Margery Booth, a British Opera Singer Who Emigrated to Germany During WWII and Became a Spy

Margery Booth, also known as Margery Kallus, was a British-born opera singer who lived a double life as a daring MI6 wartime spy, successfully filtering Nazi intelligence to Great Britain while performing for Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. Despite her immense bravery, she remained largely uncelebrated and forgotten for decades after World War II.

Born on January 25, 1906, in Wigan, Lancashire, Margery Myers Booth possessed a remarkable operatic voice. After training at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she eventually married Dr Egon Strohmand, from a brewing family in the Black Forest, and moved to Germany in the 1930s.

Margery and Egon on their wedding day in 1936 with Terry her pet dog.

Performing under her married name, her talent as a mezzo-soprano led her straight to the prestigious Berlin State Opera. Her performances heavily charmed the Nazi leadership. Adolf Hitler became a personal fan, famously sending her 200 red roses wrapped in a swastika sash after watching her perform at Bayreuth.

When World War II broke out, Booth weaponized her proximity to high-ranking Nazi officials to work as an undercover agent for British Intelligence (MI6). Her intelligence work involved. She regularly smuggled high-level military data and ciphers out of Berlin. On at least one occasion, a British officer slipped secret documents to her moments before a show; she hid the papers in her underwear and went on stage to sing directly for Hitler.

The Nazis allowed her to perform for British prisoners of war at camps like Stalag IIID to boost morale or entice them into joining the British Free Corps (a Nazi propaganda unit). Instead, Booth partnered with a captured British soldier, Quartermaster Sergeant John Brown, who was pretending to be a Nazi sympathizer. Together, they compiled records of British traitors working for Germany. In addition to espionage, Booth used her Berlin flat to hide a Jewish woman and help escaped British airmen.

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The Famous Encounter Between a Filipino Fisherman and the Top-Secret U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine USS Triton in 1960

On April 1, 1960, a 19-year-old Filipino fisherman Rufino Baring reportedly encountered the USS Triton (SSRN-586), the U.S. Navy’s massive nuclear-powered submarine, during its top-secret Operation Sandblast, the first submerged circumnavigation of the world. The fisherman reportedly mistook the periscope as the eye of a sea monster, leading him to believe he was seeing something monstrous.

Rubino Baring sighted by USS Triton in the Bohol Strait on April 1, 1960.

The Triton, commanded by Captain Edward L. Beach, was on a landmark 60,000+ mile underwater voyage following (roughly) the route of Ferdinand Magellan. It stayed submerged for nearly the entire 83-day journey to showcase nuclear submarine capabilities during the Cold War.

While transiting Magellan Bay, the sub briefly raised its periscope. The crew spotted Baring paddling nearby, only about 50 yards away. Captain Beach described the surreal scene in the ship’s log: an “impassive Asian” in a simple canoe staring at the periscope, while on the other end was a state-of-the-art $100 million submarine crew looking back. He noted the vast “abyss” of centuries of technological difference.

The photo was taken by a crew member (likely involving National Geographic photographer Joseph Baylor Roberts, who was aboard).

USS Triton (SSRN-586) during sea trials (September 27, 1959).

Baring was terrified. He later told National Geographic (which published the photo and tracked him down) that he thought the periscope was the “gleaming mysterious eye” of a sea monster. He paddled away as fast as he could.

He became the only civilian/unauthorized person known to have visually spotted the Triton during its entire secret mission.

The image perfectly symbolizes the clash between ancient, traditional ways of life and modern military technology. It’s a fascinating, almost whimsical footnote in one of the most impressive feats of underwater navigation in history.

When Queen Elizabeth II Met Jackie Kennedy in 1961

Queen Elizabeth II and First Lady Jackie Kennedy met on June 5, 1961, during a high-profile visit by President John F. Kennedy to London. The meeting took place at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen and Prince Philip hosted a formal black-tie dinner in the President’s honor. The dinner followed the Kennedys’ successful trip to Paris. While not an official State Banquet, it was a highly formal event intended to celebrate the burgeoning “Camelot” era of American politics.

Tensions began before the meal over the guest list. Traditionally, the Palace did not invite divorcees to such events. Jackie had requested her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill, and brother-in-law, Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, both of whom were on their second or third marriages. The Queen eventually relented, though reportedly retaliated by excluding Princess Margaret and Princess Marina, whom Jackie had also specifically asked to meet.

