In anticipation of Veteran’s Day this year I was looking up some in family lines who served during World War I. November 11 is always Veteran’s Day because it was on the 11th hour that the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 bringing the end to the first World War. I was doing some digital scrapbook pages along those lines, especially using the poem by John MacRae.
In Flanders Fields
By John Macrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Poppies have been a symbol of remembrance for the Day of Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, or Veteran’s Day as it is now known.
Fields of poppies (Papaver rhoeas) in France were churned up during World War I but occasionally poppies would manage to bloom in the midst of the blood and mud on the Western Front. Poppies became a symbol of remembrance of World War I and is linked to Armistice Day (November 11), now called Remembrance Day. Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) adopted the poppy as its official memorial flower in 1922. A shortage of poppies from French manufacturers led to the idea of using unemployed and disabled veterans to produce the artificial flowers. In 1924, a poppy factory was built in Pittsburgh, Pa., providing a reliable source of poppies and a practical means of assistance to veterans.
American humanitarian Moina Michael, a native of Georgia, wrote, “And now the Torch and Poppy Red, we wear in honor of our dead…”
Henry Grady Harris is not in Stan’s direct line. I believe their common ancestor was Samuel G. Harris and Tryphena Harris. But he and his family have proven to be difficult to follow and I can’t be sure.
But his story must be told, lest we forget.
Henry Grady Harris was born 1/5/1899 or 1900 in Union County, SC to Benjamin Franklin Harris and Euphemia McGee.
1900 U.S. Census of Pinckney, Union County, SC, Pg 26; Enumeration District 0072; FHL microfilm 1241544, Lines 37-44
Benjamin Harris, Head, W(hite), M(ale), Born May, 1868, 32 yrs old, Married 13 yrs (1887), Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, Farmer, Can read and write, Rents Farm
Eugenia Harris (sic), Wife, W, F, Born Mar, 1874, 26 yrs old, Married 13 yrs, 7 children with 5 still living, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC, Can read and write
Herbert C. Harris, Son, W, M, Born Mar, 1890, 10 yrs old, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC
John D. Harris, Son, W, M, born Jan, 1893, 7 yrs old, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC
James E. Harris, Son, W, M, Born Dec, 1895, 4 yrs old, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC
Bishop Harris, Son, W, M, Born Sept, 1898, 1 yrs old, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC
Henry G. Harris, Son, W, M, Born Jan, 1900, 4/12 mos old, Born in SC, Both parents born in SC
1910 U.S. Census of Union, Union, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1474; Page: 32B; Enumeration District: 0122; FHL microfilm: 1375487, Line 86
Grady Harris, Nephew, M(ale), W(hite), 10 yrs old, Born in NC, Both parents born in NC (sic), Farm Laborer
You will notice he died 10/8/1918. So I looked up his Division and Regiment to see if I could find out what happened. Remember, WWI ended with the signing of the Armistice on 11/11/1918. On his FindAGrave.com entry it says he died clearing German machine gun nests in France.
Doing a Google search, this is what I found out.
The 30th Infantry Division was a unit of the Army National Guard in World War I and World War II. It was nicknamed the “Old Hickory” division, in honor of President Andrew Jackson. The Germans nicknamed this division “Roosevelt’s SS”. The division was originally activated as the 9th Division (drawing units from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee) under a 1917 force plan, but changed designation to the 30th Division after the American entry into World War I in April 1917. It was formally activated under its new title in October 1917, as an Army National Guard division from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.
King George V and Major General Edward Mann Lewis inspecting troops of the 30th Infantry Division, 6 August 1918.
In May 1918 the division was sent to Europe and arrived in England, where it departed for the Western Front soon after.
