U.S. soldiers from the 30th Infantry Division with a Lewis Gun in a trench in Flanders, July 9, 1918.
U.S. soldiers from the 30th Infantry Division with a Lewis Gun in a trench in Flanders, July 9, 1918. The U.S. 30th Infantry Division was part of the U.S. Army Corps II, which was assigned to British and Australian units for training and combat during the First World War - hence why these Doughboys are pictured with a British Lewis Gun, and why they were in Flanders to begin with, as the rest of the American Expeditionary Force was positioned in or near Lorraine. Some 50,000 U.S. troops from the 27th and 30th Infantry Divisions were initially trained under British command, but their most significant contribution in the First World War came under Australian command during the Battle of the St. Quentin Canal in September - October 1918. These U.S. forces spearheaded the attack on September 29, 1918 and met stiff German resistance, suffering a staggering 7800 casualties on the first day and 13,182 by the end of the battle. By the end of the First World War the 27th Division had suffe...