Both women famously wore shades of blue. Jackie wore an ice-blue silk gown by Chez Ninon, while the Queen wore a royal blue tulle ballgown by Norman Hartnell. The Queen reportedly gave Jackie a private tour of the Palace’s art gallery. Despite this, Jackie later described the Queen as “pretty heavy going” and felt the monarch “resented” her presence.

Years before their official meeting, a young Jackie Bouvier had actually reported on the Queen’s 1953 coronation while working as an “Inquiring Camera Girl” for the Washington Times-Herald. Any initial tension seemed to fade by March 1962, when the Queen invited Jackie for a more intimate lunch at the Palace. Afterward, Jackie told the press she found the Queen “charming.” Following JFK’s assassination, the two met again in May 1965 at Runnymede, where the Queen dedicated a memorial to the late President.

The Crown dramatized the 1961 meeting, depicting a deep rivalry and harsh insults from Jackie. While historical accounts confirm some “awkwardness” and Jackie’s private remarks that the conversation was “heavy going,” many of the show’s more scathing lines (such as calling the Queen “unintelligent”) are considered fictional inventions.

In 1963, Heinz Meixner Orchestrated a Daring Escape From East Berlin to Smuggle His Fiancée and Her Mother

Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to divide east and west Berlin and, more precisely, to prevent people from East Berlin (the Soviet-held area) from escaping to West Berlin (governed by the Allied Forces). It went down in 1989, marking the end of the Cold War.

Checkpoint Charlie (aka Checkpoint C) is the most famous border-crossing point, designated for diplomats, foreigners, and members of the Allied Forces (1961-1990). The West Berlin part of the checkpoint – with Adler Cafe right next to it – consisted of a minimalist guard house and a sandbag barrier, which looked oddly unimpressive compared to the Eastern part’s infrastructure.

The infamous Checkpoint Charlie in 1961.

In 1963, Heinz Meixner, an Austrian lathe operator, orchestrated a daring escape from East Berlin to smuggle his fiancée, Margarete Thurau, and her mother to the West. Their story is one of the most famous escapes involving Checkpoint Charlie.

Meixner had fallen in love with Thurau while working in East Berlin, but she was denied permission to emigrate. To bypass the Berlin Wall, Meixner devised a plan to drive under the border barriers rather than through them.

While crossing the border on a motor scooter, Meixner feigned engine trouble to secretly measure the height of the steel barrier at Checkpoint Charlie, finding it was 37.5 inches (95 cm) high. He searched for a car low enough to fit and settled on a red Austin-Healey Sprite. To ensure clearance, he removed the windshield and let air out of the tires, bringing the car’s height down to about 35.5 inches (90 cm).

Shortly after midnight on May 5, 1963, the trio made their attempt. Margarete huddled in the small space behind the driver’s seat. Her mother was placed in the trunk, protected by 30 bricks Meixner had packed around her to stop potential bullets from border guards.

Meixner drove to the East German side and handed over his passport. When the guard directed him toward a customs shed for inspection, he instead slammed on the accelerator. He ducked his head as the car zipped under the steel barrier. He cleared the bar with only about an inch to spare, reaching the American sector of West Berlin so fast that he left 96-foot skid marks when he finally braked.

The escape was successful, and the story became a sensation, later documented in the Mauermuseum (Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie). In response to this specific “under-the-barrier” tactic, East German authorities soon added vertical steel bars beneath the horizontal checkpoint beams to prevent future attempts.

Emperor Hirohito and General Douglas MacArthur Meet for the First Time in 1945

Emperor Hirohito and General Douglas MacArthur held their first, historic meeting on September 27, 1945, at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, a pivotal moment in postwar Japan. The 40-minute meeting established a working relationship crucial to the U.S. occupation, with MacArthur resisting efforts to try Hirohito as a war criminal. The famous photograph, showing a casual, towering MacArthur beside a diminutive Hirohito in a formal suit, was intended to project American authority while avoiding the humiliation of the Emperor.

The meeting was crucial for cementing MacArthur’s authority as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) and ensuring the stability of Japan by retaining the emperor, rather than trying him as a war criminal.

Taken by Gaetano Faillace on September 27, 1945, the image was initially shocking to many Japanese, as it portrayed the formerly “divine” Emperor alongside a casually dressed General. The photo served as a “masterclass in civil affairs” or a “social re-engineering tool,” aiming to dismantle the imperial mystique and shift Japan toward a democratic, constitutional monarchy.

