1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic

[BottsGreys]

I have a small collection of letters in which the flu pandemic has a mention. I thought the relative passages may be of interest.

Chris

1) From J. M. Miller (Co. A, 10th Engineers, AEF) to his mother in McKeesport, PA) August 10, 1918, from France:

"...Our epidmic of "Spanish Flu" has gone without leaving any bad effects. One fellow is still in the hospital. No bad effects except that we lost old Dad, Dr. Niord, the Y.M.C.A. man here. His son, a medical officer, came and got him when he was sick and took him away. We don't expect him back as his son wants him to go home. We were mighty sorry to lose him."

2) From Bob (surname and unit unknown--he is on detached service for the 4th Army Corps) to friend Bill, March 5, 1919, from Cochem, Germany:

...Surprised to hear of Geo. Mould's death. There sure has been a good many taken aways during my 9 mo. absence. Seems as war was declared on our health. But I hope the real warm weather will stop that dreadful disease Influenza. There are about 3500 civilians in this town. Nearly every morning, there is a funeral and sometimes two. We live near the church. They all seem to be buried about the same hour 7.30 AM. Only one undertaker here, a very old hearse, opened, and always 6 wreathes hangs on the sides, instead of putting them on the casket. It is drawn by one horse, and the mourners walks in line to the cemetery. About 10 American soldiers is buried in this cemetery. I was a escort to two of the military funerals. Our band master died a short time ago. He was sick only four days. Pretty tough, to live through war, hiked through Germany, and then die. He was a fine fellow, made his home in Albany..."

3) From E. Johnson (Swedish immigrant grocery store owner, Chicago, Illinois) to his son Reuban in the Army, October 15, 1918:

"...here is a sickness called the Spanish influenza; cough, sneece and the die some in 2 or 3 days some little longer cant have no funeral, right to the cemetery many hundreds from Great Lakes, Fort Sheridan, Camp Grant and all over...

$500.00 for a Brl of whiskie but still had to send it to the soldiers about the only cure for the sickness a drink three times a day was granted to the soldiers and if they had had that in time it may had checked the eppidemick...there is not much pleasure no where but sorrow and trobble over stepps everywhere..."

4) Mr. C. F. Meitzler (general store owner, West Lafayette, Ohio) to Pvt. William R. Shook, Co D, 3rd M.G.Bn, 1st Division, AEF, France) October 24, 1918:

"...No cases of the Flue in our town..."

**Envelope notation: "KIA Oct. 9 '18" and stamped DECEASED-verified by STATISTICAL DIVISION, M.A.E.F."

From Ohio Military Men, 1917-18

Name: William R Shook

Serial Number: 2475567

Race: W

RESIDENCE: West Lafayette, O.

Enlistment Division: National Army

Enlistment Location: Coshocton, O.

Enlistment Date: 30 Apr 1918

Birth Place: West Lafayette, O.

Birth Date / Age: 28 3/12 Years

Assigns Comment: 15 Co 4 Training Battalion 158 Depot Brigade to 9 May 1918; Provisional Co A 329 Infantry to 20 May 1918; Co A 323 Machine Gun Battalion to 29 July 1918; Headquarters 83 Division 2 Depot to 1 Aug 1918; Co D 3 Machine Gun Battalion to death. Private St Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne; Defensive Sector. American Expeditionary Forces 12 June 1918 to death. Killed in Action 9 Oct 1918. Notified Mrs. Calli Shook, mother, West Lafayette, O. Cited in General Order 1 Division dated 1 Jan 1920. Body returned to United States on SS Wheaton Oct 1921.

Volume #: 16

5) From Auguste Lemke (Whitewater, Wisconsin) to cousin Pvt. Ernest H. Wenzel, Co. I, 342nd Infantry, AEF, November 14, 1918:

"...How are you ? We are all well so far. So many people were and are sick with the catching disease of Influenza. The nearness it got to us was the fourth neighbor on each side of us. And we here of so many die at the camps. I have been in the house for three weeks. Did not want to go anywhere because I was scared I would catch the Influenza. The school, churches, shows and our sewing meeting were closed pretty near a month, but now they are all open. I had a little nine year old cousin die with it at Whitewater...Every body here is talking about the worlds war is to an end. Am so glad it is. Mon morning at four o'clock at Whitewater and Fort they blew the whistles for three hours without stoping and shoot cannon balls and fire guns. Hope this will find you well with love from us all..."

