Hi-Line Living: War Talk

One hundred years after the end of the Great War, H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum kicked off it's Summer Speaker series with a speech about World War I and Havre.

The first speech of the summer, titled "Havre and the Great War" was given by Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission member Keith Doll.

Doll, who said he has always been interested in World War I, said he started researching for this article and speech last September after he attended a history conference in Helena.

"I did a lot of research about Montana and World War I," he said, adding that he has files on everything he researches but his file for WWI is one of the biggest.

"I have to find something three times before I use it because opinions are different," Doll said.

He said he was interested in giving this speech, because he likes history, and he said his wife says that since he had to relearn how to talk after his stroke in 1993, "you can't get him to stop talking."

The start of the War

Doll gave his speech to a small, attentive audience, 100 years after the end of the Great War, beginning with the history of World War I, also known as the Great War.

"World War I started on July 28, 1914," he began, adding that it started with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, June 28 in Sarajevo. This led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia July 28.

The war began in 1914 but the United States did not enter the war until April 6, 1917, when it declared war on Germany, Doll said.

Though many Americans wanted to stay neutral, a growing anti-German sentiment was fueled by the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by the Germans. This sinking killed 1,198 people, many of them Americans, he added.

The Red Cross had been helping with the war efforts with the S.S. Red Cross while the United States was still neutral, Doll said, and by the time the U.S. entered the war the Red Cross had 2 million workers and 8 million volunteers.

May 18, 1917, the United States announced a draft bill requiring all men ages 21-30, with no dependent spouse or dependent children, to enlist, he said. In August 1918, the ages were changed to 18-45.

This caused a lot of men to get married to avoid the draft, Doll said, adding that the Havre Promoter was once quoted calling these men "slackers" or "cowards."

One man got married because "he would do his fighting at home," he said.

Doll also talked about one Montana boy, Mike Mansfield from Great Falls, who joined the U.S. Navy at 14 years old.

"He lied about his age," he added.

Mansfield later served in the U.S. Army and in the U.S. Marine Corps and later became a U.S. representative and then senator and is the longest serving Senate majority leader. After retiring from the Senate he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Japan.

Montanans and women's role in the war

To prepare for the war, the American government asked the states to provide money for the war.

"Montana was to furnish $8 million for the war," Doll said.

The first Liberty Loan Drive in Montana was started in April of 1917.

"Havre, Malta, Gildford and Kremlin subscribed over $30,000," Doll said, adding that the second Liberty Loan Drive was in November 1917 and Montana was given a quota of $21 million and they were able to exceed it.

"Hill County alone gave $175,000," Doll said.

Commander John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, whose early posting was at Fort Assiniboine, was an important part of World War I, Doll said, adding that Pershing believed in training the troops before he deployed them and was one of two men - the other being George Washington - to attain the rank of General of the Armies of the United States, the highest possible rank in the Army.

"Women were the forgotten part of the war," Doll said, adding that when he researched for his article, he couldn't find much about the women.

Women planted and harvested the fields, worked in the hospital, helped in the factories and worked in noncombatant roles in the military, he said.

"There were 12,000 women in the Navy and Air Force," Doll said, adding that they often worked dangerous jobs in the factories and many were killed or injured working with items like bombs.

Some of the women's skin would turn yellow because of the chemicals they were working with, he said. They were called "Canary Girls."

Also during World War I, the nation was asked to eat less wheat and Montana residents were asked to have a "Wheatless June," Doll said.

"Let Montana be the next state in the union to make a wheat sacrifice," Doll quoted from the government, adding that wheat hoarding could lead to citizens being fined $5,000 or getting two years in prison.

A ship, named the USS Montana, later renamed Missoula, was an Army cruiser that was used to transport troops to France, Doll said, and after the war in 1918, it was used to bring 8,800 soldiers back to the United States from France in six round trips. It was decommissioned in 1921.

Animals in battle

Doll also spoke of the animals that played an important role in the Great War;

"When the war started in 1914, horses were used in the cavalry on both sides to fight each other," he said.