Hirohito, facing the destruction of his country, took the initiative to meet MacArthur to demonstrate his commitment to his people and a peaceful transition. 

Executive One: When U.S President Richard Nixon Traveled on a Regularly Scheduled Commercial Flight in 1973

On December 26, 1973, President Richard Nixon, his family, staff, and Secret Service detail flew United Airlines flight 55 from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. In doing so, President Nixon became the ONLY sitting President to fly a public commercially scheduled flight. The event was kept secret until the presidential party arrived for their flight. It was reported that not even the pilot knew until half an hour before departure. No passengers were bumped from their seats to accommodate the presidential party.

During the flight, President Nixon walked the aisles of the DC-10 aircraft, meeting and talking with other passengers. By foregoing the use of Air Force One, he intended to draw attention to the energy crisis and demonstrate his confidence in the commercial airlines industry.

The President’s party used 13 first class one‐way tickets at $217.64 each and 12 coach seats at $167.64 each. The total cost was $4,841, which, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator, is about $34,033.70 today.

The presidential party returned to Washington in January by flying on a military aircraft from Palm Springs, CA to Andrews AFB, MD, via a refueling stop at Tinker AFB, OK.

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Portrait of Theo Van Gogh, Taken in 2004, Was Captured the Same Year He Was Murdered

This photo of Theo van Gogh, taken in 2004, was captured the same year he was murdered. A great-grandson of Vincent van Gogh’s brother, Theo, he was killed on November 2, 2004, by a radical Islamist for his controversial film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam.

At approximately 9 a.m. on the morning of November 2, 2004, Van Gogh was shot several times and had his throat slit while cycling to work. The perpetrator, 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan citizen Mohammed Bouyeri, also injured some bystanders and left a note pinned to Van Gogh’s stomach with a knife containing death threats to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who went into hiding. The note also threatened Western countries and Jews, and referred to ideologies of the Egyptian organization Jama’at al-Muslimin.

Bouyeri was apprehended by police after a chase. Authorities alleged that he had terrorist ties with the Dutch Islamist Hofstad Network. He was charged with the attempted murder of several police officers and bystanders, illegal possession of a firearm, and conspiring to murder others, including Hirsi Ali. He was convicted at trial on July 26, 2005, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The murder sparked outrage and grief throughout the Netherlands. Flowers, notes, drawings and other expressions of mourning were left at the scene of the murder.

The primary motive for the murder was Van Gogh’s 2004 short film, Submission. The film, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, criticized the treatment of women in Islam and featured scenes of Quranic verses written on the bodies of women. This work was deeply offensive to some religious extremists and led to the fatal retaliation. 

Van Gogh’s murder had a profound impact on Dutch society, sparking intense national debates over freedom of speech, multiculturalism, and the integration of immigrants. It is often cited as a turning point that ended an era of perceived “tolerance” in the Netherlands regarding radical religious ideologies.

Shi Pei Pu, a Chinese Spy and Opera Singer Who Persuaded His French Lover He Was a Woman

Shi Pei Pu (1938–2009) was a Chinese opera singer from Beijing who became the center of one of the most unusual and unbelievable espionage cases of the 20th century. His story is a mix of Cold War politics, deep deception, and a 20-year romance that inspired the Tony Award-winning play and subsequent film, M. Butterfly.

Chinese opera singer Shi Pei Pu, before 1960.

The story began in 1964 when Bernard Boursicot, a 20-year-old diplomat at the French embassy in Beijing, met Shi Pei Pu at a cocktail party. Shi, who was 26 at the time, was a singer and librettist who convinced Boursicot that he was actually a woman disguised as a man by his parents because they desperately wanted a son.

Boursicot believed the story, and the two began a sexual and romantic relationship that lasted two decades. To maintain the ruse during intimacy, Shi utilized extreme modesty and physical manipulation, citing Chinese cultural “tradition” to keep the lights off and clothes on.

Bernard Boursicot worked as an accountant at the French Embassy in Beijing in 1965.

The deception went even further. Shi claimed to have become pregnant and later presented Boursicot with a son, Shi Du Du. In reality, Shi had purchased the child from a doctor in a remote region of China. When Chinese intelligence discovered the affair, they pressured Boursicot into providing embassy documents. Between 1977 and 1982, Boursicot turned over approximately 500 classified documents to the Chinese government, believing he was protecting his “wife” and “son.”