**Envelope notation: "Died Nov. 11, 1918" (Ernest was already dead when Auguste wrote her letter)

American Battle Monuments Commission shows:

Ernest H. Wenzel

Private, U.S. Army

56th Infantry Regiment, 7th Division

Entered the Service from: Wisconsin

Died: November 10, 1918

Buried at: Plot C Row 4 Grave 31

St. Mihiel American Cemetery

Thiaucourt, France

[laughton]

It always amazes me to read that the "Spanish Flu" killed more people than were killed in the Great War and that the Great War was the reason the flu spread to so many countries. It is amazing there were enough people left in the late 1920's to see to our survival!

As far as I know, there is no "Spanish Flu Forum"?

[alliekiwi]

If you're interested in the Spanish flu, there is an excellent book about the NZ experience which also contains a couple of chapters about the wider world and history of the spread of the flu. Definitely worth a read to get an idea of how the flu affected a country, along with how the medical community and government tried to cope. Lots of anecdotes as well as statistics.

The book is:

Black November: the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand

by Dr Geoffrey W. Rice.

Canterbury University Press, NZ 2005

There was an earlier edition, but it's worth getting the 2005 one as it has a great deal of additional research and information.

Allie

[linden]

I haven't found anyone in my family who was affected by the flu . I asked my grandmother about it and she seemed to have had no close family with the flu or even in WW1 . That , to me , seems strange .

[Petroc]

Thanks for a most interesting post; my Great grandfather and his brother were both shipwrights at Devonport Dockyard before the war. They moved to North Devon to work in the Appledore yard before going back to Devonport during the conflict itself. Family legend says that one was sent to the Dardanelles area to help refit damaged ships (but I have no firm evidence for this) and was then working in Boulogne (again..a query to the maritime buffs on this forum brought little response)

Either way, both brothers died of the influenza pandemic in 1918; my great-grandfather's gravestone in Westleigh churchyard, near Instow in Devon and looking across towards the yard at Appledore, records hims as 'late of Devonport Dockyard'...I guess not everyone serving their country had to be clad in khaki!

[Michael Johnson]

Some areas were hit harder than others. Burwash Hall, Victoria College at the University of Toronto was used by the R.A.F., and a large number of Cadets died from influenza. Many are buried in Toronto Necropolis, including three who died October 16, 1918.

[BottsGreys]

I remember my late Great Uncle (born 1905) telling me that at age 13 he had helped dig a grave for a flu victim not much older than himself.

Chris

[Petroc]

So, given the scale of the pandemic, does anyone have evidence that it hit one particular areas harder than others? If so, was there the obvious urban/rural split?

[truthergw]

I have always intended to look into the pandemic, it is not something which figures strongly in anecdotal history of my part of the country at the time of the great war. I was quite surprised when I first came across references to it. Now of course, it happened and there is evidence but I have always thought that there is very little reference to it. I wonder if its main effects were in underdeveloped countries. For to kill more people than the war, it must have slain millions. I find no reference to that scale of loss in French, German or British contemporary literature. Bad 'flu yes, but just not on that scale. What are the standard references?

[ackimzey]

Here are a couple of entries from Grover Carter's diary. He was a U.S. army doctor attach to the BEF for his entire service.

Ann

June 24, 1918 – Went to batteries in a.m. Several sick. Many cases of influenza. In p.m. to wagon lines. Also many cases of influenza there. Very busy day. Letters from Parvin & State [sister]

June 25, 1918 – Very busy as many cases of influenza. Fairly tired at night.

July 7, 1918 – Wind up. Prisoners stated Hun would attack on 50 mi. front from Arras to below Albert between 10th-15th. We put lots of gas over on him [Hun] at night. Letters from Mother and Hugh.

July 8, 1918 – Nothing unusual. Getting tired of this bloody war. Letter from State [sister]. All well. Less work at present as influenza is decreasing.

[linden]

I listened to a programme about the epidemic in South Africa and it was the first time that I understood the severity . There were no services left . The surviving family had to dig graves and there was a story of one family that did this , then went out to the car to fetch the body . By the time they got back , someone else had put their own relative into the grave .