A Havre newspaper wrote about the government buying horses from the Northern Purchasing Zone, which included Montana and was located at Fort Keogh, Doll said.

Horses, he added, along with being used in the cavalry were also used to pull ambulances, as postal carriers and in other various duties.

The British army was short on horses, Doll said, so the United States sent almost 1 million horses to Great Britain, but unfortunately only 200 came back - many horses were killed in battle or from various diseases.

Other animals that played a part in the war were mules, which could travel longer distances without water; dogs, who were used as sentry animals; carrier pigeons, and camels in the Middle East, Doll said.

Another animal that was used, he added, were slugs,

"Slugs could detect gases before humans," Doll said, adding that soldiers would see when slugs would close their pores if gas was present. Slugs were credited for saving many soldiers' lives.

Life in the trenches

"Life in the trenches was beyond horrid and unbearable," Doll said in his speech.

Rain would cause havoc, he added, saying that the soldiers would have to sleep standing up and the soldiers would catch illnesses, such as the flu and other diseases, from the water that built up in the trenches.

Another problem caused by the water was trench foot, Doll said as he passed around a promotional poster from the Red Cross that said "Our Boys need Sox, Knit Your Bit." During this time it was OK for people to knit anywhere - even in church - because it was for the soldiers.

"More than 20,000 girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 18 were in a club in Montana. It was put on by the Montana State College at Bozeman. The different clubs were the Bread Club, Garment-Making Club, Corn Club, Potato Club, Canning Club, Pig Club, Calf Club, Sheep Club, and Poultry Club. This was for the war effort and each county winner would get a free scholarship to one of Montana's educational institutions," Doll said.

Trench fever, caused by lice, was a disease that soldiers in the trenches also worried about, he said.

"It is estimated that 97 percent of the soldiers in trenches had lice," Doll added, saying that it would easily spread, especially when soldiers would huddle to keep warm; this caused many soldiers to shave their heads.

Trench fever would lead to a high fever, eye pain, headaches, a rash, itching and no energy, he said. It could take up to three months to recover from this illness.

Sentry duty - when a soldier would watch for the enemy - would last for two hours at a time, Doll said, so the soldiers wouldn't get too tired, and if they did fall asleep, they would be killed by firing squad.

Between battles, boredom in the trenches was common, he added. The soldiers would spend their time reading and writing letters and cards as well as creating "Trench Art," which was art made from shell casings and shrapnel.

A couple of years ago, Doll said, he was able to acquire a piece of this "Trench Art" - a lighter made out of shrapnel - that he passed around to the audience.

Back in Montana, in February 1918, the Montana Sedition Act was passed, Doll said, which "stated that any person saying or writing anything against the government, flag, president or war would be guilty of sedition. ... In two years, about 80 people in Montana were found guilty of sedition, with 41 being sent to prison in Deer Lodge."

This act was repealed in December of 1920, he added.

The return home

The Great War ended at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918, and celebrations started all over the country, including Havre.

Havre put out "all the bells and whistles," Doll said, adding that there was a parade on First Street and Third Avenue while a Havre band played and various churches held thanksgiving services.

The return home was not all happiness, though, Doll said. While the United States was in the war, Montana sent 40,500 soldiers to war - 1,172 of them from Hill County - with around 1,000 of those soldiers dying, he said.

The soldiers also came home to the 1918 influenza pandemic, Doll said.

"Many soldiers went to war, to come back a hero, to die of influenza," he added.

Doll ended his speech by thanking the Montana Historical Society and the Havre-Hill County Library for their support and access to their information.

He added that he also wanted to thank all the veterans who have served our country.

"This article is just the tip of the iceberg," he said, wanting to remind the audience that there is still so much to learn about the Great War

The Speaker Series will have a total of three speeches, including the first speech about the Great War, with the second speech, "Sedition in Hill County," given by Emily Mayer Saturday, July 21, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Faber Schoolhouse on the Great Northern Fairgrounds.

The third speech, "Havre At the Turn of the Century" by Jim Magera, will be held during Festival Days Weekend, Friday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Havre Inn and Suites Conference Room.