It was attached to the Second Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The major operations the 30th Division took part in were the Ypres-Lys, and the Somme offensive, in which it was one of the two American divisions that assisted the Australian Corps to break the Hindenburg Line in the Battle of St. Quentin Canal. The division had, in three months, from July until October 1918, sustained 1,237 officers and men killed in action (KIA), with a further 7,178 wounded in action (WIA) or missing in action (MIA). (Source: Wikipedia)
The 117th Infantry Regiment was a unit of the 30th Infantry Division and was known as the “Break Through Regiment.” Orders were received on May 2, 1918, to entrain for duty overseas, and on the night of May 10, 1918, the 117th Infantry went on board transports at New York. The First and Second Battalions with 20 officers and 1922 enlisted men climbed up the gangplank and onto the HMS Northumberland, and the Third Battalion consisting of 27 officers and 949 enlisted men went aboard the HMS Anselm. There were nine troopships that sailed on the morning of the 11th of May. The 1,942 men of the 117th Infantry were the only men on board the Northumberland that trip so there must not have been much space for troops as being that she was a cargo ship accommodations on board were crude as the men were likely bunked out in the holds of the ship. Some ten days later, after an attack by submarines off the Irish Coast, in which the convoy escaped without loss, the HMS Northumberland docked at Liverpool, England, where special trains carried the 117th Infantry straight through London to Folkestone. The 117th proceeded from Calais to Norbecourt, where, under British officers and non-commissioned officers, the officers and men of the regiment were trained strenuously for five weeks. About July 1 the Thirtieth Division was ordered to move into Belgium. The 59th Brigade, which crossed the border on July 4, was the first unit of American forces to enter the war-torn little country, which bore the first assault of the German attack in the world war.
“The 117th was assigned to Tunneling Camp, where it was given its final training in trench warfare and in attacking strong points. The 117th Infantry was purely on the defensive while they were in Belgium. The Germans knew the location of every trench, and their artillery played upon them day and night. Night bombers also made this a very uncomfortable sector, for they dropped tons of explosives both upon the front and at the rear. There was little concealment on either side, because this part of Belgium was very flat. Artificial camouflage provided what little deception was practiced upon the enemy. The casualties of the 117th in the two months in which it was stationed in the Canal Sector were not heavy. Only a few men were killed, and the number of wounded was less than 100.
“On September 1, 1918 trucks and busses were provided and the 117th Infantry moved through Albert, Bray, and Peronne to near Tincourt, just back of the celebrated Hindenburg Line. The 59th Brigade went into the line first, relieving the Australians on the night of September 26. The 118th Infantry took over the front line, with the 117th Infantry in close support. The casualties of the latter were rather heavy from gas shells in making the relief, one company losing 62 men to the hospital.
“The attack upon this part of the line was set for the morning of September 29, 1918. The 27th American Division was on the left, the 46th British on the right of the 30th American Division. The assault of the infantry upon the fortifications of the Hindenburg Line was to be preceded by a bombardment of 72 hours — with gas shells for 24 hours and with shell and shrapnel from light and heavy artillery for 48 hours.
“In the Thirtieth Division sector, the 119th and 120th Infantry were assigned to make the opening attack, with the 117th Infantry following in close support, and prepared to exploit their advance after the canal had been crossed. The 118th Infantry was held in reserve. The 119th Infantry had the left half of the sector, while the 120th, strengthened by Company H, of the 117th, covered the right half.
“The plan of battle was that the 117th, following the 120th, should cross the canal between Bellicourt on the left and the entrance to the canal on the right, then turn at right angles, and proceed southeasterly down the main Hindenburg Line trench, mopping up this territory of the enemy for about a mile. Connection was to be made with the British on the right, if they succeeded in crossing the canal. The facts of the case are that this paper plan of battle worked out somewhat differently under battle conditions. Most of the assaulting companies became badly confused in the deep fog and smoke, strayed off somewhat from their objectives, and their attack swung to the left of the sector. The 117th, which followed, went off in the opposite direction fortunately and cleaned out a territory which otherwise would have been left undisturbed. While it caused endless confusion and the temporary intermingling of platoons, companies, and even regiments, this pall of mist and smoke on the morning of the attack undoubtedly contributed to the success of the battle. The Germans did not know how to shoot accurately, for no targets were visible. During the morning hours it was impossible for a man to see his hand more than a few inches in front of him. Men in the combat groups joined hands to avoid being lost from each other. Officers were compelled, in orienting their maps, to lay them on the ground, as it was impossible to read them while standing in the dense cloud of smoke and mist. The atmosphere did not clear up completely until after the canal had been crossed.
“The barrage for the attack went down at 5:50 a.m. The First Battalion, under Major Dyer, jumped off promptly on time, with C Company under command of Captain Blair and D Company in the line, A and B Companies in support. The Second Battalion followed at about 500 yards, while the Third Battalion, with a company of engineers, was held in reserve on the crest of a hill. The tanks, for the most part, became separated from the infantry, but their work was invaluable in plowing through the barbed wire, which had been cut up very little by the barrage. Like nearly everyone else, the tanks lost sense of direction in the smoke and fog cloud, while the majority of them were disabled before noon of the 29th.