They said that the returning soldiers took the flu along all the railway routes to their home towns , and all the neighbours came for miles to the station to welcomr the men home . Attempts had been made to keep them onboard ship but they failed .

The programme also said that for years there were orphaned children on the streets .

[alliekiwi]

One good comparison for the effects of the influenza are the two Samoas.

Western Samoa at the time was under NZ military rule. Unfortunately the NZ authorities did not impose a quarantine in the area. As a result, the influenza spread quickly and 1/5 to 1/4 of the population died. In contrast, the U.S Navy implemented strict quarantine in American Samoa...and not one person died.

The interesting thing with the Spanish flu was the the young and fit were far more likely to die, whereas normal influenza generally hits the very young and the elderly.

Allie

[truthergw]

It look as though my suspicion may have some basis in fact. Populations without medical services were at most risk. The African services, would they rely on Africans? Is this where the majority of deaths occurred? Are there figures for the number of N.Z. nationals who died in Samoa? I am becoming more convinced that the millions who died were what we would nowadays call, third world residents. There is another example of this in WW2 when a friend of mine serving in India was involved in clearing lorrieloads of bodies from the streets of Calcutta in one of the periodic epidemics.

[BottsGreys]

I am at work and don't have any references handy at present, but I believe the U.S. suffered roughly 500,000 deaths. It spread across the country along the railroad lines. Regarding underdeveloped countries, I read somewhere that experts believe that the loss on the Indian Subcontinent alone may have reached 20 million.

Chris

[alliekiwi]

I know that in NZ there was a higher death rate amongst Maori than Europeans. The European death rate was 5.5 per 1000, whilst the Maori rate was 33.9 per 1000. Sorry, I don't know about NZ nationals in W. Samoa but I'll have a look and see what I can find out.

In New Zealand, the flu travelled along the railway lines, and this is demonstrated by when out breaks occurred in towns along the railway. Regarding the urban/rural split, my book states:

For the European population (with whom this and the next chapter will be concerned), the majority of the 1918 pandemic's victims were urban-dwellers. Little more than half of the European population [then about 1.15 million] lived in urban centres, yet 78% of those who died dwelt in towns or cities. Forty-three per cent of the total European mortality occurred in the four main centres [Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin]. Rural deaths accounted for barely a fifth of the total, even though nearly half of all Europeans lived in country districts. Outside the main centres, the ratio of urban to rural deaths was two to one, with 61 per cent of European deaths occurring in boroughs or town districts. You were therefore three times as likely to die in the flu epidemic if you lived in a city than if you lived in the country, and twices as likely to die if you lived in a town rather than on a farm.

The book briefly touches on other countries:

An attack by the British 29th Division had to be postponed because so many men reported sick with the flu. By early June the French had over 100,000 cases, and were evacuating as many flu sufferers as wounded. At Belleau Wood in June, American tropps fought German troops when both sides were weakened by influenza, diarrhoea and the effects of gas attacks. Ludendorff later blamed the failure of his spring offensive on the prevalence of influenza, which he said had weakened his best troops and lowered morale throughout the german Army.

By June 1918 the first mild wave of the pandemic had spread across most civilian populations in Europe as well. In Britain it was first noticed in the major seaports, especially Liverpool, Glasgow, Southampton and London, indicating the new infection came by sea. In German cities the flu was most prevalent in June and July. Switzerland's reported cases of influenza jumped from a mere six in June to 53,698 in July. In Scandanavia, the first wave arrived later than Germany, with Copenhagen and Stockholm not affected until mid-July. By then the first wave had peaked in London, with 475 pneumonia deaths in three weeks, mostly young adults [the book goes ino how many deaths were registered as pneumonia, and why]

There's more, but it's nearly midnight here.

Allie

[linden]

There are a lot of programmes on the various History Channels on many aspects of the pandemic , I certainly watched one that explained why it affected the young and fit .

The programme I mentioned about South Africa was only talking about the white population . And for them , the rural population was badly hit because of the large gatherings to celebrate the returning soldiers .

