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WORLD WAR I MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS A-L M-Z
Historic Note: A total of 300 Sailor medics served with the Marines in France during World War I. They earned 684 personal decorations, making them the most decorated American unit in that conflict.
The Outbreak of World War I - The War to End All Wars
Franz Ferdinand, eldest son of Carl Ludwig, the brother of Emperor Franz Josef, was born in 1863. Educated by private tutors, he joined the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1883. His military career included service with an infantry regiment in Prague and with the hussars in Hungary. While in the army Ferdinand received several promotions: captain (1885), major (1888), colonel (1890) and general (1896).
In 1889, Crown Prince Rudolf, the son of Franz Josef, shot himself at his hunting lodge. The succession now passed to Franz Ferdinand's father, Carl Ludwig. When he died in 1896, Franz Ferdinand became the new heir to the throne.
Franz Ferdinand had first met Sophie von Chotkovato at a dance in Prague in 1888. The couple fell in love but although Sophie came from a noble Bohemian family, she was not considered a suitable woman to marry Franz Ferdinand. To be an eligible partner for a member of the Austro-Hungarian royal family, you had to be descended from the House of Hapsburg or from one of the ruling dynasties of Europe.
Franz Ferdinand insisted he would not marry anyone else. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Pope Leo XIII all made representations to Franz Josef on Franz Ferdinand's behalf arguing that the the disagreement over Ferdinand's marriage was undermining the stability of the monarchy.
In 1899 Emperor Franz Josef agreed a deal with Franz Ferdinand. He was allowed to marry Sophie von Chotkovato but it was stipulated that her descendants would not be allowed to succeed to the throne. It was also pointed out that Sophie would not be allowed to accompany her husband in the royal carriage nor could she sit by his side in the royal box.
Franz Josef did not attend the wedding. Nor did his brothers or their families. The only people of the royal family who went to the ceremony was Franz Ferdinand's stepmother, Maria Theresia, and her two daughters. Over the next few years the couple had three children: Sophie (1901), Maximilian (1902) and Ernst (1904).
In 1913 Franz Ferdinand was appointed Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian Army. A promoter of naval expansion and military modernization, Ferdinand was popular with the armed forces and in the summer of 1914 General Oskar Potiorek, Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina, invited the Inspector of the Armed Forces, to watch his troops on maneuvers. When Potieoek made it clear that his wife, Dutchess Sophie would also be made welcome, Franz Ferdinand agreed to make the visit.
Franz Ferdinand knew that the journey would be dangerous. A large number of people living in Bosnia-Herzegovina were unhappy with Austro-Hungarian rule and favoured union with Serbia. In 1910 a Serb, Bogdan Zerajic, had attempted to assassinate General Varesanin, the Austrian governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina, when he was opening parliament in Sarajevo.
Zerajic was a member of the Black Hand (Unity or Death) who wanted Bosnia-Herzegovina to leave the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The leader of the group was Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the chief of the Intelligence Department of the Serbian General Staff. Dimitrijevic considered Franz Ferdinand a serious threat to a union between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. He was worried that Ferdinand's plans to grant concessions to the South Slavs would make an independent Serbian state more difficult to achieve.
When it was announced that Franz Ferdinand was going to visit Bosnia in June 1914, Dimitrijevic began to make plans to assassinate the heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne. Dimitrijevic sent three members of the Black Hand group based in Belgrade, Gavrilo Princip, Nedjelko Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez, to Sarajevo to carry out the deed.
Unknown to Dragutin Dimitrijevic, Major Voja Tankosic, a senior member of the Black Hand group, informed Nikola Pasic, the prime minister of Serbia, about the plot. Although Pasic supported the main objectives of the Black Hand group, he did not want the assassination to take place, as he feared it would lead to a war with Austro-Hungary. He therefore gave instructions for Gavrilo Princip, Nedjelko Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez to be arrested when they attempted to leave the country. However, his orders were not implemented and the three man arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina where they joined forces with fellow conspirators, Muhamed Mehmedbasic, Danilo Ilic, Vaso Cubrilovic, Cvijetko Popovic, Misko Jovanovic and Veljko Cubrilovic.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Dutchess Sophie at Sarajevo on 28th June, 1914.
Just before 10 o'clock on Sunday, 28th June, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotkovato arrived in Sarajevo by train. General Oskar Potiorek, Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina, was waiting to take the royal party to the City Hall for the official reception.
