German and Austro-Hungarian forces under the command of generals von Hindenburg and Archduke Friedrich besieged Warsaw, and took it during the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Austrians von Hötzendorf, Friedrich, and Pflanzer-Baltin form the bottom of the ring; the others are German. The flag and shield of Germany are on the bottom left; those of Austria and Hungary the bottom right.
Image text: Der Ring um Warschau, The Ring Encircling Warsaw.Bottom right: 5258; illegible logo bottom leftReverse: registration lines only.
French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau greeting General Fernando Tamagnini, commander of Portuguese forces on the Western Front.
Image text: Os Portugueses em França; M. Clemenceau e o General Tamagnini.Les Portugais en France; M. Clemenceau le Général Tamagnini.The Portuguese in France; Marshal Douglas Haig and General Tamagnini.Reverse:Serv. Phot. do C. E P. - Phot. GarcezLévy Fils & Cie. Paris
King Albert of Belgium decorates Willy Coppens, Belgium's Ace of Aces. Coppens describes this June 30, 1918 ceremony, in which he was awarded the Ordre de la Couronne in his memoir Flying in Flanders.
Image text: Caption: Le Roi décore l'As Belge Coppens. - Le Roi le félicite. (The King [Albert] decorates the Belgian Ace Coppens. The King congratulates him.)Reverse:Carte PostaleService photographique de l'armée Belge.Phot. Belge, r. Ma Campagne, 30, BruxLogo PhoB
Map of United States troop sailings from Canada and the United States to Great Britain, France, and Italy. Over 2,000,000 Americans sailed, divided roughly equally between Britain and France.
Image text:
"On the 2nd of May [1915] at 6 a.m. an overwhelming artillery fire, including field guns and running up to the heaviest calibers, was begun on the [Russian] front many miles in extent selected for the effort to break through. This was maintained unbroken for four hours.At 10 o'clock in the morning these hundreds of fire-spouting tubes suddenly ceased and the same moment the swarming lines and attacking columns of the assailants threw themselves upon the hostile positions. The enemy had been so shaken by the heavy artillery fire that his resistance at many points was very slight. . . .On the evening of the 2nd of May, when the warm Spring sun had begun to yield to the coolness of night the first main position in its whole depth and extent, a distance of some sixteen kilometers, had been broken through and a gain of ground of some four kilometers had been attained." ((1), more)
"Clemenceau also paid a visit [to the front lines]. When they tried to prevent his going into the trenches, he retorted: 'What of it! How long have I got to live! Perhaps four or five years! And in failing health. . . . Beside, such a lot of people would be glad if anything happened to me!'Clemenceau came upon an advanced outpost who enjoined him: 'Keep quiet!' The soldier was informed: 'This is Clemenceau.' His reply was: 'Ho, ho! So it's Clemenceau, is it? Very well, let him keep quiet all the same!; This same outpost related that he was only five yards away from his opposite number in the German lines: 'For the last few days he's had a cold. He's been coughing all the time. But now he's getting better!'" ((2), more)
"I hereby desire to mention in Corps Orders, Captain Declercq and 1st Class Sergeant-Pilot Willy Coppens, for the coolness, courage, and skill shown by them in the course of a reconnaissance over the enemy's lines on the morning of May 1st. Attacked suddenly by four enemy scouts, they succeeded, after a prolonged and unequal fight, in bringing back their machine, badly damaged by the enemy's fire." ((3), more)
"This was done at Abbeville, on May 1st and 2d, when the following arrangements were agreed to:(1) The British Government undertook to furnish the tonnage necessary to transport from the United States to France 130,000 men in May, and 150,000 in June, consisting solely of infantry and machine-gun detachments.(2) The American tonnage would be used for the transport of artillery, engineers, services, etc.(3) A further examination of the situation would be made at the beginning of June and the program for the future decided upon." ((4), more)
(1) Excerpts from a description of the first day of the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive by the victorious German commander August von Mackensen leading the German-Austro-Hungarian forces. The attackers fired as many as 700,000 shells in the devastating opening bombardment. Suffering from a lack of munitions, the Russians could respond with little but the men themselves. Continuing through September 30, Mackensen's campaign would spread across the entire Eastern Front and drive Russian forces back as much as 300 miles.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III, 1915, pp. 178, 179, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(2) Entry from May 2, 1916 from the diary of Michel Corday, a senior civil servant in the French government. Georges Clemenceau was a member of Radical Party, and served in the French Senate. He was appointed Prime Minister in November 1917, holding the position through the end of the war.
The Paris Front: an Unpublished Diary: 1914-1918 by Michel Corday, page 161, copyright © 1934, by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., publication date: 1934
(3) Entry from the Belgian Flying Corps Orders of May 2, 1917. Willy Coppens, who would become Belgium's leading ace with 37 victories, was in his first aerial combat the previous day, piloting a Sopwith One-and-a-Half Strutter two-seater. He had crossed the line at Ypres, flying at 10,000 feet, when he saw four German single-seat scouts climbing towards him. Watching them carefully, he missed the approach of four others. After four and a half minutes, the Germans inexplicably flew away. Coppens and his gunner/observer were uninjured, but 32 bullets had pierced their plane.
Flying in Flanders by Willy Coppens, page 79, publisher: Ace Books, publication date: 1971
(4) Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch's summary of the key decision at the Abbeville Conference of May 1–2, 1918. United States Commander in Chief John Pershing resisted putting American troops into the line to fill gaps suffered by the French and especially the British in Operation Michael and Operation Georgette, the German offensives of March and April, 1918. The agreement reached at Abbeville meant the Britain would reduce shipments of food to the United Kingdom, but instead transport the American soldiers desperately needed on the Western Front.
The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, page 308, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931