[truthergw]

I don't get the History Channel but there may be a DVD about, I'll have a look. Linden, I think that the rural population of South Africa, white or black, would be very poorly provided for medically. The same would go for United States. Chris, that seems a lot of deaths, considering population density. What was the rural population of the USA at the time? Half a million deaths must have had a tremendous effect on the demographics. Strange that there is little or no mention of such a devastating scourge in popular literature.

[Pighills]

I always think the following article is one of the most harrowing I've read:

The following is part of a transcript of articles which appeared in both the Harrogate Advertiser and Harrogate Herald in December 1918:

Funeral of Pte. Hainsworth

The funeral of Pte Harry Hainsworth of the Leeds Pals (15th West Yorks.). son of Mr and Mrs J. Hainsworth, of 109, Dragon Parade, Harrogate, who died from pneumonia following influenza on November 29th, at the Roundhay Road Military Hospital, Leeds, took place at Grove Road Cemetery on Wednesday last. The deceased was accorded a military funeral, which was largely attended. Military mourners were present from his own regiment, and the firing party and bearers were from the Honourable Artillery Company from Leeds. The coffin was covered with the Union Jack, and the service was conducted by the Rev. D. S. Guy, M. A., vicar of Christ Church. The "Last Post" was sounded at the graveside. The family and friends were present at the funeral with the exception of Mr Hainsworth, who was at the bedside of another son, Lieut. Geo. Hainsworth, who passed away from the same malady the same evening. END QUOTE. (my bold and italics).

[truthergw]

Hi Pighills. Thanks for the reference. As I said in my first post, there is no doubt that a very bad 'flu epidemic occurred with severe loss of life. What I was questioning was the numbers who died. We are all familiar with the statement that it caused more deaths than the Great War. ( Anyone know where that quote comes from?) That means that deaths ran in to the millions. I was suggesting that the majority of those deaths must have taken place outside Europe and I actually wondered if it had in fact been among Indians and Chinese who would be getting troops and labourers returning from the war and where lethal epidemics routinely killed in the hundreds of thousands and millions. Bearing in mind the level of medical knowledge at the time, and its availability, I am beginning to realise that rural populations would also be vulnerable.

[linden]

You mention India . My father was born Manchester , 17th November 1918 . He , his 2 older brothers and his mother , sailed for India in February 1919 . My father was a baby but has talked a lot about his family and the things they experienced . No mention of influenza in India . And I have his father's Concert Party programmes from October 1918 until mid 1919 . No mention of cast members being sick . On the final programme there's a lengthy piece about the Officer Training School in Nasik , and that it's about to close . It reviews the history of the establishment (which pretty well covers the period of the influenza outbreak) . No mention of any disruption or sickness . The family left India at the end of 1920 and I never heard anyone speak of the influenza .

Both my mother's and father's family seem to have been really lucky - noone died from the flu .

I wonder whether there are any Asian English language newspapers for 1918-1919 online ?

The History Channel programmes were all made for terrestrial channels and they do get shown again at times - programmes like "Horizon" etc . Channels 4 and 5 made quite a few .

[Terry_Reeves]

What is particularly interesting for me is that the influenza pandemic principally killed those in the early 20's to early 40's age range. The very old and very young largely were unaffected. As far as I'm aware, no reason for this has ever been discovered.

TR

[NeilEvans]

What is particularly interesting for me is that the influenza pandemic principally killed those in the early 20's to early 40's age range. The very old and very young largely were unaffected. As far as I'm aware, no reason for this has ever been discovered.

TR

Thanks for that Terry, very intriguing. I wasn't aware of the age ranges, although it does seem to defy nature.

I think somewhere i've a postcard sent from a soldier to his mother regarding the epidemic.

I'll have a look for it tomorrow.

Neil

[Pete1052]

My grandmother recalled quarantines and wearing surgical-type masks during the epidemic when she was a teenager growing up in Oakland, California.

[linden]

What is particularly interesting for me is that the influenza pandemic principally killed those in the early 20's to early 40's age range. The very old and very young largely were unaffected. As far as I'm aware, no reason for this has ever been discovered.

TR

One of the programmes was about that . I think it was about the flu persuading the immune system to attack itself . Therefore the stronger the person , the more severe the effect .

[Terry_Reeves]

Linden

Many thanks. It would be interesting to see if anyone could expand on that.

TR