WORLD WAR I News in Wyoming County, PA

From the Tunkhannock Republican & New Age Newspaper

Articles are unchanged from the original; writers are acknowledged when found.
Extracted by Regina Evans

Incidents of the War

Issue of: 24 Dec 1914

Interest in the operations of the Great War in Europe has lost some of its keenness of late in view of the seeming deadlock along the battle line in northern France and Belgium, and the difficulty of following intelligently the fluctuating fortunes of the struggle in the eastern theatre of the conflict. Last week however, two incidents of a striking nature occurred which seem to call for mention. One of these was the daring raid of some German war vessels, which eluding the vigilance of the British fleet bombarded the towns of Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough on the English coast, and subsequently escaped in the mist.

This raid has produced a profound impression in Great Britain, whose shores have been supposed to be sufficiently protected by the floating ramparts of her great fleet.

Another incident with a touch of the dramatic was the reoccupation of Belgrade by the Servians. The troops of the little kingdom were driven out of their former capital on December 2, after sustaining a siege of 126 days and were forced back into the interior. There were many who thought that Servia was about to be blotted out as a political entity, but after desperate fighting extending over a period of twelve days its forces signally defeated the Austrians and reentered Belgium as victors on Monday.

The Conduct of the War (By H.P.Loomis)

Issue of: 25 February 1915

When the war first broke out the news reporters kept promising us news of great battles, defeats and victories, by land or water, but no such thing has come to us. For the first time in the history of wars; when two armies come together they settle down into a state of siege. Of fighting a slaughter there is no end, and we read of 40,000 dead men on a battlefield and nothing to show for it but a few rods of trenches.

As to the navies the war seems to be a draw game. It is a matter of astonishment that Germany and Russia could hold at bay Russia, England, France and Belgium long ago, and I expected to see the Russians in Berlin before this time.

We do not pretend to know anything of military matters, but it looks to us as if France had made a big mistake by not striking the first blow as soon as she saw the war was bound to come. She should have seized Alsace and Lorrain. The World’s Work says France has five million trained men while Germany has only four. If this is a fact, France ought to handle Germany without gloves on, and without any help. There are no better fighters than the Frenchmen especially in assault and attack. For proof of this we will refer to Waterloo. On the night of the 17th of June 1815, the French soldiers marched all night in the mud and rain, and then went into battle without breakfast, for Napoleon’s supply train got stuck in the mud. All the afternoon of that dreadful day, both by foot and horse charged up the muddy and slippery slopes of Mt. St. Jean, with almost irresistible fury. How men without sleep, rest of food could fight so stern a battle is beyond comprehension. History gives some very strange contrasts. England and France have been enemies for the last 300 years; now they are marching shoulder to shoulder over the very ground where England overthrew Napoleon 100 years ago. If the French had such a leader now as Napoleon, there would soon be a different story told.

The First Contingent

Issue of: September ___, 1917

…to leave Wyoming County for service in World War I was photographed at the Court House monument prior to their departure on September 21, 1917. Among those who can be identified are Clarence Boston, (standing, left); Forrest London, seated foreground, second from left: Adam Matylewicz, seated, foreground, right, and grouped around the cannon are Berne Adams, Cory Puterbaugh and Paul Dawson.

Included in the group was Dennis Strong, first local boy to be killed in the war, for whom Dennis Strong Post, American Legion, was named.

Others were: Frank Ferris, Allen Burton, Marshall Rumford, William Bates, William Dixon, Harry Walton, Charles Bates, William Foote, Floyd Koup, John Anderson, Joseph Bennett, Clarence Mace, Vincent Owen, Thomas Edwards, Lewis Babcock, Peter Corcoran, Roy Jayne, Solomon Sisco, George Murray, George Moscow, Theodore Mock, Victor Keithine, Charles Shaffer, Peter Malloy, Anton Coliskey, Francis Phillips, Edward Kohn, Gavvacchino Fazzio, Arthur Miller and Leigh Paterson.

[This picture can be seen at the Wyoming County Historical Society’s Museum.]

More Boys Going

Issue of November 1, 1918

List of Twenty-five Men Going to Camp Meade Tomorrow.
The following is a list of Wyoming County drafted men who leave here tomorrow for Camp Meade. Another consignment of seventeen men to fill Wyoming County’s quota will be called for later.

Fidel Paul Schlatter, Tunkhannock
Jacob W. Nulton, Noxen, R.1
Ernest Champluvier, Skinners Eddy
Fenton S. Gregory, Laceyville
August S. Robinson, Factoryville, R.D.
Leon Champluvier, Jr. Skinners Eddy
Galusha Cook, Nicholson
Edward L. Forest, Tunkhannock
Joseph E. Harvey, Meshoppen
Irvin T. Moss, Tunkhannock
Lee Dudley Hawley, Skinners Eddy
George W. Sickler, Tunkhannock, R.D. 5
Ray F. Dymond, Osterhout
Augusto Maracchioni, Vosburg
George S. Chapman, Nicholson
Cecil C. Dickinson, Centermoreland
Linnie H. DuBoice, Nicholson
Robert H. Treible, Vosburg
Olin E. Phoenix, Noxen, R.D. 1
Fred J. Mack, Dalton, R.D. 2
Harry Joseph Fitch, Falls
Cragg J. Henderson, Alderson, R.D. 2
Ernest F. Race, Tunkhannock, R.D. 5
John Thomas Keating, Tunkhannock, R.D. 2
Daniel B. Harvey, Meshoppen, R.D. 4