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The first Battle of Marne
September 6th, 1914 the first battle of Marne began. The Germans were getting closer and closer to Paris. But the French transported 6,000 infantrymen by taxi to the front. Germans began digging trenches. This starts trench warfare. Trenches will be used throughout the rest of the war.
Source:
https://www.britannica.com/list/timeline-of-world-war-i -
Battle of Verdun
February 21st, 1916 the Battle of Verdun began. This battle was between France and Germany. The battle was long and deadly. 300,000 were killed in the battle. This battle lasted for about 9 months! In the end, the battle was a victory for France.
Source:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Verdun -
First Battle of Somme
July 1st, 1916 was the beginning of the First Battle of Somme. The British’s goal was to get Germany’s attention from Verdun. The first day of the battle became known as one of the most horrific and deadly days. The British lost around 19,240 soldiers that day. This day became one of the deadliest battles in British history.
Source:
https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Battle-of-the-Somme -
United States declares war on Germany
The United States declared war on Germany on April 6th, 1917. One of the main reasons that the United States decided to declare war on Germany was because of submarine warfare. The Germans were also trying to get Mexico to attack the US. The Germans told Mexico they would give them some US territory and financially support them if they attacked the US.
Source:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Zimmermann -
Frank Buckles Joins the Army.
He joined the army in 1917 at 16 after lying about his age. He served as an ambulance driver and escorted prisoners from the war back to Germany. He took the prisoners back on a train. When the train stopped he missed his coach car. As a result, Buckles had to ride in a freight car with some prisoners.
source:
https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01070/ -
War officially comes to an end
The war officially ended on November 11th, 1918. The armistice was signed. It was signed between the Axis and Allied powers which resulted in the war coming to an end. It started on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It was signed at 5 a.m.
Source:
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/armistice -
Buckles is captured by the Japanese.
In December 1941 Frank went to work with the White Star Steamship Line. Frank was present on the day that the Japanese attacked. They attacked on December 8th. The Japanese captured him and he was a civilian prisoner for 3 years. He was held as a prisoner at the Univeristy of Santo Tomas for those three years.
source:
https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01070/ -
Buckles is liberated by the US army.
Buckles was liberated by the U.S. Army in 1945. He spent 39 months in prison camps. He was at the age of 44 when he was freed. While in prison he lost a lot of weight and got degenerative disease which affected him for the remainder of his life. It was not a good place to be. They were all liberated by the United States 11th Airborne Division.
Source:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-last-doughboy-of-world-war-i-11880886/ -
Buckles returns home and settles down.
Buckles returned home after he was liberated and married Audrey Mayo in 1946. They had already met before the war. In 1954, the two moved to a nice cattle farm in West Virginia. Buckles wanted to settle down after constantly being on the move while at sea. Buckle's wife Audrey Mayo passed away in 1999.
Source:
https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-buckles-20110228-story.html -
Buckles (last living Veteran) passes away.
February 17th,2011 Frank Woodruff Buckles passed away. Buckles was the last known living veteran from World War 1. He died at the age of 110 in his home located in West Virginia. Frank expected that he would be one of the last living veterans from the war seeing as he was so young when he joined the army. But frank said that he never thought he would be the last one.
Source:
https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-buckles-20110228-story.html