The B&O Railroad Goes to War Part V: March-May 1918

The B&O Railroad Goes to War

Part V: March - May 1918

In the early spring of 1918, the men and women of the B&O Railroad Company were hard at work for the nation at war. The nation's railroads were transporting an average of twenty thousand troops per day. Women continued to fill jobs left by men that had never been available to them up to that point. The B&O also worked hard to encourage their employees to grow "Victory Gardens" along their right-of-way and buy war bonds. All the while, American railroads continued to adjust to new federal control. 

B&O Railroad Employee Magazine, March 1918. [B&O Railroad Museum Collection]

With a large increase in the number of women in the work force, they were able to form new clubs or social groups. By March 1918, the ladies of Cumberland formed an exclusive rifle club, the first of its kind for the B&O. Groups like knitting clubs also came about. Men of the Glenwood Shops also formed a new Glee Club at this time. These social groups were good for morale and often used as fundraisers for the war effort. [B&O Railroad Museum Collection]

On March 19, the company learned of an act of extraordinary valor by a B&O man in France. When the war broke out, Corporal Harry Weymouth Fanning was working as a clerk out of the Auditor of Disbursements office in Baltimore. He enlisted with the Maryland Coast Artillery, which ultimately became the 117th Trench Mortar Battery. This famous unit earned the title of "Baltimore's first to fight" during the war and had many B&O employees in the ranks. For his actions on March 5, Fanning received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest military award, and the highest earned by a B&O employee during World War I. 

CITATION:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Corporal Harry W. Fanning (ASN: 147449), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 117th Trench Mortar Battery, 42d Division, A.E.F., near Le Chamois, France, 5 March 1918. Corporal Fanning was in charge of a trench mortar emplacement which was firing a barrage against an enemy raid. One of the bombs from the mortar fell on the side of the emplacement and was rolling into the emplacement where the gun crew and four other men were located. Corporal Fanning rushed across the emplacement, seized the bomb as it was rolling, and unscrewed the fuse, thereby exposing himself to great danger and by his heroic action saving the lives of his comrades in the emplacement.

Soldiers of the 117th Trench Mortar Battery on March 4, 1918, at Badonviller, Muerthe et Moselle, France. [U.S. Signal Corps Photograph, Library of Congress]

On April 5, the U.S. Government passed the Third Liberty Loan Act, an additional measure taken to pay for the war effort. The government relied on children, specifically the boy and girl scouts, to sell these war bonds. They were featured on street posters, flyers, and in the newspapers for this marketing campaign. Children of B&O employees were also heavily recruited in this role. In one month's time, 86% of all employees had subscribed for Third Liberty Bonds, giving over four million dollars. The drive was wildly successful throughout the country. B&O President Daniel Willard said of the Third Liberty Loan: "No better evidence than this could possibly be given of the loyalty and patriotism of the Baltimore and Ohio employees and of their determination to do their part towards winning the war and I am more than ever proud to be included as one of their number."

Major changes to the nation's railroad system had come since the creation of the United States Railroad Administration on December 28, 1917. While there were certainly some negative effects about the federalization of the railroads from the perspective of railroad executives, workers fared very well during this period. A wage commission was formed by William G. McAdoo, Director General of the USRA, in order to analyze the wages of railroad employees. The commission reported that wages did not support the recent rise in the cost of living. Across the board, railroad employees encompassing a variety of jobs received wage increases. These would take effect on May 25, 1918. Later that year, better work rules, and an extension of the eight hour work day to additional workers, led to an increase in the overall size of the labor force.

William Gibbs McAdoo, ca. 1914. McAdoo served as the Director General of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) from December 1917 - November 1918. In 1931, McAdoo wrote "I have never done anything in my life that gave me so much satisfaction as raising the pay of the railroad employees." [Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress]

Daniel Willard, Jr., the company president's son, had been in France since September 1917. On April 20, 1918, the allies engaged the German army at the Battle of Seicheprey in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The Americans sustained more than 650 casualties. During the fight, Willard commanded several guns for over five hours under heavy fire. For Willard's actions under fire, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre "War Cross" by the French.

CITATION:

He displayed much coolness and great bravery in changing the position of his guns under a violent bombardment of heavy shells and gas, and in remaining for five hours on open ground.

Lieutenant Daniel Willard, Jr. receives the Croix de Guerre from a French General, May 29, 1918. [U.S. Signal Corps Photograph, M.B. Munford Collection, B&O Railroad Museum]

By spring 1918, the United States had been engaged in the war effort for one year. Men, women, and children did their part in the work force, planting victory gardens, and buying war bonds. In the months ahead, the B&O Railroad continued to give for the good of the nation at great financial and human cost.

By Harrison Van Waes
Curator, B&O Railroad Museum

The B&O Railroad Goes to War is a multi-part blog series commemorating the centennial of American involvement in World War I. Follow along with this series through November 2018.

Sources: 

Baltimore & Ohio Employee Magazine [March 1918 - May 1918]

Digital Collections, Library of Congress.

Hall of Valor. "Harry W. Fanning." Accessed May 22, 2018.
<https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/11833>

Hays T. Watkins Research Library & Archives, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum

Stover, John F. History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Indiana: Purdue University Press, 1987.