“Most of the morning was consumed by the 117th in clearing out the area south and west of the tunnel entrance. Some units, mistaking one of the trench systems for the canal, turned southward before actually reaching the genuine canal. They cleaned out thoroughly the Germans, who were in this pocket, but toward 10 o’clock turned northward and began to pass over the tunnel, the left flank skimming Bellicourt and the right crossing near the tunnel entrance. It then turned southward and mopped up the area assigned it.
“The First and Second Battalions reached their objectives after vigorous fighting, consolidated the positions they had won, and reorganized their companies, which had been badly scattered and mixed by the morning fog.
“The casualties of the 117th on September 29 were 26 officers and 366 men. Seven field pieces, 99 machine guns, 7 anti-tank rifles, many small arms and 592 German prisoners were the trophies of the day. Though the casualties were rather heavy, in view of the machine gun and artillery resistance, which the Germans offered from powerfully held positions; they should be regarded as rather light. With a clear day, without fog or smoke, they would have been double or treble this number.
“The 59th Brigade next offensive was launched the following morning, October 8, with the 117th on the left, the 118th on the right and the British were on their flanks. The jumping off line was northeast of Wiancourt, while the objective was slightly beyond Premont. The First Battalion of the 117th launched the attack for the regiment, and the Second Battalion was in close support, while the Third Battalion, which had been cut up badly the day before, was in reserve. The attack got off on time in spite of the difficulties that were encountered the previous night in getting into position under fire and in the dark.
“In the face of furious German resistance with all kinds of machine gun nests and an abundance of light artillery, the battalions advanced very rapidly, skillfully knocking out machine guns and maneuvering to the best advantage over the broken ground. The Second Battalion suffered heavy losses during the morning and two companies of the brigade reserve were ordered to its support. Before noon Second Battalion Commander Major Hathaway, announced the capture of Premont and his arrival at the prescribed objective. Positions were consolidated during the afternoon and preparations made for a possible counter-attack.
“The casualties of the 117th on October 8 were the heaviest of any day of fighting in which it was engaged on the front. The toll of officers and non-commissioned officers was especially distressing, as it cut down the number of leaders in the coming battles.
“During the night, when all were expecting word of relief after such a strenuous day in which everyone had spent himself to the utmost, orders were received that the brigade would continue the fight at daybreak the next morning. The sector was moved to the right, however, and the front of attack shortened. The drive started before six o’clock in the morning, after the usual barrage, which had been laid down by the artillery. In spite of the fact that this shift was made at night, that the two battalions had to reorganize and gather their men from the attack the day previous, and that the Germans kept up their bombardment by artillery and airplanes, all the companies were on the tape and the attack was launched on the minute.
“The resistance slackened during the day, and with the exception of a short check at a railroad embankment, the advance was steady toward the objective. The First and Second Battalions fought side by side, the Third Battalion was held in reserve and to further recuperate. There was a big decrease in the intensity of the hostile artillery fire during the day and the losses were light compared to the day before. Busigny was captured and all objectives reached early in the afternoon.
“During these three days of fighting, October 7, 8, and 9, the regiment lost 34 officers and 1051 men as casualties. A count of the spoils taken included 113 machine guns, 28 field pieces, 907 small arms and about 800 prisoners. The great majority of the latter, 703, were captured on October 8, showing that on the final day the men, enraged by the losses of their comrades the day previous, killed most of the Germans they took. This became not an uncommon practice in the latter days of fighting, especially against the German machine gunners, which would kill or wound from their place of concealment a half platoon or more of men before their gun was located and put out of action. This custom of taking no prisoners was confined to no regiment, but became common practice throughout the division.
“The next few days were given the 117th to rest and recuperate, a course it sorely needed after the exhaustion and losses of the last three days of it’s fighting. On the morning of October 16, however, it was called back into the line to relieve the 27th American Division.” (Source: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~cacunithistories/military/117th_Infantry.html ; This Page is owned by Joe Hartwell, ©2005-2019. Last Updated January 3, 2019)
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