Biography of a soldier in ww1

World War I, also called the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, began in Europe in 1914. But it was not until April 6, 1917—100 years ago—that the United States Congress declared war against Germany. The American Expeditionary Force was organized and sent off to France to join the fight; by the time an armistice was declared, in November of 1918, more than 4.7 million Americans had served, 53,000 of whom were killed in action, 63,000 had died of disease, and 205,000 had been wounded.

In 2017, Green-Wood decided, in anticipation of the 100 anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I, to identify and honor as many as possible of those who had served in that conflict, whether civilian or military, and are interred here. For the last year, our volunteers and staff have searched Green-Wood’s grounds, its records, and various online databases, in order to accomplish this goal. As of this writing, we have identified 161 men and women and written a biography for each. Their dramatic stories cover a wide range: the Cromwell twins, Red Cross nurses who served in France, then committed suicide as they began their journey home; Intelligence Officer Louis Abel, who wrote just before he was killed in battle, “As the war goes on and as I come out of each engagement still alive, I think often of those at home and wonder if I will ever see them again”; Lieutenant Kenneth Culbert, who while flying with the First Aero Squadron, photographed enemy trenches under heavy fire, only to be shot down as his plane returned to its base; Robert Bayard Cutting, associate organizing secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), who volunteered to serve in France, only to die there of disease; aeronaut Private Lloyd Ludwig, who was flying over France, went into a spin, and had a wing on his plane fall off as he plummeted to his death; many men killed in the trenches of France in 1918, interred in France, then brought back home to Brookl

World War One Biographies

On the staircase at The Barlow are 144 photos of local men who went to the war. During renovations of The Barlow many years ago the photos were rescued from a skip through the foresight of local resident, Mick Williams. These photos created the interest which sparked the research project.

Which Soldiers were Researched?

From the original 144 photos, the list grew dramatically. 350 names were researched, with another 31 known names with no further information. 102 men were killed, including 28 associated with the National Children’s Home and Orphanage, which is situated just outside the village.

The Biographies

A biography has been prepared for each soldier and includes information about his family and siblings who also fought. Although many records were destroyed in World War 2, a significant proportion of the soldiers did have service records and the results are in the following pages. Sometimes there were real puzzles – what links a man who appears on the St. Anne’s War Memorial with someone who was living in Fleetwood in 1911? Why is a man commemorated on the Methodist memorial, also commemorated in Bromley in Kent? The information came from far and wide, including Canada and Seattle.

If you have any further information about the men shown in these biographies, we would be pleased to hear from you so that we can amend and add to the information on the website.

Research into the histories of soldiers who fought in the war is coordinated by Linda Spencer who can be contacted on lespncr@aol.com or 07779 060 962.

Henry Johnson
Sergeant
39th Regiment, 93d Infantry Division
July 15, 1892 – July 1, 1929

Sgt. Henry Johnson’s actions on the night of May 15, 1918 earned him the nickname “Black Death.” Defending Allied lines, he saved a fellow Soldier from capture and prevented a German raid from reaching his French allies. However, the United States refused to recognize Johnson’s extraordinary actions. Johnson, along with hundreds of thousands of other African Americans to serve during World War I, was denied the same treatment as white Soldiers. Yet, Johnson courageously served the United States, displaying valor and determination above and beyond the call of duty.

Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, William Henry Johnson moved to New York state as a teenager. Early in life, he worked as a chauffeur, soda mixer, laborer, and porter at Albany’s Union Station. Many of the opportunities enjoyed by white Americans were denied to Johnson but that did not stop him from answering the call of duty during World War I. Just two months after the United States entered the war, the 5-foot-4-inch, 130 pound Johnson enlisted in the Army on June 5, 1917. He was assigned as a private to Company C, 15th New York Infantry Regiment, a segregated African American unit with some white officers. Johnson trained for months until the unit deployed to France in December 1917. When they deployed to Europe, the regiment was renamed the 369th Infantry Regiment, part of the segregated 93d Infantry Division.

Upon arrival, Army leadership assigned the 93d to non-combat roles. They performed manual labor, such as unloading supplies from ships and digging latrines. Many white Soldiers treated their Black comrades poorly, with some refusing to be stationed in the same trenches with African Americans. Despite a desire to keep American units together, Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing detached the 369th Infantry to serve with the French on April

"To run was as bad as to stand. This is war; grim, death-stalking havoc… worse than all, the moans and shrieks of the unfortunate men. Some lay in that limp, unnatural, distorted attitude that denotes death.

"Some struggled madly, thoroughly unnerved but with their wounds unable to much more than crawl; the others worked their limbs feebly, like sleepy children, while their blood dyed their khaki with big black stains.”

Arthur's diary also revealed how lucky he had been.

“One fellow in front of me had his head blew off. The chap beside him was severely wounded, the chap next to me was wounded and one of the chaps behind me was killed and the fellow beside him was wounded. I completely escaped. That was everyone around me either killed or wounded. We lost about a dozen all told.”

After Passchendaele, Arthur came through the war unscathed; he was later restricted to non-combat jobs by a bad case of trench foot. He wrote:

“I have filled many breaches. I have been company-runner, batman, guide, dining-hall attendant, bugler, cycle-orderly, aircraft-gunner, hut-builder, stretcher-bearer and one or two other things. The strange thing is that according to my discharge, my military qualifications are ‘Nil’.”

Arthur returned to Glasgow where he worked all his life as a maritime and electrical engineer. Twice married, he played banjo in a British Legion dance band and died at a nursing home aged 84 in 1982.