A Stillness Heard Round the World: The End of the Great War, November 1918 0525243461, 9780525243465

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A STILLNESS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

OTHER BOOKS BY STANLEY WEINTRAUB

Private Shaw and Public Shaw The War in the Wards Journey to Heartbreak The Last Great Cause Aubrey Beardsley: Imp of the Perverse Whistler Four Rossettis: A Victorian Biography The London Yankees

A STIII NF SS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD The End of the GreatWar: November 1918

STANLEY WEINTRAUB

(TT) TRUMAN TALLEY BOOKS / E. R DUTTON / NEW YORK

“How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm” copyright © 1919 by Mills Music, Inc. Copyright renewed. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1985 by Stanley Weintraub All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

Published in the United States by Truman Talley Books • E. P. Dutton, 2 Park Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10016 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Weintraub, Stanley, 1929A stillness heard round the world. “A Truman Talley Book. " Bibliography: p. 1. World War, 1914-1918—Armistices. D641.W36 1985 940.4'39

I. Title. 85-6775

ISBN: 0-525-24346-1 Published simultaneously in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, Toronto

Designed by Mark O'Connor

COBE 10

987654321 First Edition

In memory of Ewart Garland, who flew over Flanders on the final day, and for the thousand others who shared their memories with me

CONTENTS --------- --------------------------------

PROLOGUE:

ENDINGS

i

11

THE FALSE ARMISTICE

THE DINING CAR IN THE FOREST

67

ARMISTICE EVE

IMPERIAL SUNSET

115

THE SIGNING

147

LAST SHOTS

167

THE STILLNESS

191

A JOYFUL NOISE

227

HAVING A KNEES-UP

THE REAL THING

249 289

AFTERMATH: THE FRONT LINES PRISONERS OF WAR vii

41

331

313

viii

CONTENTS

THE OTHER FRONTS BEHIND THE RHINE

355

377

epilogue: A BEER HALL IN MUNICH

SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

423

SOURCE NOTES

INDEX

455

INSERT OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOLLOWS PAGE 180

407 419

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