The first man lost during World War I would not die on a battlefield.  In this year alone Parma would lose nine of “her boys”.

Chronology of Main Events of the War for Liberty

Battles That Have Marked the Greatest Struggle in the World’s History

Four Years of Bitter Warfare Before the Defeat of Autocratic Attempts to Rule the World Could Be Assured- Progress of the Titanic Contest Practically as It Went On From Day to Day.

From June 28, 1914, when the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, at Sarajevo, Bosnia, gave Emperor William of Germany his excuse for beginning war which he believed would result in his gaining practical control of the world through military domination, the main events of the struggle are told in the following chronicle:

JANUARY

5 –President Wilson delivers speech to Congress giving
“fourteen points” necessary to peace
7 –George N. Hochbrueckner enlists in the United States Navy
20 –British monitors win seafight with cruisers Goeben and Breslau,
sinking latter
24 –Vernon A. Sleight is discharged from the New York National Guard
28 –Russia and Roumania sever diplomatic relations

FEBRUARY

1 – Edwin W. Oviatt leaves for overseas duty
2 –United States troops take over their first sector, near Toul
6 –United States troop ship Tuscania sunk by submarine, 126  lost
8 –Ralph H. Deroller is inducted into the United States Army Coast
Artillery Corps
8 –Frederick E. McCarty enlists in the United States Army
11 –President Wilson in address to Congress, gives four additional
peace principles, including self-determination of nations;
Bolsheviki declare war with Germany over, but refuse to sign
peace treaty
13 –Bolo Pasha sentenced to death in France for treason
20 –James B. Nice is discharged from the United States Army
21 –Morley C. Hall enlists in the United States Army
22 –Clarence T. Davenport is inducted into the United States Army
22 –Herman F. Skinner enlists in the United States Army
24 – George H. Dean is inducted into the United States Army
24 – Samuel W. Flemming is inducted into the United States Army
24 – Lynn J. Hall is inducted into the United States Army
24 – Bert J. Perry enlists in the United States Army
24 – George W. Quinn is inducted into the United States Army
24 – George H. Rowley is inducted into the United States Army
24 – Daniel R. Slocum is inducted into the United States Army
25 – William D. Taylor is inducted into the United States Army
25 – Germans take Reval Russian naval base, and Pskov;
Chancellor von Hertling agrees “in principle” with President
Wilson’s peace principles, in address to reichstag
25 – Andrew J. Bennett enlists in the United States Army

MARCH

1 –Americans repulse German attack on Toul sector
2 –Treaty of peace with Germany signed by Bolsheviki at
Brest-Litovsk
4 –Germany and Roumania sign armistice on German terms
4 –William I. Clapper enlists in the United States Army
4 –Herman G. Worden enlists in the United States Army
4 –Edgar R. Murrell leaves for overseas duty
6 –Miles H. Corbitt enlists in the United States Naval Reserve
7 –William E. G. Kirk leaves for overseas duty
13 –German troops occupy Odessa
14 – All Russian congress of Soviets ratifies peace treaty
19 – William D. Taylor is discharged from the United States Army
21 – Germans spring offensive starts on fifty mile front
22 – Germans take 16,000 British prisoners and 200 guns
23 –German drive gains nine miles.  “Mystery gun” shells Paris
24 –Germans reach the Somme, gaining fifteen miles. American
engineers rushed to aid British
25 –Germans take Bapaume
27 –Germans take Albert
28 –British counter- attack and gain; French take three towns;
and Germans advance toward Amiens
29 – “Mystery gun” kills seventy-five church goers in Paris on
Good Friday
29 –Samuel W. Flemming is discharged from the United States Army
29 –Edgar R. Murrell dies of pneumonia and diphtheria in England

