York's famous Machinegun finds a home

[Brad Posey]

MG08 or MG08/15 water can with numerous .45 caliber strikes

[Brad Posey]

As we look at this next artifact consider this statement taken from SGT York’s Diary where York describes returning to the ravine on 9 October, 1918 to see if there were any wounded still left lying there. Since York says that the dead had already been buried we are left to assume that he has mixed up his 9 October visit with the 1919 Investigation visit. The dead in the ravine were not buried until 24 October and would have been still lying on the ground when he was there in October 1918. The next thing to consider is what is the possibility of a canteen getting hit 18 times during a fire fight, as York describes below, even if it were a major battle? The canteen he is describing must have been the aiming point of some sort of target practice. It is extremely unlikely that any target practice would have occurred between 8 and 9 October 1918, but during the 1919 visit? That may offer an explanation.

York also says that he saw a “shrapnel helmet” a couple feet away that was “all sorter sieved, jes like the top of a pepper box.” Look at the map below and see where the helmet associated with the Savage temporary burial was found in relation to the canteen (Artifact Number: 1164).


Corporal Alvin C. York
“His Own Life Story and War Diary”
Excerpt from page 271 - 272


“…….So I got me two stretcher bearers and led them back to the place where I done fought the German machine guns. When we got there the Salvage Corps had already done come and cleaned up the place; they packed up the equipment and takened it away. And they done buried the dead, our boys, and the Germans. The ground there all around looked like the most torndowndest place I ever had seen. There was an old canteen lying within a few inches of where I stood. It had eighteen bullet holes in it. There was a shrapnel helmet a couple feet away, and it was all sorter sieved, jes like the top of a pepper box….”

[Brad Posey]

Here again is the excerpt from the 1919 Saturday Evening Post article. Pattullo, the author, spent an entire week with the investigation team at the site of the fight. It sounds as if he was present during the York/Tillman pistol competition which very likely would have taken place during the investigation at the site of the incident. York’s pistol skills were not recognized until after his fight on 8 October, 1918 so the scenario described below is a very likely possibility in explaining the bullet struck artifacts.

I am not saying that this canteen was shot by SGT York personally, but that the possibility is there that it was. I am only presenting what we found with the most reasonable explanation based on what we know thus far. As far as stating that any of the artifacts we found can be 100% positively attributed to a name of a person who was there would be sheer speculation. However, I am not saying anything with 100% certainty since that is impossible in this sort of work.

In this case there is sufficient evidence and reason to suggest that the explanation for these target practice artifacts in the ravine are more than likely the result of York demonstrating his prowess with the pistol during the 1919 investigation.


Here is what Pattullo said in his article:


April 26, 1919 Saturday Evening Post
The Second Elder Gives Battle
By George Pattullo


“……He is the crack shot of his battalion with the rifle, and in a contest with the automatic pistol against Major Tillman the Corporal hit a penny match box every shot at forty paces…..”

[Brad Posey]

These .45 and 9mm projectiles were found together less than a 1 square meter area about 10 meters further up the slope from the where the canteen were found are presumed to be the projectiles fire at this canteen. Inside of a three meter radius around this concentration of .45 and 9mm projectiles an additional number of projectiles of both calibers were found.

It is again highly unlikely that the fire from an American .45 and a German 9mm would have been concentrated at this single location and/or canteen during the fight and this must be a result of post was (1919) target practice.

[Brad Posey]

Here is an artifact distribution map that illustrates where the canteen was found in relationship to the helmet with large hole in the top thought to be associated with Savage's temporary burial.

Refer back to SGT York's diary excerpt.

[Brad Posey]

photo of the site

[Brad Posey]

There were a number of .45 fired projectiles found along the slope – more than 50. That accounts for many more than York was reported to have fired during the fight. Of course there was an equally high number of .45 fired cartridges found together with several fired 30-06 cartridges and 9mm cartridges further up the slope near MG position 2. This location is within sight and easy pistol range of where the majority of the bullet struck artifacts were found and in my opinion is where the 19 target practice took place, or in other words, this was the 1919 firing line.

In the ravine and lower slope of the hill the American fired cartridge count is greatly reduced and indicate other circumstances than target practice.

Here are a good number of the .45 caliber projectiles found along the western facing slope.

[Brad Posey]

Some of them were fired at very close range and/or hit hard targets, probably rocks in the ground.

It is impossible to determine which of these fired projectiles could be from 8 October, 1918 action or from 1919 target practice.

[Brad Posey]

However, there were several distributions of .45 and 30-06 cartridges found in the ravine bottom and along the lower slope that appear to have a relationship with each other and due not appear to be from target practice due to the distance from where they were found to where the suspected target practice artifacts were found.

These fired cartridge distributions are also in close agreement to the historical documentation of the fight and will be discussed in my next installment.

[Brad Posey]

Last night I discussed what I believe to be 1919 target practice that occurred in conjunction with the US Army investigation into SGT York's exploit.

The following slides will again illustrate where the suspected target practice cartridges were found in relation to the cartridges we found that I believe were a result of the 8 October, 1918 fighting between SGT York and the patrol against the German forces on the slope and north of the dam.

I will then illustrate what I believe to be the closest and most reasonable interpretation of the battle related cartridges found in the ravine and on the western facing slope and how the fight took place based on our thorough review of the historical accounts and current understanding of the artifact evidence found in 2006 – 2009.

[Brad Posey]

Slide 2

[Brad Posey]

Slide 3

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Slide 4

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Slide 5

[Brad Posey]

Slide 6