In the front car was Fehim Curcic, the Mayor of Sarajevo and Dr. Gerde, the city's Commissioner of Police. Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie were in the second car with Oskar Potiorek and Count von Harrach. The car's top was rolled back in order to allow the crowds a good view of its occupants.
At 10.10, when the six car possession passed the central police station, Nedjelko Cabrinovic hurled a hand grenade station at the archduke's car. The driver accelerated when he saw the object flying towards him and the grenade exploded under the wheel of the next car. Two of the occupants, Eric von Merizzi and Count Boos-Waldeck were seriously wounded. About a dozen spectators were also hit by bomb splinters.
Franz Ferdinand's driver, Franz Urban, drove on extremely fast and other members of the Black Hand group on the route, Cvijetko Popovic, Gavrilo Princip, Danilo Ilic and Trifko Grabez, were unable to fire their guns or hurl their bombs at the Archduke's car.
After attending the official reception at the City Hall, Franz Ferdinand asked about the members of his party that had been wounded by the bomb. When the archduke was told they were badly injured in hospital, he insisted on being taken to see them. A member of the archduke's staff, Baron Morsey, suggested this might be dangerous, but Oskar Potiorek, who was responsible for the safety of the royal party, replied, "Do you think Sarajevo is full of assassins?" However, Potiorek did accept it would be better if Duchess Sophie remained behind in the City Hall. When Baron Morsey told Sophie about the revised plans, she refused to stay arguing: "As long as the Archduke shows himself in public today I will not leave him."
In order to avoid the city centre, General Oskar Potiorek decided that the royal car should travel straight along the Appel Quay to the Sarajevo Hospital. However, Potiorek forgot to tell the driver, Franz Urban, about this decision. On the way to the hospital, Urban took a right turn into Franz Joseph Street. One of the conspirators, Gavrilo Princip, was standing on the corner at the time. Oskar Potiorek immediately realised the driver had taken the wrong route and shouted "What is this? This is the wrong way! We're supposed to take the Appel Quay!".
The driver put his foot on the brake, and began to back up. In doing so he moved slowly past the waiting Gavrilo Princip. The assassin stepped forward, drew his gun, and at a distance of about five feet, fired several times into the car. Franz Ferdinand was hit in the neck and Sophie von Chotkovato in the abdomen. Princip's bullet had pierced the archduke's jugular vein but before losing consciousness, he pleaded "Sophie dear! Sophie dear! Don't die! Stay alive for our children!" Franz Urban drove the royal couple to Konak, the governor's residence, but although both were still alive when they arrived, they died from their wounds soon afterwards.
Chronology of World War I
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
28th June, 1914
Austra-Hungary demands that Serbia arrest the leaders of the Black Hand
23rd July, 1914
Serbia appeals to Russia for help
24th July, 1914
Serbia refuses to hand over leaders of the Black Hand group
25th July, 1914
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
28th July, 1914
Germany declares war on Russia
1st August, 1914
Germany declares war on France
3rd August, 1914
Moltke orders the Schlieffen Plan to proceed
4th August, 1914
German troops enter Belgium
4th August, 1914
Great Britain declares war on Germany
4th August, 1914
Lord Kitchener calls for 100,000 men to join British Army
7th August, 1914
Big Bertha used against Liege Forts
12th August, 1914
Austro-Hungarian troops invade Serbia
12th August, 1914
French troops enter Lorraine
14th August, 1914
British Expeditionary Force arrives in France
22nd August, 1914
Battle of Mons begins
23rd August, 1914
French Army abandons Plan 17
24th August, 1914
Battle of Tannenberg begins
26th August, 1914
Battle of Heligoland
28th August, 1914
War Propaganda Bureau Writers Conference
2nd September, 1914
Battle of the Marne begins
6th September, 1914
French troops attack German Army at the River Aisne
13th September, 1914
Battle of Albert
25th September, 1914
Battle of Arras
1st October, 1914
First German aircraft shot down by Allied plane
5th October, 1914
Battle of Ypres
15th October, 1914
Canadian troops arrive in Britain
16th October, 1914
Turkey joins Central Powers
29th October, 1914
Anglo-Indian invasion of Mesopotamia
21st November, 1914
Farman MF-11 carries out first night bombing raid
21st December, 1914
Christmas Truce on the Western Front
