Q:  How do you turn an army of rookies into a professional fighting force within a few short months?

A:  Teach them to sing together.

When America entered World War I in April 1917 to ally with France, Russia and Great Britain against Germany and Austria-Hungary, the armies of Europe used singing to combat the rigors of military life:  unhappiness and loneliness from homesickness, the hardships of long marches at any hour of the day or night and the boredom and despair caused by the horrors of the endless trench war.

Singing promoted discipline, encouraged unit cohesion, and strengthened esprit de corps because everyone struggled together to memorize the songs, march in time with the music and create a pleasing sound.  

Singing also developed a strong back, chest and lungs, and served as excellent training for efficient breathing.  Company leaders learned to use their voices effectively and safely for shouting commands.

French soldiers sang about battlefield valor, glory and immortality with their national anthem, "La Marseillaise", and well-known marches from the past, "Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse" and "Chant du Départ" ("Song of the Departure").  British tommies sang "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag", "Keep The Home-Fires Burning" and well-known music hall ditties and hymns interpolated with their own words.  The Germans sang their national anthem, "Deutschland über alles," and "Die Wacht am Rhein" ("The Watch On the Rhine").

When the first contingent of the American Expeditionary Force arrived in France, they sang ... nothing.  American doughboys stood silent as they listened to the songs of their English and French counterparts.  After their commander, Gen. John J. Pershing, pushed for a "singing" army to send across the seas, Congress appropriated funds to hire song leaders for every one of the 16 Army cantonments as well as officers' training camps.

Maj. Gen. H. A. Greene, commanding the 91st Division at Camp Lewis, vigorously supported the new enterprise. "They did not teach us to sing in the old days when I was learning to be a Soldier", he said, "but we sang anyway.  Now the Army has added this new branch -- a splendid thing -- and we expect it will give the men a great deal of happiness and inspiration."

Camp Lewis appointed its first song leader, R. Festyn Davies of Tacoma, in October 1917.  Davies worked closely with company commanders to incorporate singing into the Soldiers' daily drills.  Officers and men started the day with snappy tunes, filling glum faces with bright, sunny smiles.  In addition, Davies directed the formation of orchestras, vocal quartets, 10 regimental bands and other musical groups.  

Later, in March 1918, Robert Lloyd replaced Davies.  After a lifetime as a vocal music teacher and choir master, Lloyd became an instructor and chorus leader in the officers' training camps, then transferred to the large Army camps.  With a gleam in his eye and the devotion of a man with a mission to accomplish, Lloyd reportedly could teach four or five songs to a couple thousand Soldiers in a half hour.  Following a review by General Greene in May, he dazzled Camp Lewis by leading 10,000 men in two songs, keeping them under control with no accompaniment of any kind.   To prepare his massive chorus, he percolated from one end of the parade ground to the other during drills, one battalion at a time, starting with the Development Battalion and ending with the First Infantry.  Sometimes he turned the singing into a competition between the officers and himself, causing much laughter and fun.  

Camp administrators ordered 40,000 copies of the "Army Song Book," issued by the War Department, for distribution among new troops.  The songbook contained 86 songs well known to the Soldiers: old, familiar folk songs from the South, popular ballads of the day, inspiring hymns, famous marching songs and the national anthems of the United States and all of her allies.  The page facing the "Star Spangled Banner" showed an illustration of a giant American doughboy striding atop the globe carrying a bayonet with the caption, "Safe for Democracy."

Commanders of the American Expeditionary Force discovered that singing provided comfort to American Soldiers and inspired them to win the war.  One of the commanding adjutants said, "I want you men to remember that this singing work is not pastime but military work and that a singing company can ‘out-hike' any silent company by ten miles."

SOURCES:

John Brophy, Eric Partridge, The Long Trail: Soldiers' Songs and Slang, 1914-18.  London:  Sphere Books, 1969.

Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton, Christmas Truce.  New York:  Hippocrene Books, 1984.

R. D. Clark, Camp Lewis.  Seattle:  Clark Co., 1917.

Christina Gier, Singing, Soldiering and Sheet Music in America during the First World War.  Montreal:  University of Montreal Press, 2016.

John J. Niles, Singing Soldiers.  New York:  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1927.

Geoffrey Self, Light Music in Britain since 1870.  Aldershot, England:  Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2001.

Mark Sullivan, Our Times The United States, Vol. 5:  Over Here 1914-1918.  New York:  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933.

Regina M. Sweeney, Singing Our Way To Victory:  French Cultural Politics and Music During the Great War.  Middletown, CT:  Wesleyen University Press, 2001.

Trench and Camp newspapers from October 1917 - June 1918, Tacoma, WA.

U.S. War Dept. Pamphlet.  Washington:  U.S. Gov't Printing Office, May, 1917.