The truth finally came out in 1983 after Boursicot moved Shi and the boy to Paris. French authorities arrested them both for espionage. During the trial, a medical examination confirmed that Shi Pei Pu was biologically male. Boursicot was reportedly devastated and became the subject of widespread ridicule in France. Both men were sentenced to six years in prison, but Shi was pardoned by President François Mitterrand after only a year to ease diplomatic tensions with China.

Shi (left) and Boursicot met in 1964. Shi dressed as a man but claimed that he was actually a woman.

Boursicot and Shi Dudu, his ‘son’ with Shi Peipu. In reality, the boy was adopted.

Boursicot (left) and Shi stood trial in France in 1983 for spying for China. They were found guilty in 1986 and received six-year sentences for espionage. Both were pardoned in 1987.

After his pardon, Shi returned to performing as an opera singer. He was reluctant to share the details of his relationship with Boursicot, stating that he “used to fascinate both men and women” and that “What I was and what they were didn’t matter.” Shi spoke infrequently with Boursicot over the subsequent years. However, in the months before Shi’s death, he told Boursicot that he still loved him.

Shi was said to be 70 years old when he died on 30 June 2009, in Paris. Shi is survived by his adopted son, Shi Du Du, who later fathered three sons of his own. Notified at a French nursing home of Shi’s death, Boursicot said, “He did so many things against me that he had no pity for; I think it is stupid to play another game now and say I am sad. The plate is clean now. I am free.”

Shi and Boursicot’s affair is one of the strangest espionage stories of recent times.

A scene from the 1993 film M. Butterfly.

Historical Photographs Captured Moments Before, During and After RFK’s Assassination in Los Angeles, 1968

On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, and pronounced dead the following day.

Kennedy, a United States senator and candidate in the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries, won the California and South Dakota primaries on June 4. He addressed his campaign supporters in the Ambassador Hotel’s Embassy Ballroom. After leaving the podium, and exiting through a kitchen hallway, he was mortally wounded by multiple shots fired by Sirhan. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital nearly 25 hours later. His body was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sirhan, a Palestinian who held strong anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian beliefs, testified in 1969 that he killed Kennedy “with 20 years of malice aforethought;” he was convicted and sentenced to death. Due to People v. Anderson, his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 with a possibility of parole. His parole request has been denied numerous times. Kennedy’s assassination prompted the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates. Additionally, it led to several conspiracy theories. It was the final of four major assassinations in the United States that occurred during the 1960s.

The photographs that Bill Eppridge made before, during and after RFK’s assassination don’t require that we forget all we’ve learned about the dank underside of American politics in order to appreciate the fear, rage and anguish sparked by Kennedy’s death. On the contrary, the pictures in this gallery suggest that despite how ambitious and even cruel he could sometimes be, Bobby Kennedy obviously inspired, in countless people, the better angels of their nature.

Would Robert Kennedy have won the Democratic nomination if Sirhan had not gunned him down in that hotel kitchen? Would he have gone on to beat Richard Nixon in the general election if he had won the nomination? The measure of the man must be taken not by what he might have done, but by what he said and did during his lifetime.

We’ll never know how much he might have grown, how much further he might have deepened, had Sirhan’s bullets not silenced him.That’s where much of the tragedy of the tale lies: in the ruined promise of the man’s potential.

Robert Kennedy, June, 1968.

Sen. Robert Kennedy campaigned, June 1968.

Robert Kennedy, June 1968.

Supporters of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy watched him on TV.

Sen. Robert Kennedy conferred with an aide during his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.

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Rosenberg Children Read in the Newspaper on June 19, 1953 That Their Parents Have One Day More to Live

On June 19, 1953, just one day before the scheduled execution of their parents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, young Michael (10) and Robert (6) were photographed reading the devastating news. The Rosenbergs had been convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. Their trial and execution became one of the most controversial moments in American history, fueling debates about justice, politics, and fear in an era defined by suspicion.

