In Commemoration: "The War to End All Wars"

Today is Armistice Day, AKA Veterans Day. On the 11th day of the 11th month at 11:00 am in 1918, by agreement, the guns of the nations at war since 1914 fell silent. At its conclusion, the total military dead was 8.5 million. Estimates of civilian casualties range from 6 to 13 million.

Under any reckoning, World War I, "The War to End All Wars," (AKA "The Great War") was a catacylism of destruction and slaughter.

An unemployed but already published poet, Isaac Rosenberg became a reluctant soldier. When he enlisted in 1915, his first assignment was the 12th Suffolk Regiment which only took men no taller than 5' 3" . He was sent to fight in France in June 1916. His trench poems (of which the extract from Dead Man's Dump is below) were written on whatever scraps of paper he could find and forwarded to his sister. He died during the German Spring Offensive in April 1918. His trench poems were published posthumously in 1922.

The air is loud with death,
The dark air spurts with fire,
The explosions ceaseless are.

His work, and the work of other poets, are highlighted in the First World War Poetry Digital Archive is an online repository of over 7000 items of text, images, audio, and video for teaching, learning, and research. The heart of the archive consists of collections of highly valued primary material from major poets of the period, including Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg, Robert Graves, Vera Britain, and Edward Thomas. This is supplemented by a comprehensive range of multimedia artifacts from the Imperial War Museum, a separate archive of over 6,500 items contributed by the general public, and a set of specially developed educational resources. These educational resources include an exciting new exhibition in the three-dimensional virtual world Second Life.

The First World War Poetry Digital Archive is a significant resource for studying the First World War and the literature it inspired.

A companion website is the Great War Archive. The Great War Archive contains over 6,500 items contributed by the general public in the United Kingdom between March and June 2008. Every item originates from, or relates to, someone's experience of the First World War, either abroad or at home. Contributions were received via a special website and also through a series of open days at libraries and museums throughout the country.

A supplemental FLICKR site contains images uploaded by individuals from their personal collections after the deadline for submission to the Great War Archive.

These digital contributions from the United Kingdom documenting the World War I experience are quite sobering. Work is underway to include the German perspective as well.

For a closer-to-home view, we have The official roster of South Carolina soldiers, sailors and marines in the World War, 1917-1918 for family historians to find a synopsis of an ancestor's service record. We also maintain an obituary file which includes notices of local men killed during the War and a vertical file headed History--World War, 1914-1918. Our postcard collection contains a number of contemporary postcards about the training of Marines on Parris Island during the period.

Come visit us. We are usually open Mondays through Fridays, 10 am - 5 pm, except when we aren't - as in today. Today we are closed to observe Veterans Day. We resume regular hours on Monday.

For the official record of a U.S. military person serving during the Great War, one should contact the National Archives.