Calamity Jane
- Extended Description
- The doughboys of Battery E, 11th Field Artillery carefully loaded the 95-pound shell into Calamity Jane, the name of their favorite 155mm artillery piece. With the round in place, the men locked it into the breech and prepared to pull the lanyard. An officer, looking at his watch, stepped forward. Raising his hand, he kept his eye on his watch, waiting for the second hand to reach twelve. When it did he dropped his hand. A soldier yanked the lanyard. Calamity Jane fired. It was 1100 hrs, 11 November 1918. World War I was over.
The 11th Field Artillery may have been just another artillery regiment among the vast numbers of American troops and weapons that comprised the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), but the unit distinguished itself by being given the honor of firing the closing shot on 11 November 1918, effectively ending the First World War.
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