A Guide to the Great War Diary: Joseph M. Bruccoli Great War Collection
A Collection in the
Joseph M. Bruccoli Great War Collection
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 10875 -bi
Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
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Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Sharon Defibaugh, 1999 May 15
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.
Preferred Citation
Great War Diary, Accession # 10875 -bi , Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, Watchung, New Jersey, on December 10, 1998.
Scope and Content Information
This collection consists of a single bound diary, 95 pages,
kept by a sergeant first class, 2
Entries for the month of November 1918 mention his work on Fiat motors; taking hangers down; Turkey; Austria and Germany all signing peace treaties; his practice of giving tobacco to the French soldiers; receiving letters from his mother and Lavinia; walking around the outskirts of Paris; the celebration at the end of the war; activities of the rats; and the widespread fear of the flu.
In December 1918, he mentions big trucks and automobiles in bad condition; his work on twelve Army trucks; drunk soldiers stealing the Company truck; the visit of President Woodrow Wilson to Paris, "Well we all half crazy over President Wilson's speech;" seeing the Handley Page British aircraft with four motors leave the airfield; his visit to Chateau-Thierry, and description of its devastation and scenes of death (continued in back of diary).
During January 1919, he mentions people arriving for the
Peace Conference; leaving camp aboard the trains for La
Rochelle; seeing the lowlands flooded; notes that "most all
colored troop here;" makes a reference to being at Camp
Hancock [Georgia] in the past; and sees wharf rats waiting
outside the Mess Hall for the slop. He also talks about those
late for formation being sent to the docks to work; the 6
The soldier refers to the Negro and White Y.M.C.A.; being on leave at Bordeaux; Lordes; and [Bagnes?]; his visit to the Spanish border; and an inspection by John J. Pershing in the February 1919 section.
In March 1919, he writes about receiving an inoculation
with a French serum; leaving the United States a year ago to
the day (March 4); the rumors that the [Motor Transport Corp]
must stay another five months to assemble 150 GMC ambulances;
50 Fords; about 75 motorcycles; and 300 bicycles; refers to
Townsend Inlet [New Jersey ?]; the orders received by the
captain that the regiment would form at Nantes; a venereal
disease lecture; and release from the [Motor Transport Corp]
on the 30
During the month of April 1919, the soldier visited the sea
coast; went on various hikes; engaged in many leisure
activities; heard about an engine room fire aboard a S.C. 99
ship; left La Rochelle on April 15 and arrived at Nantes;
received new toilet kits for inspection; underwent an
embarkation inspection; made remarks about the French magazine
Viva La Parisian, and complained
that Americans were not allowed on the streets of Nantes on
April 30