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Mystery MP Photograph


SARGE
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Ladies and Gents,

 

Here for your comment is an unusual Military Police photograph that comes from a wartime photo album. Let's see if we can stimulate some discussion about what the image represents before I tell you the rest of the story. :blink:

 

I will tell you that the following is true:

 

1. The photo is original and unaltered.

 

2. The photograph was taken in 1942.

 

Put on your thinking caps and analize this photo. Tell me who and what you think this photograph might represent. think.gif

 

Ask questions. Have some fun! :lol:

 

MP_RIA_female.JPG

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pathfinder505
Ladies and Gents,

 

Here for your comment is an unusual Military Police photograph that comes from a wartime photo album. Let's see if we can stimulate some discussion about what the image represents before I tell you the rest of the story. :blink:

 

I will tell you that the following is true:

 

1. The photo is original and unaltered.

 

2. The photograph was taken in 1942.

 

Put on your thinking caps and analize this photo. Tell me who and what you think this photograph might represent. think.gif

 

Ask questions. Have some fun! :lol:

 

post-130-1168291202.jpg

 

This didnt have anything to do with Clinton and gays in the military did it?

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Good question Pathfinder. I will say that the answer is no but I am a little hazy on what he might have been up to in 1942.

 

I will answer your implied question... yes, this is a female.

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My £1 worth is a wife or girlfriend wearing her husbands/boyfriends uniform ?

 

That's my first thought, but she wears it with an air of authority like it's hers.

 

Maybe it's an old Army hand reporting back to duty after some secret surgery in Denmark.

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My £1 worth is a wife or girlfriend wearing her husbands/boyfriends uniform ?

 

Regards

 

Lloyd

 

 

That´s my opinion! Very comum in Germany Army in WW2 and anothers Armies too!

 

NICE photo!

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

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Gents,

 

Excellent observations! If I saw this photograph by itself (the way it is presented here) I too would immediately think that it was a "girlfriend" photo. We all see these backyard photographs where wives, sisters, or girlfriends dress up in their soldier's uniform for a rememberance photo.

 

Bob thinks she wears the uniform with an air of authority like its hers. Bob is on the right track. But how is this possible? How can we believe the service stripes? How can we believe she is not in WAC uniform?

 

1. Notice that this is a professional studio photograph and was not taken in someone's back yard.

 

2. Notice too that she is under arms, wearing both a pistol and a nightstick.

 

Here is another photograph from the album. This fellow is wearing the same unit MP uniform, although not the uniform she is wearing.

 

MP_RIA.JPG

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The only way I could see a woman US MP of that vintage with those service stripes is a former member of the Army Nurse Corps serving as a member of the Auxiliary Military Police which did have women members. However, the uniform looks to be more active Army rather than something the Auxiliary Military Police would have worn.

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post-87-1168362496.jpg

 

Some things aren't clicking here:

 

1. The tunic and hat are male issue, didn't WACs have their own uniform by 1942?

 

2. Would like to see close-ups of the ribbons and the DI's

 

3. I didn't think that there would have been women in the service prior to 1942 that would have that many service stripes.

 

4. As you say this is a studio picture, which means she could have put on a uniform to play dress up, or had a bit part in a movie somehow?

 

5. Matron in a stockade? Kind of a female "Fatso" out of "From here to Eternity", scary. fear.gif

 

6. Just one thing puzzles me, she certainly has a beer gut with nothing on top to show for.

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I agree with you guys that this is some GI's wife or girlfriend dressed up in her man's uniform. Coastie does make a good point about her being flat chested, but that is very possible. Like the old saying goes, "there is nothing sadder than a fat girl with little titties"!

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Hey Coastie !! perhaps thats what the "beer gut" is..with everything going "south" with age.......... pinch.gif

 

PS Sorry Admin...it had to be said..... ;)

 

regards

 

Lloyd

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remember... be nice .... This may be someone's mother

 

 

"Be kind to your web footed friends, because a duck may be somebody's mother..." whistling.gif

 

OOPS my bad.

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OK, you guys have played nice. Well... kind of - sort of. :unsure:

 

She was an Honorary Private in the 225th Military Police Company.

 

So... it was in fact her uniform and she was authorized to wear it.

 

MP_RIA_Pvt_certificate.JPG

 

The 225th MP Company served as base security for the Rock Island Arsenal.

 

Minnie Neust was a long time employee of the Arsenal (service stripes) and ended up her career as secretary to the base commander before she retired. She was appointed an Honorary Private (Base Pay $21.00) in the 225th MP Company on 2 February 1942.

 

Here is a program for the Banquet for the MPs at Rock Island Arsenal held in June of 1942. They had Filet of Mignon with Mushroom Gravy and Fresh Asparagus among other stateside delights.

 

MP_RIA_banquet_1942.JPG

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The rest of the story is that not only was this lady appointed a MP Private but later on she was appointed as Honorary First Sergeant.

 

One picture can be misinterpreted if taken out of context. What looks to be some made up photograph, or some girlfriend picture, at first glance can turn out to be something entirely different. If I had found this picture by itself, I would have thought the same thing. Naw, couldn't be right... She is in a man's uniform... Too many stripes and gee-gaws... She is even packing a pistol and a stick...

 

Since this mystery MP photograph was in the context of a photo album I could see the whole picture. I could see that it was her uniform. I could understand that while photographs do not lie they can be interpreted incorrectly.

 

That is the rest of the story.

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The rest of the story is that not only was this lady appointed a MP Private but later on she was appointed as Honorary First Sergeant.

 

One picture can be misinterpreted if taken out of context. What looks to be some made up photograph, or some girlfriend picture, at first glance can turn out to be something entirely different. If I had found this picture by itself, I would have thought the same thing. Naw, couldn't be right... She is in a man's uniform... Too many stripes and gee-gaws... She is even packing a pistol and a stick...

 

Since this mystery MP photograph was in the context of a photo album I could see the whole picture. I could see that it was her uniform. I could understand that while photographs do not lie they can be interpreted incorrectly.

 

That is the rest of the story.

 

 

Good story! This is a good example of why paperwork is important. A picture can say a thousand words...but with paperwork only a few are necessary to explain it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another mystery!!!

Why does the 225th MP company appear to have Infantry crossed rifles on their guidon? Eh?

Enquiring minds want to know.

BEAR

 

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  • 8 months later...
john.manguso

Late reply to an old question. Until later in 1942, the Military Police was not a separate branch. Military Police TOEs were listed in the same series as Infantry, hence the crossed rifles on the guidon.

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Late reply to an old question. Until later in 1942, the Military Police was not a separate branch. Military Police TOEs were listed in the same series as Infantry, hence the crossed rifles on the guidon.

 

Thanks John. I didn't know that.

BEAR

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