25th December, 1914
South African forces occupy Swakopmund
14th January, 1915
Battle of Dogger Bank
24th January, 1915
BEF attacks at Neuve Chapelle
10th March, 1915
Allied naval attack on the Dardanelles
18th March, 1915
Roland Garros uses deflector plates
1st April, 1915
German gas attack at Ypres
22nd April, 1915
Allied landings at Gallipoli
25th April, 1915
Sinking of the Lusitania
7th May, 1915
Artois Offensive
9th May, 1915
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
23rd May, 1915
Germany abandons Ypres offensive
25th May, 1915
Asquith forms coalition government
25th May, 1915
First Zeppelin raid on London
31st May, 1915
Isonzo Offensive begins
23rd June, 1915
Suvla Bay Offensive at Gallipoli
6th August, 1915
Grand Duke Nikolai sacked as Commander-in-Chief
5th September, 1915
First tank demonstrated to British military leaders
11th September, 1915
Anglo-French Offensive at Artois-Loos
25th September, 1915
Allied troops land at Salonika
5th October, 1915
Edith Cavell executed
12th October, 1915
Sir Douglas Haig, new BEF commander
19th December, 1915
Britain introduces conscription
2nd February, 1916
German Verdun Offensive
21st February, 1916
Germany declares war on Portugal
9th March, 1916
Battle of Jutland
31st May, 1916
Russian Brusilov Offensive
4th June, 1916
Lord Kitchener killed at sea
5th June, 1916
Start of Anglo-French Somme Offensive
1st July, 1916
Italian Gorizia Offensive
9th August, 1916
Hindenburg becomes German Chief of Staff
29th August, 1916
First use of British tanks at Flers-Courcelette
15th September, 1916
French recapture Douaumont Fort at Verdun
24th October, 1916
Somme Offensive ends
18th November, 1916
Beatty replaces Jellicoe as C-in-C of Grand Fleet
29th November, 1916
Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister
6th December, 1916
Nivelle becomes French Western Front C-in-C
12th December, 1916
Zimmermann Telegram intercepted by Britain
19th January, 1917
Battle of Gaza begins
26th March, 1917
United States declares war on Germany
6th April, 1917
Start of Nivelle Offensive
9th April, 1917
Start of Arras offensive
9th April, 1917
Canadian Army captures Vimy Ridge
12th April, 1917
2nd Battle of the Aisne begins
16th April, 1917
French tanks used for the first time in battle
17th April, 1917
Petain becomes French Western Front C-in-C
15th May, 1917
Maria Bochkareva forms the Women's Battalion
16th May, 1917
John Pershing given command of AEF
19th May, 1917
British attack at Messines
7th June, 1917
United States troops arrive in France
25th June, 1917
Greece declares war on the Central Powers
29th June, 1917
King George V changes name to Windsor
17th July, 1917
British Offensive at Passchendaele
12th October, 1917
Italian Caproretto Offensive
24th October, 1917
Sir Frederick Maude dies in Mesopotamia
18th November, 1917
Massed tank attack at Cambrai
20th November, 1917
Bolshevik government disbands Women's Battalion
21st November, 1917
Wilson announces 14 Points Peace Programme
8th January, 1918
Start of German Spring Offensive
21st March, 1918
Foch appointed Allied Co-ordinator in France
29th March, 1918
3rd Battle of the Aisne begins
27th May, 1918
Battle of Le Hamel
4th July, 1918
2nd Battle of the Marne
15th July, 1918
German retreat at the Marne
20th July, 1918
Amiens Offensive
8th August, 1918
Allied breakthrough at Albert
21st August, 1918
United States St Mihiel Offensive
12th September, 1918
Meuse-Argonne Offensive begins
26th September, 1918
Canal du Nord Offensive
27th September, 1918
Max von Baden appointed Chancellor of Germany
3rd October, 1918
Allied forces capture the Hindenburg Line
5th October, 1918
Italian Vittorio Veneto Offensive
23rd October, 1918
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates
9th November, 1918
Armistice
11th November, 1918
Lloyd George wins British General Election
14th December, 1918
Paris Peace Conference
12th January, 1919
Treaty of Versailles signed
28th June, 1919
World War I's Most Decorated American Hero Sergeant Alvin C. York
YORK, ALVIN C.
CITATION:
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company G, 328th Infantry, 82d Division. Place and date: Near Chatel-Chehery, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Pall Mall, Tenn. Born: 13 December 1887, Fentress County, Tenn. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919. Citation: After his platoon had suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machinegun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machinegun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.
Various Photos of Sgt. Alvin C. York
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