Michael Rosenberg, 10, right, and his brother, Robert, 6, sons of atom spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, read June 18, 1953 that their parents had one day more to live. The boys were at the home of friends in Toms River, N.J. The Rosenberg’s execution date had been delayed by a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which turned a stay down. (AP Photo/Daily News)

After their parents’ execution, Michael and Robert were left orphaned and rejected by most of their relatives, who feared the stigma of being associated with the Rosenberg name. Salvation came when they were adopted by Abel and Anne Meeropol. Abel, a poet and teacher remembered for writing the haunting anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit,” gave the boys not just a home but a nurturing, politically aware environment that helped shape their future. They took the Meeropol surname and grew up determined to build meaningful lives out of a tragic beginning.

As adults, both brothers carved out paths that reflected both intellectual rigor and social commitment. Michael became an economist and professor, while Robert pursued law and later founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children, dedicated to supporting children whose activist parents face persecution. Together, they have spent their lives reassessing the case that defined their childhood—acknowledging Julius’s involvement in espionage while arguing passionately that their mother, Ethel, was unjustly convicted and executed with scant evidence. Their story stands as both a family tragedy and a testament to resilience in the shadow of history.

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are seen during their espionage trial in New York. They were convicted on this day in 1951 and executed in 1953. (Associated Press)

John Lennon Shaved His Hair to Go to Watergate Hearings in Washington D.C., June 1973

John Lennon had a completely shaved head when he attended the Watergate hearings in Washington D.C. on June 27, 1973. He was present as an observer, amidst a crowd of officials and spectators.

However, the shaving of his head was likely not specifically for the hearings, but rather part of a personal decision and possibly related to his ongoing immigration issues and a previous peace campaign. He had shaved his head earlier in June 1973, and was photographed with the new look at various events around that time, including the hearings. At the hearing, he told reporters: “I have my brown curls chopped off every two years, and I had a haircut again only two weeks ago.”

At the time, the Nixon administration was actively trying to deport Lennon, citing a 1968 cannabis conviction in the UK. Appearing with a clean-cut, short-haired look was a stark departure from the “long-haired hippie” image Nixon’s administration used to characterize him as a “dangerous alien.”

It was later revealed that John Lennon was a target of FBI surveillance because of his anti-war activism. When asked about being on a “political enemies” list at the hearing, Lennon dryly remarked, “We’re somewhere in the middle... Nobody has asked us to take sides.”

This was the second time Lennon had shaved his head in the early 1970s; the first was in January 1970 with Yoko Ono as a “peace campaign” statement.

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John Lennon and Yoko Ono Waiting for Maid to Make Bed During “Bed-In for Peace” in 1969

In March 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono captured global attention with their famous “Bed-In for Peace” in Amsterdam, a week-long protest against war and violence. The couple, newly married, took residence in a flower-scented Presidential Suite at the Hilton Hotel, planning to remain in bed as a statement of peaceful resistance. Their aim was to use this unusual form of protest to draw attention to the world’s conflicts and advocate for love and nonviolence.

This specific photograph, taken by Charles Ley and published in the Daily Mirror on March 26, 1969, perfectly captures the contrast between their symbolic activism and everyday life. The couple had to momentarily get out of bed so that the hotel maid, Maria de Soledade Alves, could change the sheets. This humorous interruption highlighted the reality of their high-profile protest while staying in a luxury hotel.

The article with the headline “Beatle John and Yoko are forced out of their £20-a-day bed by Maria, the hotel maid.” It reads:

BEDMATES John Lennon and Yoko Ono, like many a visionary and revolutionary before them, discovered yesterday that being out of this world can have its little difficulties.

Suddenly, in their flower-scented £20-a-day Presidential Suite above Amsterdam, they found that high-thinkers occasionally have to compromise with more down-to-earth mortals ... such as hotel maids.

Suddenly, the serenity of Day Two of the Great Lennon Lie-in was interrupted by a rival “happening”: The Changing of The Bed Linen. And Beatle John and his Japanese bride had to get out of bed.

John and Yoko, who married last Thursday, took to their bed “as a protest against war violence in the world.” They planned to stay tucked up for seven days.

But that was before Maria de Soledade Alves, a Portuguese maid at Amsterdam's Hilton Hotel, came on the scene with a pile of new linen. Yoko, in a high-necked, old- fashioned white nightie, fled to a chair.

When Maria moved on to another room, the 28-year-old Beatle and his 34-year-old wife hopped happily back into bed.

To turn their backs on the world and peacefully contemplate the skyline of Amsterdam.

