvis, also had a photo taken with her future husband Albert Rule. I do not have any information on what he did in the world, but I do wonder. Was he in the trenches described in the two novels, living a life in mud and lice and gas and danger of bombs and guns?
I know he survived the war and is buried in Bristol. Here is a photo of his gravestone with some info from the War. Albert and Esther had one child.
On my Mother's side, she was the daughter of John Shackett and Eleanor Rheaume (my Grandparents). Grandma's father was Anara and his brother Antonio Rheaume was a soldier in the Canadian Army during the Great War. Sadly, he died in the war on July 6, 1917. I wish I had more details.
I was able to find his gravestone online, it is located in Neuville-Saint-Vaast, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France at the La Targette British Cemetery, Plot I.E.6. This is located just North of the French city Arras, which is about 34 miles NE of Amiens, one of the main locales in the second book I read, Birdsong.
Another photo I have is this one taken on a ship. It says "Mobile May 30, 1919" but I am not sure if this Mobile is the Alabama city or that the troops were being mobilized... Maybe Grandpa Albia is in the photo. I do not know...
Another War book (this one was WW II) I have read recently is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. An interesting fact is that Ernest Hemingway was wounded as an ambulance driver in Italy, during World War I. So Grandpa could have been hurt in his job during the War.
While in France, Grandpa Albia was sending letters and postcards home. Most of the time the pictures were churches in different towns. This one was sent on January 2, 1919. Here is the front:
The back is interesting. The note is short and addressed to his mother. The Post Office was in Bristol but they lived in Monkton, hence the RFD #2. You will notice there is no stamp but Grandpa had written
Soldiers Mail. Also, part of the message is covered by a stamp because each letter and card were censored and signed by an official. The Stamp says A.E.F. Passed as Censored. AEF is American Expeditionary Forces.
The card says:
Dear Father and Mother, only a postal today so you will know I am well. Went to this place yesterday. Have not rec'd any mail lately, Albia
Another church post card...
And another church post card...
The last postcard was written by Albia on March 28, 1919
And finally, a church postcard...
The movie I saw recently about WW I was
1917, directed by Sam Mendes. The first time I watched, I had tuned in about half way through, and it caught my attention and I ended up watching until the end of the movie. It was so wonderfully done, I just had to see it all. So using On Demand, I was able to watch it a second time from the start.
The film was accomplished with long takes and elaborately choreographed moving camera shots to give the effect of two continuous takes. Some say it is one continuous take but there is a moment where the soldier is knocked out and the screen goes to black for a few seconds until he awakes. I was amazed that they did this so well. It looks like the movies was done completely in two takes...If you have not seen it, I recommend it for this feat alone.
When I was younger, I saw the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Rope starring Jimmy Stewart. It too was filmed as a continuous take. Back then, a roll of film could hold about 10 minutes of filming, so when the film ran out and it was time to change film, they would pass the camera into a neutral scene, like a jacket or a wall. In the final cut, it appeared they just panned over that moment.
Not to give much away of the plot of 1917, there is a scene near the end of the movie where the young soldier crawls out of the river near Écoust-Saint-Mein, a small town in France about five miles away from the burial site of my Great-great Uncle Antonio. As he climbs over dead bodies onto the bank, he hears someone singing.
At first, the song reminded me of a beautiful song I had heard in an episode of Andy Griffiths Show. Song by Charlene Darling and her family, at the end Andy says it is the prettiest thing he had ever heard. I have included a link.
There is a Time - Darlings
But doing some research on the film, I found the song really was "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger". It is a well-known American folk and gospel song likely originating in the early 19th century about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. I have included a link, performed by the guy that did the movie.
Searching Google for the song, I found old versions by Joan Baez, Tennessee Ernie Ford, JD Sumner, Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash. It became one of Burl Ives' signature songs. There were some modern versions by artist Ed Sheeran and others...If you want to see the continuous cut, watch this version of the song from Youtube.
Well, my rekindled interest in Grandpa Provoncha and his connection to World War I has probably come too late. There is no one that I can really talk to about it in the immediate family. My Aunt Ruth, who just turned 97, may give me some information but I have been afraid to visit her with the COVID. Her mother was Eliza Orvis, big sister of Lois and Esther, both mentioned in this post. I will end with a clipping about Aunt Eliza, sent to me by Ruth's son Keith.
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