WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 4, 2018 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The Great War and its impact on Woodhaven: Part 1
PRESENTED BY
THE WOODHAVEN CULTURAL
AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROJECTWOODHAVEN@GMAIL.COM
Five hundred and eighty-fi ve days.
That’s how long the United States
was embroiled in The Great War,
or as it is known today, World War 1.
Although it offi cially began on Aug. 1,
1914, it wasn’t until nearly three years
later, on April 6, 1917, that the United
States joined by declaring war on
Germany.
During those fi rst few years, while
the war raged overseas, Woodhaven
was still a neighborhood in development,
not too far removed from the
mostly rural farming town it was in
its infancy. The elevated train had just
been built on Jamaica Avenue, silent
movies were the norm, as were wooden
school houses and Woodhaven
‘Avenue’ (later Boulevard) was a still
just a sleepy single-lane dirt road.
Public opinion was originally
against joining the war, but that began
to change with the sinking of the RMS
Lusitania in May 1915. Locally, residents
of Woodhaven were horrifi ed
by a fi rst-hand account of the sinking
by Tom Adamson of Leggett Avenue
(now 80th Street) who barely survived
the sinking.
“We were just eating lunch when we
heard the fi rst shot,” he wrote home.
“We knew they had got us. The Lusitania
immediately listed to starboard;
it was almost impossible to get up the
companionway. When we got to the
boat deck, the forward part of the ship
was completely under water.”
Adamson’s legs were crushed aft er
he plunged into the ocean and he was
sucked underwater. He had given
up any hope for survival when he
miraculously grabbed on to a rope and
pulled himself to the surface. There he
described a horrifi c scene of an overturned
boat which he had just helped
fi ll with women and children moments
before. All of them drowned.
Though the United States joined the
war in April of 1917, it wasn’t until later
in the year that we saw our local boys
go off to war with rousing support
from an enthusiastic press and public
(’41 More Sons of Woodhaven Gayly
Go To War’ was an actual headline in
November 1917).
But by May of the following year,
the war began to take its toll on the
locals. At fi rst there were a few isolated
casualties. But as the weeks wore
on, readers of the local papers would
nervously look at each week’s headlines
to see the latest news and grim
announcements that more local boys
had been killed.
The first recorded death from
Woodhaven was Chief Boatswain’s
Mate Frederick Zahn of Rector Avenue
(now 77th Street). Zahn never made it
overseas, dying instead in Fort Lyons,
Colorado of “disease.” Ironically,
though he was the fi rst reported casualty,
he is last (alphabetically) on the
monument that sits outside American
Legion Post 118 today.
One of the soldiers sent overseas
was Corporal Alfred Cocquelet of
Willard Avenue (now 96th Street).
One month aft er being sent overseas,
his Infantry (the 325th) was selected
by King George of England to be
reviewed in a military parade. His
Infantry was hosted at Buckingham
Palace by Princess Mary.
A few months aft erwards, Corporal
Cocquelet was killed in action in the
Weuse-Argonne off ensive.
One of the more famed casualties
was Arthur Engels, who lived on
Jamaica Avenue and was well-known
around the neighborhood for his early
morning long distance runs. He made
headlines as a 17-year old, smashing
world hurdling records at races in
Madison Square Garden. He earned
the nickname “King of the Eastern
Hurdlers.”
Engels lived at 4088 Jamaica Ave.
(right off Woodhaven Boulevard,
above what would later be well-known
around Woodhaven as Carlo’s Pizza).
Less than one year aft er racing at the
Garden, Engels was badly wounded
in action, developing gangrene in his
right leg. Doctors amputated his leg in
an attempt to save his life but he died
shortly aft erwards.
There were many such stories
coming back from overseas, not only
to Woodhaven families but to all communities
around the United States.
By the time peace was declared on
Nov. 11, 1918, approximately 70 young
men from Woodhaven had lost their
lives.
Next month, in the second part of this
article, we will review how residents
back then honored these young men
and we will let you know about the local
observances taking place this year, on
the 100th anniversary of ending of The
First Great World War.
link
