Indians in the First World War

Book Review of Marina Efimova

Alexander Genis: August 1914 forever entered the mentality of the West as the most terrible catastrophe in his entire story. It is not surprising that the centenary of this event caused a huge wave of anniversary (if this word is appropriate) events. Only in Germany there are 80 exhibitions dedicated to the anniversary. Although America entered the war only at its end, in 1917, it was the appearance of the American army on the West Front that turned out to be fateful and, ultimately, led to the victory of the Allies.

On the American book market, many new works about the war appeared on the days of the anniversary, but, perhaps, only the one that Marina Efimova will tell about - and was supposed to come out only in America, because this book is about the role of the Indians in the victory.

Marina Efimova: America joined the First World War in 1917, and by the spring of 1918, 300 thousand American soldiers and officers landed in France. The troops continued to arrive several thousand a day, so in September the American army became the main participant in one of the most significant and long battles of the war-the Mes-Argon offensive of the Allies. The Americans had to take the offensive on the incredibly long line of the front, stretching 420 km. With this length of the advanced line, the telephone connection between the units played an extremely important (if not the main) role. Telephone switches were behind the front line, wires, barely covered with earth, stretched for kilometers. The German signalmen successfully listened to the negotiations of the Americans and very soon deciphered all their codes - among their experts were people who excellently owned not only British, but also American English. The American field commanders had to provide unreliable communication with the help of couriers. And then one day ...

Announcer: “Colonel A.V. Blur, the commander of the 142nd American Infantry Division, passing through the camp, heard two ordinary people - Indians from the Choktau tribe - who spoke in their own language. The officer passed by, a little annoyed to the fact that his soldiers speak in a language that he does not understand. And, suddenly, he realized that if he does not understand their language, then the Germans do not understand him. The colonel stopped and asked the soldier if they had fellow tribesmen in the division. It turned out that there is, and even at the headquarters there are two choktau officers. Two days later, Blur made a combat test of his idea. ”

Marina Efimova: On October 26, 1918, Colonel Blur ordered to quietly relocate two companies of the 2nd battalion to the place of preparing attack on Forrest Pharm. The order was handed over by phone one Indian to another. The relocation was unnoticed - judging by the fact that the attack of the Americans found the Germans by surprise. On the same day, the Americans captured a German officer. He said that his headquarters cannot understand the new code of the Americans. “There were even assumptions,” he said, “that the Yankees learned to talk under water.”

A week later, the “Choktau telephone platoon” was created - first out of eight, then out of 19 people, who were placed in all military units on the front line. All of them were from Oklahoma, many knew each other. So there were no problems of communication, the problem was due to the fact that the terms of the Choktau tribe did not include the terms of the modern American army. Therefore, they called the gun “a very large gun”, and the machine gun “a small gun that shoots quickly and quickly”. Professor William Medouz from the University of Missouri (the only historian who was engaged in Indian codes) wrote in the book “Codig” of the Communications tribe in the Second World War ”:

Announcer: “To use the Choktau language as a code in the First World War was very convenient. No one knew him. At that time, only a few tribes of the American Indians totaled more than 20 thousand people, so their languages were not known outside the tribe. Most had no writing, and if it was, then only the Bible and the anthem were written in their languages. Therefore, the signalists of Choktau, transmitting reports and orders with direct text that did not need decryption, accelerated the transfer of information and helped the American army successfully conduct several key battles. Experience with Indian signalmen was also used in the Second World War, but this time the main code languages became the languages of the Navajo and Combat tribes. And not one of these codes was disclosed and translated by the enemy - neither in the First World War, nor in the second. ”

Marina Efimova: The story is curious about how and when Glory came to the signalmen of Choktau. It began with myths. They are described by journalist Phillip Allen in the Internet review article “Codisters from the Choktau tribe in the First World War”:

Announcer: “The leader of the Choktau tribe named Pushmatach once said:“ Choktau’s fighting cry will still be heard in foreign lands! ” (He hardly knew how literally his prediction would become accurate).

Suggest Choktau - Joseph Oklakhimby - fellow tribesmen more than once called the main character of the First World War. During a long offensive in the Argon Forest, Oklakhimbi, who was inaudibly drawn to the old cemetery, saw German soldiers with a number of 250, dining under the cover of high cemetery walls. Oklakhimby killed 79 Germans, after which the rest surrendered. (In the retelling of another soldier Choktau, the episode looked different: Oklakhimby led the Germans captured by him to the headquarters, but brought only one. “Where is the second?” The officer asked. “I killed him a little,” said Oklakhombi).

After the war, several Choktau soldiers claimed that they owned the idea of using their language as a code. And army officers attributed the initiative to themselves. One way or another, it is important that, according to the testimony of German historians, a day after the Americans introduced the connection with the help of the Choktau language, the course of the battle changed, and after three days the allies were able to attack throughout the front. ”

Marina Efimova: Basically, Choktau soldiers who returned home to Oklahom did not like to talk about the war (like all soldiers in general). The military command kept the idea of Indian codes a secret, understanding its potential opportunities. And for the government, this topic was slippery, since in America the policy of eradicating languages of Indian tribes was then pursued. In schools, teenage Indians were punished if they spoke their own language. In a word, this episode of war was lost among many others and was forgotten. Historian Medouz writes:

Announcer: “Already all participants in the events have died. In 1968, the codes of World War II were declassified. In 2001, military awards were solemnly awarded to signalmen-coders of the Navajo tribe, who communicated on the battlefields of a large (i.e., Second World War). And only then did the leaders of the Indian communities began their historical investigation. In 2008, they achieved a “decree on the recognition of the merits of Indian signaling-codialists in the First World War.”

And in 2013, the administration of the Choktau tribe, like the administrations of several other tribes, whose signalmen changed the course of the war in 1918, received the gold medals of Congress - the highest award of America, established for civilians ”

Marina Efimova: “On the eve of the centenary of the war,” writes Fillip Allen, “the Choktau tribe put the granite monument to its grandfathers and great -grandfathers, on which the names of 19 signalmen were knocked out. And pride in her language reached such a glow among the Indians that the tribe administration opened in several states classes in the study of the Choktau language, including Internet lessons. ”

There is no monument to Colonel AW Blur, although the fact that the idea belonged to him became clear when in 1996 his September 1918 memorandum was declassified, where he explains his decision to apply his decision in detail to the Indian language. But still, on the Internet, you can find (albeit not without difficulty) a photograph and text of a memorandum that has become clouded from time to time.