Married in Uniform, Brest, France (1919)
In July of 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia amid tensions that cumulated in Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria’s assassination by a Serbian nationalist that June. Russia allied itself with Serbia. Germany, Austria’s ally, declared war on Russia. It snowballed from there, with countries on all continents (except Antarctica) taking sides. The war lasted until 1918, and left 52% of the Allied mobilized troops, and 67% of the Central Powers troops, missing, imprisoned, wounded, or dead.
In the aftermath of the war, the Red Cross set up stations across Europe, one of them in Brest, France. Ms. Florence Harrison was serving as directress of the Red Cross canteen. She married Lieutenant Colonel E.V.R. Payne, who was serving with the 25th U.S. Engineers. Their marriage was one of many wartime weddings where the bride and groom wore uniforms instead of a white dress or fancy suit.
