Lot 1254

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Description:

WORLD WAR I AMERICAN SOLDIER''S JOURNAL
The manuscript diary of U.S. Army Pvt. Thomas Oskin, executed in a pre-printed "Army and Navy Diary" (Chicago: Stanton and Van Vliet Co.), 1917, approx. 180pp. 12mo., bound in black cloth boards, which contains spaces for the soldier to record their personal information, addresses of friends, and battle participated in, as well as a glossary of French phrases and a guide to the metric system. Pvt. Oskin records his hometown as Duquesne, Pennsylvania, his enlistment date as Oct. 31, 1917 at Pittsburgh, and his basic training location as Camp (now Fort) Meade, Maryland, where he trains as a member of an engineering battalion. His first entry is dated Dec. 2, 1917, while still at Camp Meade. He and his unit sail from Hoboken for France on Jan. 23, 1918, arriving at Brest on Feb. 5. From there his battalion travels by train to St. Nazaire, where they are employed building mess kitchens and other infrastructure for the camps there. The battalion departs for the front lines in the vicinity of Toul on Feb. 23, where his battalion continues to perform various tasks close to the front lines. Oskin reports hearing distant artillery firing throughout the day, records German casualties and prisoners and later witnesses several air raids, and an aerial duel between French and German fighters. He also frequently mentions singing with several other members of his battalion, guard duties, bouts of illness, and all of the different construction and repair duties that the battalion is tasked with. He captures the uncertainty of being stationed so close to the front, with frequent gas alarms, moving camp, being shelled by artillery, and constantly waiting to be called to the trenches. For leisure, the men hold baseball games, box, wrestle, sing and occasionally watch a film. Oskin is also tasked with building an "old fashioned" chimney and fireplace for the officers'' quarters. Om May 30, he makes the following entry: "... went up to the front tonight to patch shell holes. The boys went over the top at 2 and there shure was something doing..." He continues the following day: "... The boys brought back 20 Germans last night for ornaments and killed all others in sight. Fine day..." On June 11, he records" ... Gas alarm twice last night as the Bochs [Germans] tried to come over but got fooled..." At the end of July, the battalion relocates to the vicinity of Chateau Thierry, where Oskin continues to make daily records of interesting events, including swimming in the Marne and recovering a body, nightly German bombing raids, and transporting supplies by truck between various villages, At the beginning of September, Oskin falls ill, and has to be transported to Paris by the Red Cross for treatment. While there, he records a bombing raid on the city and visits several monuments and museums. The Armistice finds Oskin and his unit in the vicinity of Vraincourt, where he writes on Nov. 11: "... The Germans are supposed to have signed an armistice today and we are hoping for the best. Having a general singing time tonight..." He continues the following day: "... The armistice is signed so things are going our way..." The end of the war does not signal an end for Oskin''s duties, however. A few days after the Armistice, he is tasked with driving several officers to inspect the German-held city of Verdun. Oskin remains in France until at least March 23, 1919, which is that date of his final entry. One page of the diary is torn, and several pages are loose but still attached, and the diary as a whole bears expected age wear, else very good and perfectly legible.

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February 19, 2017 10:00 AM EST
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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