General George A Lynch Uniform Group

[QED4]

I found these laying on the floor in a pile in the back of an antique shop several years ago. There were these uinforms, a couple more of the pre-pinks and greens, a couple set of pinks and greens, a very early pair of blue pants with a white stripe, and a few other odds and ends. All of the pin on insignias were missing but the sew on stuff was all there. I could use some help on this, normally I couldn't care less who a uniform belonged to but this is different, I would like to find out about who the original owner was. Here is what I know: the M-1926 uniform is made in China and is named in Chinese, the over coat was also made in China and has the name Lynch in it. From the ribbon bars he was in the Philippines some time before 1913, he was in WWI with two battle stars, and was in China. The only Army unit to receive the Yangtze Service Medal was the 31st Inf Regt. I looked in the 1928 issue of the Army List and Directory and found a Capt. Charles P. Lynch of the 31st Inf in Manila. I have done an internet search on both Google and Altavista and found nothing for Charles Lynch and only AF and Marine generals for Gen. Lynch. The Dress Blues are interesting in that the facing colour is blue rather that the usual general's black. I think this was because he was a staff officer rather than command. One of the set of Pinks and greens had an armor patch on it so before 1942 he would have been in the infantry even though he was a tank officer. I would like to try to get his service record but because it is such a long drawn out possess I want to make sure Charles P. Lynch is the right man. If any one has a copy of the Army List or a pre-war list of General Officers please look him up for me. I have checked the listing of military cemeteries and the Social Security records and found nothing. Any help in determining if this Lynch is actually Charles P will be appreciated.

[QED4]

[QED4]

[QED4]

[jim2]

I dont know if This was his or not, but I know that there was a General George A Lynch who served in China as commander of the 15th infantry from 1935 to 1937. He was a West Point graduate of 1903 & served with the 17th & 29th in the Philippines. He also returned to the Philippines in 1931 to command the 31st infantry. He retired in 1941 & passed away in 1962 and is buried at Arlington. He was also awarded the DSM, Philippine Campaign & WWI with 3 stars and the Yangtze medal. Good Luck reasearching. Awesome uniforms by the way.

[QED4]

[jim2]

After looking at all the photos I believe it is his. It is interesting to note that he never was a Brigidier General, He went from being a Colonel to a 2 Star General. Awesome find!!

[Bob Hudson]

Distinguished Service Medal Recipients:

 

George A. Lynch, lieutenant colonel, Infantry, United States Army. For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. As a member of the training section he was chiefly responsible for the revision of the infantry Drill Regulations. In this important task he displayed a broad grasp of the tactical lessons of the war and showed sound judgment in adapting their principles to American needs, capabilities and characteristics, thereby rendering services of signal worth to the American Expeditionary Forces. Address: Care of the Adjutant General of the Army, Washington, D.C. Entered Military Academy from Iowa.

 

From http://www.army.mil/CMH/books/Lineage/M-F/chapter5.htm:

 

After reviewing the report, Craig decided to test the proposed division with attached antimechanized (antitank) and antiaircraft artillery battalions and an observation squadron. He selected the 2d Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. James K. Parson, to conduct the test between September and November 1937. The resulting Provisional Infantry Division (PID) included 6,000 men from the 2d Division and a similar number from other commands, which also furnished much of the equipment. The examination, the first in the history of the Army, was held in Texas, where space and terrain permitted a thorough analysis of the unit.52

 

Even before the test ended, Maj. Gen. George A. Lynch, Chief of Infantry, vetoed the proposed organization in a report to the staff in Washington. Having witnessed part of the exercise, he viewed the separation of the machine gun from the rifle battalion and the attachment of the signal detachment and mortar battery to the infantry regiment as mistakes. The first prevented teamwork in the regiment, and the second interfered with unity of command. Lynch considered the attached antitank battalion an infantry unit because it used the same antitank weapons as the infantry regiment. He objected to the commander of the service troops, contending that the presence of a general officer in this position complicated the chain of command. Furthermore, since the movement of the trains depended on the tactical situation, only the division commander could make the decision to move them. Because field, supply, and ammunition trains operated to the rear of the combat units, Lynch discerned no need for them in the division. He suggested that the Army return to the fixed army corps, in which divisions did the fighting and the corps provided the logistical support.53

 

Shortly after Lynch's negative account, the New York Times reported that Craig planned to appoint a special committee to design an infantry division based on the PID test. The article claimed that the committee was to include Maj. Gen. Fox Conner, Col. George C. Marshall, and a third unnamed officer. Eventually Brig. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, the Chief of Staff of the RID, was identified in private correspondence as the third member. Conner and Marshall, former members of the Lassiter Board, had supported Pershing's small division. Conner had also served as Craig's personnel representative at the PID test. Within a few days Marshall, writing from Vancouver Barracks, Washington, told a friend that such a board would look like a "stacked deck" to secure a small division. As it happened, any plans for the group fell through when Conner retired for medical reasons

 

From https://icon.army.mil/anon/content/history/PDFS/MSTILW~1.PDF:

 

Stilwell made contact with Ho Lung who had

led the Communist Second Red Army on the Long March

in 1935. His notes revealed that the Communists “have

good intelligence work, good organization, good tactics.

