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{"id":15455,"date":"2018-11-09T11:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=15455"},"modified":"2023-11-16T09:16:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T14:16:19","slug":"one-medical-officers-armistice-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/","title":{"rendered":"One Medical Officer\u2019s Armistice Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Susan L. Speaker ~<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The newspaper headlines on November 11, 1918 were exultant: after more than four long years, the Great War was over!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15457\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15457\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ny_trib_11-11-1918_feature.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15457\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/ny_trib_11-11-1918_feature\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ny_trib_11-11-1918_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"900,400\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"NY_Trib_11-11-1918_feature\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>New York Tribune Armistice Headline<br \/>\nLibrary of Congress in Chronicling America <\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ny_trib_11-11-1918_feature.jpg?fit=300%2C133&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ny_trib_11-11-1918_feature.jpg?fit=840%2C373&ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15457\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ny_trib_11-11-1918_feature.jpg?resize=840%2C373&ssl=1\" alt=\"Germany Has Surrendered; World War Ended at 6 A. M.\" width=\"840\" height=\"373\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15457\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>New York Tribune<\/em> Armistice Headline<em>\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/rr\/news\/topics\/armistice.html\"><em>Read More at Library of Congress in Chronicling America<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>For those close to the front lines, however, the cease-fire at 11:00 AM that day was almost surreal. <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2013\/11\/11\/the-eleventh-hour\/\">Stanhope Bayne-Jones<\/a>, an American medical officer who had been <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2017\/05\/24\/u-s-army-base-hospital-4-receives-royal-greeting-in-england\/\">working at the front since mid-1917<\/a>, wrote to his sister Marian that evening and noted:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2013\/11\/11\/the-eleventh-hour\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15458\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/bayne-jones_-msc155\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones_-msc155.jpg?fit=400%2C363&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"400,363\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Bayne-Jones_ MSC155\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones_-msc155.jpg?fit=300%2C272&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones_-msc155.jpg?fit=400%2C363&ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-15458 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones_-msc155.jpg?resize=150%2C136&ssl=1\" alt=\"Stanhope Bayne-Jones in WWI uniform.\" width=\"150\" height=\"136\" \/><\/a>\u201cOur guns had stopped\u2014and no shells were coming on us. It seemed mysterious, queer, unbelievable. All the men knew what the silence meant, but nobody shouted or threw his hat in the air.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Later in the day, he said, the men on both sides cheered up, and began shooting off flares and rockets to celebrate.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15450\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15450\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-05-1918.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15450\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-05-1918\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-05-1918.jpg?fit=1549%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1549,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"IQ180","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1474648132","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.016666673547467","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Bayne-Jones letter 11-05-1918\" data-image-description=\"<p>France, Nov. 5th 1918<br \/>\nDear Marian,<br \/>\nWhile the shells shriek overhead and burst with a deafening roar, throwing up clods of earth and chunks of the flotsam and jetsom of the battlefields, while the sizzling shrapnel rattles on the tin hats of the stalwart Yanks, crowding the muddy shell holes, while the machine gun bullets chirp overhead and spurt against the elephant iron, – while all these horrors are taking place I am neither deafened nor afraid – because I am in a hole 30 feet underground in a Bosche dug-out. Isn’t it a joke what the newspapers write up about battles-! As a matter of fact, we are in a very tough sector. No doubt the Hun will be kicked out of here before long, because these are our winning days – meanwhile the Bosche is making it about as unpleasant as he did at Chateau Thierrry.<br \/>\nThe war seems to drag along very slowly during these days when great victories everywhere are bringing the end rapidly nearer.<br \/>\nWhen I was no hope of getting home before 1950 or thereabouts, I did not think so much of the possibility of going home, but now when it seems likely that I will be back with you before many more months I think about that too much to go home “toot sweet” – and the “tooter the sweeter” XXX<br \/>\nI was very glad to get you r letter etc.<br \/>\nPlease tell Tante E that I will send her a Boache helmet and some other souvenirs as soon as I get back out of the line. She asked me for an iron cross. Tell her that I haven’t one of those medals though I have been trying to get hold of one ever since I’ve been over here. I have a couple of the ribbons of the iron cross, but never had the luck to get a medal. As a rule, we let prisoners wear their medals, and I’ve never found a medal on a dead Borshe.