APRIL

2 –Arthur J. Wadsworth is inducted into the United States Army
3 –Donald M. Donoghue is inducted into the United States Army
3 –John H. Flemming is inducted into the United States Army
3 –Frederick E. Koss is inducted into the United States Army
4 –Germans start second phase of their spring drive on the Somme
4 –Walton H. Hovey is discharged from the New York National Guard
6 –Raymond C. Corbit leaves for overseas duty
6 –George W. Quinn leaves for overseas duty
6 –George H. Rowley leaves for overseas duty
6 –Elmer S. Wadsworth leaves for overseas duty
8 –Francis J. McCulla enlists in the United States Army
10 –Germans take 10,000 British prisoners in Flanders
15 –Clarence E. Robinson leaves for overseas duty
16 –Germans capture Messines ridge, near Ypres; Bolo Pasha executed
16 –Douglas A. Newcomb enlists in the United States Naval Reserve
Force
20 –John H. Magee is inducted into the United States Army
20 – Henry A. Smith is inducted into the United States Army
23 –British and French navies “bottle up” Zeebrugge
24 –Rosario De Simone is inducted into the United States Army
24 – Lester D. Collins leaves for overseas duty
25 –Lester P. Hiscock leaves for overseas duty
26 – Germans capture Mount Kemmel, taking 6,500 prisoners
26 –Clarence T. Davenport leaves for overseas duty
28 –Eugene E. Higgs is inducted into the United States Army
28 –Harry W. Markel is inducted into the United States Army
28 –Miles H. Corbitt leaves for overseas duty

MAY

1 –Harold H. Ingraham leaves for overseas duty
5 –Austria starts drive on Italy
10 –British navy bottles up Ostend
10 –Earl W. Burritt leaves for overseas duty
10 –Fred C. Hall leaves for overseas duty
10 –Frank Jamieson leaves for overseas duty
14 –George W. Bigger enlists  in the United States Naval Reserve Force
15 –Colonel L. Brown is inducted into the United States Army
17 –Glenn W. Fishbaugh leaves for overseas duty
17 –Raymond A. Fishbaugh leaves for overseas duty
19 –Donald M. Donaghue leaves for overseas duty
19 –Arthur J. Wadsworth leaves for overseas duty
20 –Andrew J. Bennett leaves for overseas duty
20 –John H. Flemming leaves for overseas duty
20 –Eugene E. Higgs leaves for overseas duty
20 –Harry W. Markel leaves for overseas duty
23 –Frank L. Flemming enlists in the United States Naval Reserve Force
23 –Gerald D. McIntyre enlists in the United States Army
24 –British ship Moldavia, carrying American troops, torpedoed; 56 lost
26 –Roy L. Brown leaves for overseas duty
27 –Germans begin third phase of drive on West front; gain five miles
27 –Lester C. Anderson leaves for overseas duty
28 –Germans take 15,000 prisoners in drive
28 –John H. Bell leaves for overseas duty
28 –Homer C. Odell leaves for overseas duty
28 –Willis Winters leaves for overseas duty
29 –Germans take Soissons and menace Reims.  American troops
capture Cantigny
30 –Germans reach the Marne, fifty-five miles from Paris
30 –Germans take 45,000 prisoners in drive

JUNE

1 –Germans advance nine miles; are forty-six miles from Paris
3 –Five German submarines attack U.S. coast and sink eleven ships
4 –Morley C. Hall leaves for overseas duty
5 –U. S. Marines fight on the Marne near Chateau Thierry
6 –Thomas D. Sovia is killed in the battle of the Aisne in France
8 –Frederick E. McCarty leaves for overseas duty
8 –Francis J. McCulla leaves for overseas duty
9 –Germans start fourth phase of their drive by advancing  toward
Noyon
10 –Germans gain two miles.  U.S. Marines capture south end of
Belleau woods
10 –George H. Dean leaves for overseas duty
11 –Francis L. Welch enlists in the United States Naval Reserve Force
12 –French and Americans start counter attack
13 –Willard E. Bush enlists in the United States Marine Corps
13 –Rosario De Simone leaves for overseas duty
13 –John H. Magee leaves for overseas duty
15 –Austrians begin another drive on Italy and take 10,000 prisoners
17 –Italians check Austrians on Piave river
19 –Austrians cross the Piave
19 –Carlyle B. Newcomb enlists  in the United States Naval Reserve
Force
22 –Italians defeat Austrians on the Piave
23 –Austrians begin great retreat across the Piave
23 – William V. Turgon is inducted into the United States Army
27 –George Clift is inducted into the United States Army
30 –Avery H. Holman enlists in the United States Army
30 –Frank Randall leaves for overseas duty
30 –Alton V. Sleight leaves for overseas duty