Pictures by CHARLES LEY

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in a Prison Cell in Mexico City, 1956 — Their First Photo Together

A young Cuban Marxist revolutionary, Fidel Castro (left), and Argentine Marxist revolutionary, Che Guevara (right), in Miguel Schultz Jail in Mexico City in June-July 1956. This photograph may be the first one showing Castro and Guevara together.

After Fidel Castro’s failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in Cuba in 1953, he was imprisoned and later released under amnesty in 1955. Castro then fled to Mexico, which had become a haven for Latin American revolutionaries. There, he began organizing a new expedition to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the U.S.-backed dictator of Cuba.

It was in Mexico City in 1955 that Castro met Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine doctor and Marxist who had been traveling across Latin America. The two men quickly bonded over their shared anti-imperialist ideals and revolutionary goals. Guevara soon joined Castro’s group — the 26th of July Movement — as its physician and one of its most passionate fighters.

In June 1956, Mexican authorities raided a farmhouse in the town of Santa Rosa, near Mexico City, where Castro’s group was training and stockpiling weapons for their planned invasion of Cuba. The authorities arrested Fidel and Raúl Castro, Che Guevara, and several other Cuban exiles.

The group was charged with violating Mexico’s neutrality laws and possessing illegal weapons. They were held for several weeks in Miguel Schultz Prison (also called Palacio de Lecumberri in Mexico City). During their imprisonment, Che and Fidel shared a cell — this is the period captured in a few surviving photographs and accounts that describe their camaraderie and determination.

Thanks to lobbying and financial help from sympathetic contacts, notably Mexican politician Carlos Prío Socarrás (a former Cuban president in exile), the men were released after about a month in prison.

Once freed, they resumed preparations for their invasion. By late November 1956, they secretly boarded the yacht Granma with 82 fighters and sailed from Tuxpan, Mexico, to Cuba. Although the landing was disastrous, only a dozen men survived the initial ambush, it marked the beginning of the Cuban Revolution, which would triumph in 1959.

Long Before Serving as the 33rd President of the U.S, Harry S. Truman Served His Country on the Front Lines of WWI

“My whole political career is based on my war service and war associates.” – Harry S. Truman

Long before serving as the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman served his country on the front lines of World War I. Truman is the only US president to see combat during the First World War. His war experience affected the course of his life and influenced his rise to the presidency in two important ways: he discovered a leadership ability he hadn’t known that he possessed, and he garnered a significant political base that supported him in his rise though political ranks.

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Truman was 33 years old and living in Independence, Missouri. He was working on his family’s farm and was also a member of the Missouri National Guard, having previously served from 1905 to 1911. When the U.S. declared war, Truman rejoined the Guard and helped organize Battery F of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 35th Division.

Harry S Truman’s military identity card from the American Expeditionary Forces.

Truman was elected first lieutenant, and his unit trained at Camp Doniphan, near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There, he gained a reputation for discipline, precision, and a fair but firm leadership style. He studied artillery tactics intensely, determined to do well despite lacking formal military education.

By mid-1918, as the division prepared to go overseas, Truman was promoted to captain and given command of Battery D — a unit notorious for its poor discipline and low morale. The men had run off previous officers, but Truman won their respect through a mix of strict order and genuine concern for their welfare. His leadership turned the unruly battery into one of the most reliable in the regiment.

Truman and his men arrived in France in April 1918. Battery D first saw combat in August 1918 in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace-Lorraine. During a German shell attack, many of his men fled, but Truman stood his ground, cursing the fleeing soldiers until they returned to their posts, an incident he later referred to as the “Battle of Who Run.” This decisive display of leadership won him the enduring loyalty of his men.

Battery D participated in the Saint-Mihiel Offensive and the massive Meuse-Argonne Offensive, providing artillery fire support. Notably, Truman defied an order by firing on German guns outside his designated sector to protect an American infantry unit, a move that saved lives.

When the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, Truman’s unit was near the front. He remained in Europe for several months as part of the occupation force before returning home in spring 1919. He left the service with the rank of captain, a title he proudly used for the rest of his life.

Captain Harry S. Truman, Battery D, 129th Field Artillery Regiment.

Portrait of Truman in September 1917.

Harry S Truman wearing his uniform, taken in France during World War I in 1918.

Captain Harry Truman served in France during WWI.

Captain Harry S. Truman, Battery D 129th Field Artillery, sitting on a horse at Camp Coetquidan, Brittany, France, in July, 1918.

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