<br \/>\nMy love to all your lovely family and to you,<br \/>\nDevotedly<br \/>\nStan<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"<p>National Library of Medicine<br \/>\nStanhope Bayne-Jones Papers, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-05-1918.jpg?fit=300%2C232&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-05-1918.jpg?fit=840%2C651&ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15450\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-05-1918.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1\" alt=\"A typwritten letter from Stan to Marian, dated November 5, 1918, France.\" width=\"300\" height=\"232\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>National Library of Medicine<\/em><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/findingaids.nlm.nih.gov\/repositories\/4\/resources\/969\"><em>Stanhope Bayne-Jones Papers<\/em><\/a><em>, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The last few months of the war were marked by fierce battles, as Allied forces moved to reverse Germany\u2019s successful March offensive. The eastward push took the armies back over territory littered with remains from the early years of the conflict. Bayne-Jones\u2019 letters from that autumn describe camping in the remaining dugouts and seeing bones, equipment, shells, and boots left from the battle of Verdun (February\u2013December 1916); the weary medical officer was confident that the Allies would soon conquer the Germans. But though there were rumors of peace overtures from the Germans, and talk of an armistice, Bayne-Jones felt that such news was \u201cbad for the troops, as it may make them relax their efforts. We must whip the Boche\u2014and then our diplomats may talk. The best principle I know is \u2013 \u201cleave it to [Marshal Ferdinand] Foch.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/09\\\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\\\/\"}' id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-15455 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/bayne-jones-ltr-10-15-1918\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"237\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-10-15-1918.jpg?fit=237%2C300&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"A typwritten letter from Stan to Uncle George, dated October 15, 1918, France.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-15449\" data-attachment-id=\"15449\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/bayne-jones-ltr-10-15-1918\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-10-15-1918.jpg?fit=948%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"948,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"IQ180","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1474648101","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.016666673547467","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Bayne-Jones letter 10-15-1918\" data-image-description=\"<p>October 15, 1916.<br \/>\nDear Uncle George:<br \/>\nI enjoyed your long letter, which I received a few days ago, written when you were taking you holiday. I have written to Bayne at the address you gave me, but haven’t had any reply form him yet. The war will not improve his qualities as a corespondent, if he is at all like me, although I spend endless days of comparative idleness in dug-outs like this, or in a shack somewhere, I hardly write any letters. Some men seem to write up boxes of paper during these nameless days, but the Bayne family is not affected that way; I guess I’ve exchanged about four notes with Uncle Hugh during the past year, – and haven’t written to you as often as I wanted to.<br \/>\nW week or so ago, General Gorgas paid me a visit. He came a long way out a muddy ravine when were were in the line and must have taken a lot of trouble to find me. I was happy to see him, but was distressed at his appearance. He looks older and rather badly – and was limping- I don’t know why? The work of the huge medical department that we now have mush have been a big task for him during last winter.<br \/>\nShortly before that, Major Sawger of the Signal Corpse was out at our P.C. and told me that he had know Bayne at the Camp in Louisiana. He said that Bayne was one of the best officer he had ever seen and was really an expert in signal work. It was fine to hear this – and very good to know what excellent work Bayne can do in a difficult subject when his interest is aroused. – I haven’t much hope of seeing Bayne, unless we can arrange to meet here. I have heard that his Division will remain at the Base as a “replacement division” – for the training of new men and sending men forward to reinforce or replace casualties or any losses in other units. But you can never tell in this war where you’ll be to-morrow – so I still have hopes.<br \/>\nI have returned to Brown Shipley &amp; Co. my last letter of credit which expired on Sept. 30. with an exhausted credit of L50.<br \/>\nDuring the trench life I am able to save my pay, so will have enough money to get along on all right.<br \/>\nUnlike the weather, my pen as gone dry. Fog, rain and mud are all we know these days. I don’t expect to see and dry sunny day in France again “until next June.<br \/>\nWe are now in a sector of extraordinary historical interest. This is the oldest battlefield where the French showed thier supreme courage and power of resistance.<br \/>\nThe ground is all torn up by shells, and old bones, skeletons, Bosh boots with feet and leg bones sticking out of them, old casques, cartridges, belts, rifle barrels, tin cans and trench refuse show how they lived and died in those battles. No one can describe these sights to you except your own eyes – and e live in the same holes as if there were nothing unusual around us.<br \/>\nLately, there has been lots of talk about peace and an armistice. I think this is bad for the troops as it may make them relax their efforts. We mush whip the Bosch – and then our diplomats may talk. The best peace principle I know of is – “leave it to Foch.”<br \/>\nI enclose a label for a Christmas package which you and Tante E may send me, if you will be so kind. This is the label issued us, and will five you instructions about the size of the package, etc. I suppose, if peace were declared, soon, we would still be in France at Christmas. The luck of getting home early is too good to think about.<br \/>\nI hope that Alma and the baby are doing splendidly. These victories over here should allow Bayne to go back to them sooner than expected.<br \/>\nHow are your new offices? I hope that they are comfortable – and have some sort of a den into which you can retire as you used to in your library in the Denegre Building.