JULY

14 –Louie B. Bennett is inducted into the United States Army
15 –Gerald C. Lee enlists in the United States Naval Reserve Force
15 –Willard J. Lee enlists in the United States Navy
17 –Floyd A. Sweeting enlists in the United States Naval Reserve
Force
17 –George E. Hiscock is inducted into the United States Army
18 –Gen. Foch launches allied offensive, with French, American, British,
Italian and Belgian troops
21 –Americans and French capture Chateau Thierry
25 –Clarence S. Baxter is inducted into the United States Army
30 –German crown prince flees from the Marne and withdraws army
31 –Herman F. Skinner leaves for overseas duty

AUGUST

1 –Walter S. Ryder joins the YMCA
2 –Soissons recaptured by Foch
4 –Americans take Fismes
5 –American troops landed at Archangel
7 –Americans cross the Vesle
7 –Willard E. Bush commits suicide at Parris Island Marine Corps
Recruit Depot
7 –George B. Miller is inducted into the United States Army
8 –Earle A. Ducolon is inducted into the United States Army
16 –Bapaume recaptured
18 –Lyndon H. Wells leaves for overseas duty
21 –Harold C. Adams is discharged from the United States Navy
25 –Elmer C. Barney is inducted into the the United States Army
26 –Clarence S. Baxter leaves for overseas duty
28 –French recross the Somme
30 –Henry A. Smith leaves for overseas duty

SEPTEMBER

1 –Foch retakes Peronne
3 –Victor W. Chattin is inducted into the United States Army
3 –Fred W. Collins is inducted into the United States Army
3 –John L. Crook is inducted into the United States Army
3 –Raymond F. Markel is inducted into the United States Army
8 –Gerald D. McIntyre leaves for overseas duty
12 –Americans launch successful attack in St. Mihiel salient
22 –Avery H. Holman leaves for overseas duty
28 –Allies win on 250 mile line, from North sea to Verdun
29 –Allies cross Hindenburg line
29 –Glenn W. Fishbaugh is wounded in action on the Hindenburg Line
in France
29 –George W. Quinn is killed in the Argonne forest during the
Meuse-Argonne offensive in France
30 –Bulgaria surrenders, after successful allied campaign in Balkans

OCTOBER

1 –French take St. Quentin
1 –George H. Rowley is killed during the Meuse-Argonne offensive
4 –Austria asks Holland to mediate with allies for peace
5 –Germans start abandonment of Lille and burn Douai
5 –Glenn W. Fishbaugh dies from wounds received on September
29th, 1918
6 –Germany asks President Wilson for armistice
7 –Americans capture hill around Argonne
8 –President Wilson refuses armistice
9 –Allies capture Cambrai
9 –Floyd A. Sweeting dies of pneumonia while aboard the United
States-based hospital ship USS Solace
10 –Allies capture Le Cateau
11 –American transport Otranto torpedoed and sunk; 500 lost
13 –Foch’s troops take Laon and La Pere
14 –British and Belgians take Roulers; President Wilson demands
surrender by Germany
14 –Lester P. Hiscock is wounded while participating in the
Meuse-Argonne campaign in France
15 –British and Belgians cross Lys river, take 12,000 prisoners and
100 guns
16 –Allies enter Lille outskirts
16-17Lester P. Hiscock dies from his wounds on either the 16th or
17th of October
17 –Allies capture Lille, Bruges, Zeebrugge, Ostend and Douai
18 –Czecho-Slovaks issue declaration of independence; Czechs rebel
and seize Prague, capital of Bohemia; French take Thielt
19 –President Wilson refuses Austrian peace plea and says
Czecho-Slovak state must be considered
20 –Elmer C. Barney leaves for overseas duty
21 –Allies cross the Oise and threaten Valenciennes
21 –Floyd A. Sweeting is laid to rest on or about the 21st of October 1918
22 –Haig’s forces cross the Scheldt
23 –President Wilson refuses latest German peace plea
27 –German government asks President Wilson to state terms
27 –Louie B. Bennett leaves for overseas duty
27 –Clarence S. Baxter dies of lobar pneumonia in France
28 –Austria begs for separate peace
28 –Fred W. Collins leaves for overseas duty
29 –Austria opens direct negotiations with Secretary Lansing
30 –Italians inflict great defeat on Austria; capture 33,000 Austrians
evacuating Italian territory
31 –Turkey surrenders; Austrians utterly routed by Italians; lose
50,000; Austrian envoys, under white flag, enter Italian lines

