(Potentially) Famous people who died in WWI?

[Jakobus]

I was talking to a friend recently about the sheer number of influential men who served in the First World War. Between writers, like Tolkien, Hemingway, and CS Lewis, to politicians, like Harry Truman and Adolf Hitler, the Great War produced a host of historical figures. Many timelines center around one of these persons not making it home from the trenches. However, one has to come to the conclusion that just as many potential historical figures died in our timeline. It is somewhat irresponsible speculation, but what are some of these figures, and how would they have interacted with a post-war world?
Just as an example, I remember reading some commentary somewhere that suggested that, had the poet Joyce Kilmer lived, it is possible he may have become a sort of "American Chesterton". American Catholicism never had a political philosopher, and the presence of Kilmer might lead to interesting changes, especially in the era of the Second Klan.
What are some other examples?

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Theodor Roosevelt, died on 14th of July 1918 at the age of 20. He might have played a key role in the USAAF in WW2 and formation of the USAF if he had followed the same path as his brothers.

 

[Lalli]

Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Theodor Roosevelt, died on 14th of July 1918 at the age of 20. He might have played a key role in the USAAF in WW2 and formation of the USAF if he had followed the same path as his brothers.

Could he had been POTUS instead Eisenhower ITTL? They were roughly same age so Roosevelt wouldn't be too old to be president in1950's.

 

[DougM]

It is not surprising that a lot of people of that generation who would become famous were in the war, a HUGE percentage of the male population in Europe and North America were in the war if they were 15-25 or so anywhere in the time frame of the war. That is pretty much an entire generation of men.
Getting a famous person to die in the war is much more of a challenge as this is before TV multi media social media and most other things creat “fame” at a young age. Back in that time most folks took a while to become famous back then so there was no a lot of famous young people and thus not a lot of famous young men died in WW1. And not anywhere near as many older mean died as unless you were carrier military older men didn’t go into the military so you mostly will see them die in ships being sunk. And a few reasonably well known (at the time) older men died that way in WW1

 

[Mark E.]

Back it up a few years and suppose the Titanic did not sink. Some 1,500 survivors on a luxury liner are bound to have historical influence. John Jacob Astor was only one of them. We think by changing WW1, eliminating Hitler and keeping the Bolsheviks out of Russia would be best, but what might other survivors or leaders do?

 

[Michel Van]

certain Herman Göring...

Winston Churchill was from 1915 to 1916 at West front and almost killed by a large piece of shrapnel

 

[naraic]

Top 10 artistic talents lost in the first world war

Jonathan Jones: The first world war coincided with one of the most creative periods in the history of art, and among all the other tragic losses, we should count the future masterpieces that we never got to see

www.theguardian.com

Here is an article from the Guardian about artists that died during WW1

WW1: Can we really know the Lost Generation?

How should the loss and sacrifice of 1914-18 be brought home to us?

www.bbc.com

Here is a BBC article about people that died that were known names.

 

[dcharles]

Just spitballing, you might get some mileage from associated conflicts like the Irish uprising, the Russian Revolution, and so forth.

I myself just put forth a WI about James Connolly living through the Easter Rising. While that's not technically WW1, it is part of the Great War series of conflicts.

Also, there's a random thread on a forum that's even nerdier than this one about the same thing: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/266210-list-of-famous-people-who-died-in-ww1/

And Wikipedia has lists of French and British generals killed during the war.

Off the top of my head, Raoul Luffbery was a French-American Ace who was a complete nut, in a good way--world traveler, aeronautical innovator, and owner of two pet lions, named Whiskey and Soda. Ernest (or maybe Ernst) Bolling was an aviation pioneer who was leading the US air wing, died in combat (ironically, on the ground, IIRC). There's also Urban Bass, who was a black doctor from Virginia, KIA.

 

[Cryhavoc101]

George Butterworth MC 12 July 1885 - August 1916 (aged 31) KIA Somme France

One of the most promising composers of his time

I am a great admirer of the work of the composer Vaughan Williams and it was his friend George Butterworth who convinced him to create one of his first great peices "The London Symphony" - this finished just before WW1 but was lost as it had been sent to Germany of all places and Butterworth was one of those who helped Williams recreate it after the outbreak of war.

Perhaps Butterworths most famous piece is The Banks of Green Willow - those of you who like me have learned to love the work of Vaughan Williams will note how like William's work this sounds...or perhaps it is Williams who sounds like Butterworth.....