<br \/>\nBest wishes and love to you all,<br \/>\nAffectionately,<br \/>\nSTAN.<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"<p>National Library of Medicine<br \/>\nStanhope Bayne-Jones Papers, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-10-15-1918.jpg?fit=237%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-10-15-1918.jpg?fit=809%2C1024&ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-15449'>\n\t\t\t\tNational Library of Medicine\nStanhope Bayne-Jones Papers, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-6-1918\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"239\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-6-1918.jpg?fit=239%2C300&ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"A typwritten letter from Stan to Alma, dated October 6, 1918, France.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-15451\" data-attachment-id=\"15451\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-6-1918\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-6-1918.jpg?fit=956%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"956,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"IQ180","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1474648003","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.016666673547467","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Bayne-Jones letter 11-6-1918\" data-image-description=\"<p>France<br \/>\nOctober 6, 1918<br \/>\nDear Alma:<br \/>\nWhen a baby is a month old, it must be very mature; I image that your daughter now shows promise of having charms like her mother and power like her father. Probably you celebrated yesterday as if it were an anniversary, – so many things much change for you and the baby during the first month of her life – which is a new life for both of you.<br \/>\n“Miss Alma’s” card was brought into my “parlor” to-day – just a month after her debut. I wish I could have asked her to come in – and you, especially.<\/p>\n<p>The great news of victories by all our armies continues. The troops over here are fighting battles that surpass anything in even the Napoleon’s Legend. You would not have thought men capable of such endurance as they have shown. Their moving idea is to keep the Germans in retreat – and prevent his ever getting set in concrete trenches and behind iron loopholes again – and I think they’ll do it. We all want the job to end soon; we all want to come home – but not before we’ve beaten the Germans. It pulls your heart four ways to think of the possibility of peace now. But nearly everyone I’ve seen is willing to go on a while longer – to whip the Hun.<br \/>\nNews has come that Germany is making peace overtures. You would not think his other overtures very peaceable if you were here. Wagnerian kettle drums and Irish confetti aren’t in it with the overture bursting around this hill.<br \/>\nI have had only one letter from Bayne – which is pretty good, considering his noted qualities as a letter writer. When he writes, his letter is good – but he doesn’t write frequently. His letter was written before “Miss Alma” was born, and worried about you. I hope I’ll hear from him again soon, – since he has had the good news.<br \/>\nI take it for granted that all is well with you and the baby – any thing wrong would be unbelievable, because such unwelcome news. When you have a photograph taken of yourself and the baby, will you send me one?<br \/>\nWith best wishes as always,<br \/>\nStan<br \/>\nP.S. Have just met Major Sawger, who happens to be our Div. Sg. Off. He new Bayne and says the finest things about him I’ve heard of any officer in a long time.<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"<p>National Library of Medicine<br \/>\nStanhope Bayne-Jones Papers, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-6-1918.jpg?fit=239%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-ltr-11-6-1918.jpg?fit=816%2C1024&ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-15451'>\n\t\t\t\tNational Library of Medicine\nStanhope Bayne-Jones Papers, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ferdinand_Foch\">Marshal Foch<\/a>, commander of the French forces, and other Allied leaders felt the same way. German representatives met with the Allies from November 8 to November 11 to discuss an armistice. They requested a cease-fire while the negotiations were in process, but Marshal Foch, who headed the Allied delegation and dictated the peace terms, refused. Allied officers were told to step up attacks for those last days. The peace agreement was signed by 5:00 AM on 11\/11, with a cease-fire ordered for 11:00 AM. Officers got the news hours before that, as it traveled quickly through the lines via radio and telephone; many of them were incredulous when they received orders to continue attacking until the last minute. The decision to go on fighting after peace talks started meant that 6750 more were killed and 15,000 wounded on both sides, many of them on the morning of the armistice.<\/p>\n<p>Bayne-Jones was <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2013\/11\/11\/the-eleventh-hour\/\">nearly one of those<\/a>, as he told his sister:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15448\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/11\/09\/one-medical-officers-armistice-day\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918.jpg?fit=799%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"799,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Bayne-Jones letter 11-11-1918\" data-image-description=\"<p>Nov. 11, 1918.<br \/>\nDear Marian:<br \/>\nThe Armistice began at 11 o’clock this morning.<br \/>\nWe know the time of the day by the sudden silence. Suddenly all the guns behind us stopped barking and rolling, the last “freight car” rattled over our heads, and all the machine guns suddenly stopped, though they had been rioting away up the very last minute. There was a cold dense mist, in which I suddenly noticed that I could hear water dripping off a bush next to me. Our guns stopped – and no shells were coming on us. It seemed mysterious, queer, unbelievable. All the men knew what the silence meant, but nobody shouted or threw his hat in the air. We asked ourselves a few questions, wondered if it were really all over – and then someone said “I guess I’ll go look for some grub.” Everybody up here has had so much work lately and seen so many things worse than peace, that ever the cessation of hostilities was at first not exciting.