NOVEMBER

1 –Italians pursue beaten Austrians across Tagliamento river; allied
conference at Versailles fixes peace  terms for Germany
3 –Austria signs armistice amounting virtually to unconditional
surrender
4 –Allied terms are sent to Germany
7 –Germany’s envoys enter allied lines by arrangement
9 –Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates and crown prince renounces throne
10 –Former Kaiser Wilhelm and his eldest son, Friedrick Wilhelm,
flee to Holland to escape widespread revolution throughout
Germany
11 –Armistice in effect at 11 o’clock a.m., Paris time.  Firing ceased
on all fronts. An American battery from Providence, Rhode Island,
fired last shot at exactly 11 o’clock on the front northwest of
Verdun.  Germans began evacuation of Belgium and
Alsace-Lorraine
11 –Miles H. Corbitt returns from overseas duty
12 –German republic proclaimed at Berlin.  Emperor Charles of
Austria abdicates.  Belgium demands complete independence
instead of guaranteed neutrality.  To secure status as a
belligerent at the peace council, Roumania again declares war
on Germany.  United States stops draft boards and lifts war
restrictions of industries.
13 –American troops cross the German former frontier and enter
Alsace- Lorraine
15 –Distinguished Service Medal conferred on General Pershing at
his headquarters in France by General Tasker H. Bliss.   United
States Post office department takes control of all ocean cable
lines, consent of other governments having been obtained. 
Prof. Thomas G. Masaryk proclaimed President of  the new
Czecho-Slav republic.
15 –Frank J. Abel enlists in the United States Marine Corps
16 –Copenhagen reported many German ships due for surrender
under armistice conditions.  Demobilization of United States
troops ordered by the government, beginning with those in
army camps at home.  United States takes over express service. 
Belgian troops enter Brussels.  German cruiser Wiesbaden
torpedoed by German revolutionary  sailors, with loss of 330 lives.
17 –Two hundred and fifty thousand American troops advance nine
miles in French territory evacuated by Germans.  French armies
advance across the west boundary of Alsace-Lorraine and occupy
many towns.  People of Luxemburg demand abdication of Grand
Duchess
29 –The President announced names of  commissioners to represent
the United States at peace conference.  They were Woodrow
Wilson, President of the United States; Robert Lansing, Secretary
of State; Col. Edward M. House; Henry White, former ambassador
to Italy and to France; and Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, American adviser
of supreme war council.
29 –Bert J. Perry is discharged from the United States Army
30 –Daniel R. Slocum is discharged from the United States Army

DECEMBER

1 –Herman F. Skinner returns from overseas duty
1 –Carlyle B. Newcomb is discharged from the United States Naval
Reserve Force
2 –Victor W. Chattin is discharged from the United States Army
4 –President Wilson and a numerous staff sailed for Europe from
New York aboard the George Washington, escorted by war ships
under the command of Admiral Mayo, to attend the Peace
Conference at Paris, France.
6 –Colonel L. Brown is discharged from the United States Army
7 –Chester B. Williams is discharged from the United States Navy
11 –Ralph H. DeRoller is discharged from the United States Army
Coast Artillery Corps
13 –Herman F. Skinner is discharged from the United States Army
17 –George E. Hiscock is discharged from the United States Army
21 –Fred C. Hall returns from overseas duty
21 –Miles H. Corbitt is discharged from the United States Naval
Reserve Force
30 –Gerald C. Lee is charged from the United States Naval Reserve
Force
31 –Frederick E. Koss is discharged from the United States Army

Historical events timeline transcribed from The Hilton Record, December 23, 1918, P 2.
Addition of World War I Veterans by Tammy M. Mullen