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Unique (?) Copy of an Interesting Book

JF Ptak Science Books

History of the Second Division (Regular) AEF. Text. -AND- History of the Second Division (Regular) AEF, Notes.  "Copyright 1936, The Second Division Historical Committee, Major General Preston Brown, Chairman." 13.5x8", two volumes, 282+156pp.Copies of typed sheets, three-hole-punch-bound at left.  Nice copies.

This is evidently what would be published as the The Second Division, American Expeditionary Force in France, 1917-1919, by J.W. Wright (text) and Oliver L. Spaulding (Notes), as the work above and this share the same copyright number. The authors are not identified in this work. 

This copy is a Copyright Deposit copy--or, rather, one of them--and was purchased from the Library of Congress.  Both volumes were issued with stiffer, larger paper wrappers, but these are now detached and chipped.  The text however is in excellent condition.

From Wikipedia: "The 2nd Infantry Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army. It was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France. At the time of its activation, the Indianhead Division was composed of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, which included the 9th Infantry Regiment and the 23rd Infantry Regiment; the 4th Marine Brigade, which consisted of the 5th Marine Regiment, the 6th Marine Regiment and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion; a battalion of field artillery; and various supporting units. Twice during World War I the division was commanded by US Marine Corps generals, Brigadier General Charles A. Doyen and Major General John A. Lejeune, the only time in U. S. Military history when Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division."

Rare Carbon-Copy Work on German Offensive in the Baltic Islands, 1917

JF Ptak Science Books

Translation by Col. H.H. Hossfeld of Lt. General von Tschischwitz,  Armee und Marine bei der Eroberung der Baltischen Inseln im Oktober 1917: Erfahrungen und Betrachtungen as The Army and Navy During the Conquest of the Baltic Islands in October, 1917. 

Washington Army War College, 1933. 246x200mm, 187pp, with a small packet of 20 photographically reproduced maps in a pocket in the rear of the book. 

This is a carbon typescript of the translation of the work translated by Hossfeld, and is marked on the cover "3 copies, Copy No. 2".  According to NUC/WorldCat the other two copies of this work are located in the libraries at the U.S. Army Military Institute (MHR) and Library of the Marine Corps (QMC) .  Before being transferred from the collections at the Library of Congress this copy was in the library at the U.S. Naval War College (so stamped on verso of the title page) before being discarded.   Very good condition.  $450

 

German Military Medical Recovery Retreat, Coastal Poland, 1915

ITEM:  Weekly issue of Illustrirte Zeitung (Leipzig) for 22 July 1915.  15x11 inches, pp 103-130, with many illustrations.  Removed from larger bound volume, with that evidence along the spine.  Nice copy, fine quality paper.  $45    Ref:  JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

This image, from the 22 Juli 1915 issue of the Illustrirte Zeitung (Leipzig) shows a collection of German soldiers that were treated at a medical aidstation.  The woman in white is the German crown princess, accompanied by her four navy-uniform-clad sons, are adrift in a sea of astonished ("verwundete", or amazed) soldiers who I guess were given leave from the war, celebrating their survival at the old spa and vacation spot Ostseebad, in Zoppot (Sopot, Poland). 

And the detail:

And another:

World War I Images--Pigeons, Dardenelles, Map of the Belgian Front, October 1915

(1)  Illustrated London News, complete issue for 2 October 1915.  24pp, illustrated.  14x10 inches.  Removed from larger bound volume, complete in itself.  $45

Also has reports from the Dardenelles, Australian and NZ hospital ships, full page map for the Belgian combat frontier, and a two-page diagram showing the distribution of command. 

A fascinating aspect in modern technology and warfare is the reliance upon pgieons and dogs--and their achievemetns--for war services.  Evidently several hundred thousand pigeons were used to relay messages between divisional headquarters and battlefield postions and such during WWI, with something like 90% of the messages being delivered successfully--a remarkable achievement, since it was not uncommon for the pigeons to fly dozens of miles to perform their task.  Dogs were used as guards and ambulance litter carriers, but messengers/runners for communications via the long and intricate mazes of trenches at the front.

The image below comes from The Illustrated London News for 2 October 1915

Osman, Lt. Col. A.H., Pigeons in the Great War: A Complete History of the Carrier Pigeon Service during the Great War, 1914 to 1918 (London, 1928)  Read more at Suite101.

A fascinating aspect in modern technology and warfare is the reliance upon pgieons and dogs--and their achievements--for war services.  Evidently several hundred thousand pigeons were used to relay messages between divisional headquarters and battlefield positions and such during WWI, with something like 90% of the messages being delivered successfully--a remarkable achievement, since it was not uncommon for the pigeons to fly dozens of miles to perform their task. The services worked so well in fact that the American carrier pigeon service training facilitiy for the army was not closed until 1957.

Dogs were used as guards,  ambulance litter carriers, and occasional messengers/runners.  

The image below comes from The Illustrated London News for 2 October 1915:

 

Osman, Lt. Col. A.H., Pigeons in the Great War: A Complete History of the Carrier Pigeon Service during the Great War, 1914 to 1918 (London, 1928)  Read more at Suite101.

(2) Original photograph, 1918.  8x6 inches.  Good condition.  $125

And another--a magnificent photograph of a memorial to a carrier pigeon named Auguste, a famous flyer who evidently performed invaluable services time after time, a bird of splendid behavior whose actions no doubt saved the lives of many soldiers, and who was shot down by German troops in commission of an assignment.  Auguste's comrades cosntructed this makeshift memorial in the trenches for the heroic animal.

And another photograph that told the story of teh pigeon in very plain  language:

(3) Original photograph, 1918.  9x6 inches. Good condition.  $100

 

(4)  Original photograph, 1918.  9x3 inches.  Good condition.  $100

And yet another appreciative handler of a valuable reseource:

 

(5)  The Illustrated London News, weekly issue fo 25 December 1915.  34 pp. Good condition.  $50

Shifting species a bit, The Illustrated London News turned its attention to a full-page story on war dogs for its Christmas issue of 1915.  Here a French doctor ministers to the wound of a medical helper dog--one of thousnds who saved the lives of soldiers time-and-again. 

 

(6)  Original photograph, 1918.  9x6 inches.  Good condition.  $200

Still another interesting and rare image comes from an earlier post to this blog regarding the census of French war dogs, below:

I wonder what the French officer sitting behind the table at the center background thought about at night, after his day was done.  I wonder what it was that went through his head, his eyes fluttering, as he slipped into sleep?  As the accompanying caption of this photo states, this was a census of dogs, a census of army dogs in the French army, taken at "the battle front" of Verdun, and dated 10 October 1918.  Did he think of his duties expended throughout the day, and weeks and months?  Counting dogs as a war effort may have been a hard thing to consume.  Perhaps this officer had already seen his share of war, perhaps he had fought from 1914 and onwards, this position being relatively benign, a reward for years of impossibly difficult service in a bloody war. Or perhaps not...