<br \/>\nAs the day wore on, and the silence became more permanent, the men began to cheer up. Tonight the font looks like a Fourth of July celebration. Our men and the Boches are shooting up all the flares and rockets in the dumps. You can see thousands of lights along the lines for miles – green stars, siz red stars, “golden rain”, white flares, every sort of signal. I’ve seen the Boche call for a barrage and our rocket for a barrage go up in hundreds of places. Last night that would have meant a hail of shells and drumfire explosions for hours. It seems too good to be true.<br \/>\nFrom one corner of the is hill I saw the strangest sight of the war, – a line of little fires indicating our front line, and, not far off, a line of fires in the Boche line – were men were warming themselves, because it is quite cold. That would never have happened if the war were not over.<br \/>\nThe next thing is – when will we get home? Soon I hope.<br \/>\nThis morning I nearly got picked off 15 minutes before the shooting stopped. I was going down a ravine with some litter bearers to get a wounded man, when all of a sudden a machine gun ahead opened up and the bullets came clipping by, hit the ground and trees around us, and made us throw ourselves on the our bellies in any odd hole. You could see the bullets kick up the ground on the edge of the road. So we lay there until the armistice let us get up. It would have been tuck luck to get such a souvenir at that time.<br \/>\nWe have been fighting in a sector east of the Meuse – north of Verdun – over the old Verdun battle field. I guess the censor won’t mind my telling you that I am near a ruin of a town called Flabas which we took two days ago.<br \/>\nGrub has been a serious matter. Because of the shelling and bad roads, we didn’t get much to eat for two days. Rations came up this afternoon and with it your letter of October 14. So I am set up tonight, enjoying your letter, having a good time writing to you, and going to bed and to sleep, knowing that I don’t be pulled out to see a wounded man, or have a gas alarm.<br \/>\nThis silence, however, is getting on my nerves.<br \/>\nLove to all,<br \/>\nStan<br \/>\nThis is written on Boche paper that I found in this dugout, but what’s theirs is ours now, so what’s the difference?<\/p>\n\" data-image-caption=\"<p>National Library of Medicine<br \/>\nStanhope Bayne-Jones Papers, MSC 155, Box 7, Folder 21<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918.jpg?fit=682%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-15448 size-thumbnail\" title=\"The Eleventh Hour\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918.jpg?resize=100%2C150&ssl=1\" alt=\"A typwritten letter from Stan to Marian, dated November 11, 1918, France.\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>\u201cThis morning I nearly got picked off 15 minutes before the shooting stopped. I was going down a ravine with some litter bearers to get a wounded man, when all of a sudden a machine gun ahead opened up and the bullets came clipping by, hit the ground and trees around us, and made us throw ourselves on our bellies in any old hole. You could see the bullets kick up the ground on the edge of the road. So we lay there until the armistice let us get up.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Like most of the soldiers, Bayne-Jones was eager to finish the war and go home. Alas, the army kept him for another six months and sent him to Germany as a sanitation officer. But that\u2019s a story for another post!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2275\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2275\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/group.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2275\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2013\/11\/11\/the-eleventh-hour\/group\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/group.png?fit=1462%2C980&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1462,980\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"Stanhope Bayne-Jones in a group of soldiers\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Stanhope Bayne-Jones in a group of soldiers, ca. 1918<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/group.png?fit=300%2C201&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/group.png?fit=840%2C563&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-2275 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/group.png?resize=840%2C563&ssl=1\" alt=\"A group of soldiers in WWI uniform pose outside.\" width=\"840\" height=\"563\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2275\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stanhope Bayne-Jones in a group of soldiers, ca. 1918 <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/findingaids.nlm.nih.gov\/repositories\/4\/resources\/969\"><em>National Library of Medicine, Stanhope Bayne-Jones Papers<\/em><\/a><em>, MSC 155, Box 9, Folder 12<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Through 2018, <\/em>Circulating Now<em> will periodically publish posts featuring NLM collections that illuminate the medical history of <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/category\/series\/the-great-war\/\">The Great War<\/a>, which lasted from August 1914 to November 1918.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Susan Speaker, PhD, is Historian for the Digital Manuscripts Program of the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Susan L. Speaker ~ The newspaper headlines on November 11, 1918 were exultant: after more than four long years,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":15453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"One Medical Officer\u2019s Armistice Day","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42333869,12763,1269102],"tags":[21690,4704,50991,488,368038,110820],"class_list":["post-15455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives-manuscripts","category-collections","category-the-great-war","tag-bones","tag-france","tag-letter","tag-military","tag-veterans-day","tag-world-war-i"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bayne-jones-letter-11-11-1918-end_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-41h","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15455"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25385,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15455\/revisions\/25385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |