Lyme
And while the war was not forgotten, it has been largely overshadowed by the war that followed it barely two decades later and claimed millions more lives.
This year marks the centennial of the end of “the war to end all wars” (the phrase was coined by author H.G. Wells) and the Lyme Historians are honoring that important anniversary with a new exhibit, “1918: Lyme at War,” now on display at the Lyme Historians Museum on Main Street.
It’s hard to know for certain just how many Lyme residents served in the war, said Jane Fant, a board member and curator of the exhibit. That’s due to the lack of government records, many of which were lost in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. Fant did have two separate lists drawn up by former Lyme historians and another from a veterans organization “but none of them agree,” Fant said. “There are people on some that aren’t on the others.”
She’s put together a list of 47, though it’s also a bit unclear which residents saw combat action. In that sense, the exhibit became a bit of a treasure hunt, with Fant looking through old town reports for more information.
From what Fant can tell, “no one from Lyme died in the war” and none received a grievous or life-changing injury. Nearly 20,000 men from New Hampshire served in the war and 95,158 registered for the draft.
“New Hampshire was high on volunteers,” Fant said.
One of the Lyme men who served in the war was Guy C. Brockway who enlisted when he was 25 and became part of the “Yankee Division” — Company M, 103rd U.S. infantry. He was wounded in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in September 1918 and received a Purple Heart. He was also awarded a Silver Star for “exceptional gallantry in action” in the Battle of Chateau-Thierry in July 1918, according to the commendation. After the war, he returned to Lyme, where he married and ran a farm on Baker Hill Road. He died at age 66 on Oct. 21, 1958. His family donated the medals and other memorabilia to the historians years ago.
Another highlight in the exhibit are items that belonged to Lt. Olav Rufsvold, whose grandson Dr. Robert Rufsvold lives in Lyme and is lending the items for the exhibit. A career military man, Rufsvold started the war as a second lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenant before the end of it. On top of a glass display case used in the exhibit there is a box containing heavy pieces of shrapnel that came close to killing Rufsvold as his trench was hit with shellfire.
“These came apparently right over his head and stuck in the back of the trench,” Fant said. “He just reached back and grabbed a handful.”
Fant is leaving the shrapnel outside of the case for visitors to touch and hold, so they can feel the magnitude of what was being fired at soldiers day and night.
There are also stirrups that the lieutenant used while on horseback and his gas mask.
On one wall there is a photograph of the Lyme baseball team taken before the war. Many of the boys — then men — went on to serve in the war. “They’re young,” Fant explained. Many soldiers were in their late teens and early 20s, something people may forget.
“The disillusionment was massive,” Fant said. “It was such a tragedy and the people that paid the price were the common soldier.”
It’s a history worth studying and knowing.
Editor’s note: The Lyme Historians Museum is open from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and by appointment. For more information, call 603-795-2508. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