And Vaughan Williams "A London Symphony" dedicated to Butterworths memory

 

[Whiteshore]

What are some other examples?

In the field of science, Henry Moseley is a big loss for the sciences brought about by the Great War, for starters.

 

[Mark E.]

Stop Hitler and you might stop the Holocaust. Millions of surviving Jews, Russian, Polish and Roma people will have potential. Will the world get another Einstein or another Gavrilo Princip?

 

[Bregil]

Did Kipling's son have any notable talent or is he mostly known because of his father's actions following said tragedy?

 

[Piave92]

On Italian side I'd write off Badoglio...

 

[hwyl]

There would have been quite many who were not known at all but who would have been hugely talented. Someone who was known was Charles Sorley - his few poems were full of promise, but it's more his wise and balanced letters and diaries that show his nature, not moved by the intense hatreds of the time. Such waste.

 

[Admiral Bloonbeard]

Here are some people who could have entirely changed history that could have been killed in the World Wars :

Walt Disney : He was an ambulance driver in World War 1 in the red cross. He could have been killed by a u boat or an enemy mine while driving. Considering his influence in the animation industry, Disney's death would have huge butterflies on the industry, especially when those who had worked for Disney would went on to found their animation studios at Columbia, MGM, and Warner Bros. Without Disney, the Fleischers may have been the face of American animation.

Ray Kroc : He was also an ambulance driver who served with Walt Disney in World War 1. Had he been killed during wartime, someone else would have taken his place as a fast food pioneer. It's no doubt however that Kroc's methods are hugely influential in the fast food industry.

Ralph Baer : He mostly stayed in London working on intelligence during World War 2 but it is possible he could have been told to participate in actual combat. Had he been told to do so and been killed, this would change the medium of one massive hobby : video games.

Osamu Tezuka : Known as the father of modern manga anime, he worked in a factory during World War 2. He could have been easily killed by an Allied bomb, which would change the history of Japanese animation.

Robert Dole : He was actually fatally wounded by a German artillery in Italy in 1945 that could have taken his life. He is considered of the most influential American senators in history.

The truth is, as we learned, both World War 1 and 2 taken what could have been inventors, writers, musicians, artists, actors, ect. We may never know the true value of the lost generation and the greatest generation as many have been lost, and surely some American presidents were very close to death during the World Wars (Lyndon Johnson, John F Kennedy, George HW Bush), and unfortunately, many civilians worth of artistic value were killed during the world wars, such as the great singer Al Bowlly who was killed by the Luftwaffe one night.

 

[marktaha]

Top 10 artistic talents lost in the first world war

Jonathan Jones: The first world war coincided with one of the most creative periods in the history of art, and among all the other tragic losses, we should count the future masterpieces that we never got to see

www.theguardian.com

Here is an article from the Guardian about artists that died during WW1

WW1: Can we really know the Lost Generation?

How should the loss and sacrifice of 1914-18 be brought home to us?

www.bbc.com

Here is a BBC article about people that died that were known names.

Would add Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen had survived ?

 

[PhilKearny]

Being a forum that's greatly focused on the history English speaking of European descent in 20th century forward, we tend to forget about nations besides the US and the UK (and white colonials in the British Empire).

France suffered far more losses of military personnel than the UK or the US--and huge numbers of civilian casualties. I was amazed and saddened after I looked at some of the biographies on the the Wikipedia page Category:French military personnel killed in World War I. France lost so many talented men, and I had no prior knowledge of almost all them.

The Wikipedia has similar lists for other countries and empires, including Australia, Austro-Hungarian, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Ottoman, Portugal, Serbia, and the United States.

 

[Driftless]

Had the war carried on into 1919: Douglas MacArthur could have easily been on the casualty list. Regardless of what we may think of his later choices, he was certainly personally brave, often leading from the advancing lines during assaults. Sooner or later, the odds are against that kind of leadership (see any number of British/French/German/Commowealth/etc commanders). George S Patton had written about encountering Mac on one battlefield standing on an open ridge, allowing a rolling German barrage to pass over them. Too much manly bravado to seek cover (in Pattons assessment), just pure dumb luck...

J.R.R. Tolikien was the only surviving member of his extended group of pre-war friends from Oxford. That could easily have gone badly too.