On the eleventh of November nineteen-eighteen the most deadly conflict the world has seen
up until that point was coming to an end.
Over nine-million combatants had died, and the total death toll exceeded sixteen million.
The armistice would be signed at eleven A.M., which would put a halt to the senseless bloodshed
of the past four years.
But, at 10:59 A.M., one minute before the armistice would be signed, an American soldier
threw himself at two German machine guns and was subsequently shot.
He would be the last soldier killed in the First World War.
-intro-
Early life & Early war
Born in eighteen-ninety-five, Henry Gunther was born into a German-American family.
Both his parents, George Gunther and Lena Roth, were born to German immigrants.
He grew up in Highlandtown, which was populated by many German immigrants.
The family practised the Roman Catholic faith, and Henry worked as a clerk at the National
Bank of Baltimore.
His Roman Catholic faith was prominently featured in his life, in nineteen fifteen he became
a member of the Knights of Columbus.
He didn’t volunteer for military service but was drafted in September nineteen-seventeen,
and assigned to the 313th Regiment, nicknamed Baltimore's Own.
Henry’s regiment was part of the 57th Brigade of the 79th Infantry Division, and he was
promoted to supply sergeant shortly after being drafted.
He arrived in France in July nineteen eighteen, four months before the war would end.
The fact that he was only at the front for four months, did not withhold him from writing
a critical letter to a friend in August that year.
In the letter, he wrote that the conditions at the front were horrible and that said friend
should do everything he could to avoid being drafted.
The Army postal censor intercepted the letter, after which disciplinary action was taken
- Gunther was demoted from sergeant to private.
Gunther’s Demise
As for the war, on the eleventh of November at 5 o’clock in the morning, the ceasefire
of compiègne had been signed.
Because it was difficult to notify all troops at the Western Front, the ceasefire would
not come into force until eleven.
The unit Gunther was a part of, Company A, was still on the battle field during the morning
of the eleventh.
However, the company was informed at 10:30 that the armistice was signed, moving on regardless.
A German machine-gun nest blocked the road near Chaumont-devant Mavillers, and while
the entire company remained at a halt, Gunther got up.
His platoon-sergeant and friend, Ernest Powell, ordered him to stand down but Gunther got
up, charged towards the Germans with his bayonet and started firing shots.
Nor the shouts of Powell or the Germans, who were aware of the truce, deterred him and
Gunther was shot in a short burst of automatic fire, killing him instantly.
Henry Gunther’s time of death was noted down as ten-fifty-nine, one minute before
the truce would come into effect.
So, why did Gunther go through with an attack that obviously was suicide, shortly before
the war ended?
Powell, the platoon commander, suspected that Gunther wanted to be rehabilitated due to
his demotion - he wanted to prove his bravery and saw this as his last chance to do so.
General John Pershing's Day Order of the following day mentions him as the last American casualty
of the war.
Posthumously, his demotion was reversed, and he received the Distinguished Service Cross.
At the instigation of his now widowed mother, his remains were transferred to Baltimore
in 1921 and buried at the Redemptorist Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery.
Aside from Henry Gunther, later investigations revealed that on the last day of the First
World War, between the signing of the ceasefire and its entry into force, about 11,000 men
were injured or killed - far more than usual in one day.
And.. on that grisly note, I will leave you for now.
Thank you for watching this video.
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about, and perhaps see a video of?
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