They do not want the cities. Content to rough it in the

country. Poorly armed and equipped, yet scare the Gov-

ernment to death.” Col. George A. Lynch, command-

ing the 15th Infantry in Peking, said of Stilwell that he

“knows China and the Far East better, in my opinion,

than any other officer in the service,” largely, Lynch

thought, because of his personal reconnaissances.

[QED4]

Jim2, you nailed it and I can't believe how fast. I just did a search on the net for Gen. George A Lynch and found a short Biography and everything fits, when he was in the Philippines when he was in China, and he was a staff officer most of his career. Now here is the real kicker after he retired he lived about four miles from me which is why his uniforms were here. I know the street he lived on, I go by there all the time, next time I will have to check out his house. I suspected some of the later uniforms may not have been his as the size was different, Lynch was a good sized man.

[jim2]

I'm glad to have helped. I Think It is so rewarding to find out the info of the owners of the uniforms. I would love to see photos of the other uniforms. If you ever decided to part with these please let me know!

[QED4]

Great information guys, no doubt in my mind that is the guy. Sounds like he had a pretty impressive career. Now all I have to do is find the rest of the insignia to finish it off, at least now I know what I am looking for. Thanks for the help.

[QED4]

Jim2,

The other uniforms are pretty unimpressive, as I remember there are two of the early style, US made and with no insignia at all. They are packed away so I am not sure if they are named or not. Apearently only one of the Pinks and Greens was his the others including the one with the armor patch were smaller. His is US made with no insignia and not named but the size matches.

[Holloman]

Very nice. What did you end up paying for the lot?

[QED4]

As I remember I paid $50.00 for everything.

[KASTAUFFER]

VERY VERY nice uniforms. Most people do not realize that the USMC awarded the Yangtze service medal to members of the 31st Infantry who served in China during the qualification period. Awarded examples are VERY scarce.

[Dave]

Incredible group! A pre-War set of blues to a Major General is about as rare as they come. Absolutely an incredible group! Thanks for posting.

 

Dave

[4STARCHRIS]

What a fantastic general officer group. What a fantastic quick research response. What a fantastic forum. What a fantastic find.

Thank you for posting, sharing.

4starchris

[vicjoy1945]

These examples are very scarce. In fact, I also have an Army dress blue uniform to a Colonel with the Yangtze ribbon and he was, indeed, a member of the 31st Infantry in China during that period. I believe he was a West Point grad as well.

[KurtA]

Very unique how he retained his infantry branch color on the major general shoulder straps. General straps usually have the dark blue/black background. I've never seen a branch color on a general's dress blue uniform shoulder strap before.

[QED4]

Most generals are in command positions so they are branch immaterial because they command troops of all branches so they wear no branch colour any where. A few generals have staff positions and do not command troops as in the case of this general, he was Chief of Infantry and while responsible for all infantry doctrine he did not actually command any troops so he maintained his branch colour.

[USMCR79]

I recall about 20 years ago there was some Lynch material around Central Florida. I did some early research years ago for a friend who had his WWI DSM Certificate (My friend has since moved this along). I think he died in Winter Park around 1962.

[USMCR79]

Also, I think he was awarded the Academic Palms medal from France for writing a tactics manual.

[GIl Sanow]

I have another Lynch uniform, coat and trousers, dated about 1940. It came to me indirectly from eBay w/o ribbons, stars, etc, but I researched it and restored it.

 

The infantry blue background shoulder straps were exclusively worn by the Chief of Infantry. The chiefs of Artillery and Cavalry wore theirs with red and yellow backgrounds respectively.

 

Somewhere I have a pic of Lynch wearing his blues. Will dig it out and post it.

[GIl Sanow]

Found it! Enjoy!

[QED4]

Great picture, thanks for posting it, I down loaded it and printed it out. I think I will put it on a disc and have a professional print made to put with the rest of the research I have done on him. Now if I can just find a picture of him in his China days. It looks like his stuff really got around, I always find it sad when someone's whole life is disposed of like that with out a second thought.