The big guns on the Western Front were firing right up to the minute of the Armistice. This short recording was taken near American positions close to the river Moselle.
Our Great Great Uncle, Private John Q. Adams of Killeen, Texas, was wounded by machine gun fire after the Armistice had been signed; word of the peace hadn't reached that sector of the front. He died ten days later. Rest in Peace.
I'll leave you with this, At The Cenotaph by Seigried Sasson.
I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
'Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men's biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, Lord of Hosts, increase;
Lift up their hearts in large destructive lust;
And crown their heads with blind vindictive Peace.'
The Prince of Darkness to the Cenotaph
Bowed. As he walked away I heard him laugh.
LSP
