PHOTOS

Postcards, Photos and Images

The following images are displayed at the Teufelhunden Tavern. Many of these images are originals. They capture the brutality of the Battle of Belleau Woods and give a very personal connection to those who fought and died.

US Marines Gas Mask Formation

8x12 Photo (Reproduction)

The M2 gas mask was a French-made gas mask used by French, British , and American forces from April 1916 to August 1918 during World War I.The M2 was fabricated in large quantities, with about 29,300,000 being made during the war.[2] It was intended to protect the wearer from at least five hours' exposure to phosgene gas, a common chemical weapon of the time.

The M2 mask was based on a design proposed in 1915 by René Louis Gravereaux of Paris. An order of 600,000 masks was produced in February 1916 and introduced for British forces the following month. The first M2 model was produced in only one size and often incurred damage when it was folded for placement in a metal container. A second model introduced in April 1916 was produced in three different sizes and included two separate eyepieces, so folding it would not cause damage. British forces were issued 6.2 million units of the second model between May and November 1916 and used it as late as August 1918.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, it was unprepared for chemical warfare. The US Army issued its soldiers the British-made Small Box Respirator to protect against chemical attack, and the French-made M2 gas mask in case a mask had to be worn for an extended period of time. The untrained soldiers tended to put on the Small Box Respirator when first confronted with a gas attack and then switch to the M2 when they realized they would have to wear it for a long time. While switching gear, some soldiers inhaled the poison gas and became casualties.

U.S. Marines in France off for camp after a long ship Ride

8x13 Photo (Reproduction)

In the push to the French border, 1.6 million troops mobilized on 560 trains per day. They traveled at an average of 19 miles per hour.

This was mobilization on an unprecedented scale.

The French government implemented its deployment strategy, Plan XVII. Around 800,000 troops headed for the French borders with Germany and Belgium on 4,278 trains — 56 trains per day. Only 20 of those trains were late.

General View of American cemetery near Belleau Wood

Original Press Photo

During World War I, it was one of the temporary wartime cemeteries established by the Army's Graves Registration Service, and was known as the American Expeditionary Forces' Cemetery No. 1764- Belleau Wood. In 1921, Congress authorized the retention of the cemetery as one of eight permanent World War I military cemeteries on foreign soil. The following year an agreement was signed with the Government of France granting its use as a military cemetery in perpetuity free of charge or taxation. The permanent cemetery is named for the World War I campaign area in which it is located.