Joshua G.B. Campbell Collection, ca. 1915-1928
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Joshua Gabriel Baker Campbell was an American Field Service (AFS) and United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) ambulance driver during World War I. Originally from New York City, Campbell had been working at the British military hospital and living in Paris, France, for several months before he enlisted with the American Ambulance Field Service in 1914 (later renamed the American Field Service.) He was assigned to Section Sanitaire Etats-Unis (SSU) 1 and left for Dunkirk on January 20, 1915, to provide aid during the long-range bombardments and air raids. SSU 1 was awarded two collective citations for activities completed while Campbell was a member of the unit, including one for good service and crossing layers of toxic gas several times on July 11, 1916, and one for the evacuation of three wounded divisions in particularly hazardous conditions in September of 1916. Campbell and fellow SSU 1 driver Victor White were awarded individual citations for the evacuations of poste de secours (aid stations) at Éclusierunder heavy bombardment and for taking extreme care for the safety and comfort of the wounded. Campbell became a sous-chef (assistant leader) of SSU 1, and was later awarded a Croix de Guerre for his service at Éclusier.
After AFS ceased to exist as an independent organization and was absorbed by the United States (U.S.) military after the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Campbell completed the officer’s course in Meaux, France, and became an ambulance driver for SSU 623 of the USAAS. By November 1918 he had been named First Lieutenant and commanding officer of his unit. SSU 623 was awarded two collective citations for activities completed while Campbell was a member of the unit, including one on June 6, 1918, for evacuating the wounded despite a violent and toxic atmosphere that the drivers had to cross during the offensive in May. The unit was awarded another citation on January 9, 1919 for distinguished service during the year, particularly during the Champagne action (September through October of 1918) and during the evacuation of the civilian hospital Mezieres, which was fire bombed by the Germans on November 10, 1918. Campbell was awarded an individual citation for extreme courage during the offensive of May 27, 1918, when he saved the wounded that were part of the 61st French Division under heavy bombardment and machine gun fire. Campbell also received the American Field Service Medal and the Verdun Medal, and in May of 1928 the Republic of France awarded him the Legion of Honour (Légion d’Honneur.)
Subjects (links to similar collections)Ambulances
American Field Service (American Ambulance Field Service)
American Field Service--SSU 1
Andrew, A. Piatt (Abram Piatt), 1873-1936
Campbell, Joshua G. B. (Joshua Gabriel Baker), b. 1888
U.S. Army Ambulance Service
U.S. Army Ambulance Service--SSU 623
World War, 1914-1918
World War, 1914-1918--Medical Care--France
Administrative InformationThis collection is open for research. Digital copies of the diary, menu inserted into the diary, and booklet entitled “Khaki, the true story of how a brave dog cheered and helped his master in his work for the wounded in France” (Stead’s Publishing House; The Arden Press, u.d.), and his canvas carrying case can be accessed through the online finding aid. Researchers must consult the digital copies first; permission to access the originals is required in advance.
Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material. Permission to view the maps, one of which is torn, is required by the AFS Archives in advance.
The Joshua G.B. Campbell Collection consists of his diary, papers (including citations and honors), a Christmas card from artist and fellow driver Victor White, maps, three photographs, an SSU 1 canvas field bag containing the unit’s Indian head logo, and a booklet about his dog, Khaki, all related to his service with the American Field Service (AFS) and the U.S. Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) during World War I.
His diary provides a personal account of his service as an ambulance driver with AFS unit SSU 1, and includes an inserted menu from a Christmas dinner in 1915. While his service with AFS was from December 1915 through August 1916, the diary entries were added between June and August 1916. Campbell recounts the events from December 1915, when his unit was heading back to France from Belgium, until May 1916 in the beginning of his journal; it appears these events were explained in more detail in a previous diary, which had been either lost or stolen. The events between June and August 1916 are covered in more detail, as they were occurring as he was writing them. Campbell describes his activities, places where his unit was stationed, being shelled by Germans, and gives places he visited. He also describes his personal response to what he sees and discusses how the war changes him during his time with AFS. While most of the diary is written in English, he also includes transcriptions of documents that were originally written in French.
In addition to the diary, the collection includes Campbell’s citations and honors with related documentation (some of which is written in French), including his certificate of completion from the officer’s course at Meaux, the nomination card for the Verdun Medal, correspondence regarding the AFS Medal from the AFS Headquarters in Paris, and later correspondence regarding the Legion of Honor (Légion d’Honneur) for his service with the French military during the war, dated 1915-1928. The collection also contains four French maps that are dated between 1914 and 1917.
In addition to the documentation, the collection includes a canvas carrying case for SSU 1 (which includes the Indian head logo for the unit) and three photographs that are of Campbell and his dog Khaki, mascot of AFS unit SSU 1, in 1915. There is a photograph of Campbell sitting in the driver’s seat of an ambulance, and another of Khaki with an SSU 1 driver named Richardson in Dunkirk. The final photograph depicts Campbell holding Khaki on his shoulders alongside four SSU 1 drivers. This photograph was published in a booklet entitled “Khaki, the true story of how a brave dog cheered and helped his master in his work for the wounded in France” (Stead’s Publishing House; The Arden Press, u.d.), which is also included in the collection. The booklet tells the story of Khaki and his time with SSU 1 in Belgium in 1915, and includes handwritten notes by Campbell that provide commentary on its production and the men depicted in several of the photographs. The commentary was written forty years after the booklet was published, and indicates that it was originally published by Campbell’s British friends without his knowledge.