U.S. Army Fatigue Clothing 1904 to 1919

[liozac0261]

Ive been referencing back to this thread for quite a while now, so Im excited that I finally have something to contribute...

 

It appears that in this photo, these German POWs all have the 1908/1910 pattern jumper. They all appear of the transitional style with mixed pocket types. If you look very closely, some sets of buttons may also be different(?).

 

http://www.shorpy.com/node/24202?size=_original#caption

 

I spoke to a historic button vendor today as well, and they said that for the period of 1910-1917, a lot of Army fatigue clothing used these black enameled tin two-piece buttons with the bar in the middle.

 

-Zach

[world war I nerd]

Zach, WOW, what a fantastic photo! I have a handful of WW I photos showing German POWs. Unfortunately, all of then show the captured soldiers wearing the uniforms they were wearing at the time they were captured. I've read that many of the worn out AEF uniforms that were turned in to the AEF's Salvage Service in France were, after being repaired were issued to German POWs.

 

The difference between the refurbished Salvage Service uniforms that were reissued to American Doughboys, and the refurbished uniforms that were issued to German POWs, is that the German uniforms were dyed a bright emerald green. Now every time I see a photo of German POWs in American captivity, I visually scour the image, looking for a POW wearing an Army service coat or service breeches. I've yet to find one.

[liozac0261]

Thats pretty interesting, I didnt know about the emerald green. I assume that they were a lot older uniforms? Was this done in WWII? I seem to remember hearing about German PoWs here in the states wearing green(?)

 

I found this film on YouTube of CAC (and maybe some field artillery) training. At around 10 min and near the end theres a lot of fatigue uniforms. Looks like a mix of 1908/10 coats, denim trousers, and maybe bibs at the very end. Interesting to see campaign hats with the denim too:

 

 

See attached screenshots from the film.

[liozac0261]

Thats pretty interesting, I didnt know about the emerald green. I assume that they were a lot older uniforms? Was this done in WWII? I seem to remember hearing about German PoWs here in the states wearing green(?)

 

I found this film on YouTube of CAC (and maybe some field artillery) training. At around 10 min and near the end theres a lot of fatigue uniforms. Looks like a mix of 1908/10 coats, denim trousers, and maybe bibs at the very end. Interesting to see campaign hats with the denim too:

 

 

See attached screenshots from the film.

 

[illinigander]

Hello WW1 Nerd- Question. I have a brown fatigue hat as in post #24. In post #25 you mention that the brown goes out of production(?) after WW1. I have a brown fatigue hat that has a wider edge band (about 5/8" wide) and has a leather sweat band. under this band is a tag marked: Premium Cap Co. Cont. W-669-QM-12937 Dated Aug. 18, 1941 STOCK No.-73-H-35355

Tent. Spec. June 1, 1934 Phila. Q.-M.-Depot Inspector Size 7. I think I got it from a D-Day 29th Div. vet who was issued it. So what do I have?

Illinigander

[world war I nerd]

The issue of brown canvas, blue denim, and tan denim working or "fatigue" hats is still not entirely clear to me. Here is what I think I know ...

 

Brown canvas working coats and trousers were worn by the U.S. Army from 1903 until they were replaced by the blue denim working uniform in 1910. As near as I can tell, there was no such thing as a brown canvas working hat during this period. The regulation issue Campaign Hat was worn in conjunction with the brown canvas work/"fatigue" uniform by all branches of the service.

 

Blue denim working coats, trousers, hats, and later bib-overalls were worn by the U.S. Army from 1910 until they were replaced by the brown/tan denim working uniform in July of 1918.

 

Brown/tan denim working coats, trousers and hats were worn by the U.S. Army from July 1918 until they were once again replaced by the blue denim working uniform in early May of 1919.

 

Keep in mind that during any of the above transition periods combinations of the various patterns and colors of military work clothing would have been worn until the inventory of the older patterns were exhausted.

 

Any U.S. Army work or fatigue clothing that was manufactured, issued or worn after 1919 is beyond my area of expertise. Therefore, I am unable to address your question in regard to your 1941 dated brown fatigue hat.

 

Attached are images of a brown/tan working hat with a April 26, 1918 dated contract tag.

 

Photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

 

 

[liozac0261]

Your materials timeline is great! This helps me out a lot with piecing together their appearances.

 

have some questions about how fatigued were worn a among different troops...

 

I know it was common to wear fatigues over the service dress uniforms, but it appears that the CAC would wear denim fatigues on their own, or with the wool shirt?

 

In the AEF, I see some archival film of engineer troops wearing the fatigues over their service breeches (rolled up enough to show their puttees).

 

Was it common to see fatigues internixed with other uniforms, especially in France? For example, a denim coat with wool service breeches. Were the denims ever purposely worn just by themselves?

[world war I nerd]

The fatigue uniform was designed to be worn, either, instead of the service dress, or over it. Therefore, the fatigue coat and fatigue trousers could be worn on their own, or over the woolen (or cotton) service dress, and or, flannel shirt. How the fatigues were worn were likely determined by:

 

• A post's commanding officer
• The weather, i.e. warm or cold
• The personal preference of the wearer, when unsupervised, or in the absence of orders stating otherwise
• Or by how far away the soldier's were from the 'spit & polish' of garrison duty or any senior officer who was overly concerned about the appearance of the men in their command.

It's likely that GHQ, AEF isued an order, bulliten or circular regarding the subject of how and when the fatigue uniform worn, but I've never come across any official documents of that sort.

[max0073]

Hello all,

here is some of my collection:

 

Max

[world war I nerd]

Max, very nice! Thanks for the addition. When you have time, for better clarity, would it be possible for you to post separate front and back photos of each garment?

 

I think close ups of these elusive garments would help everybody. Thanks again for posting.

[max0073]

Thank you!

I will do my best to do so

Max

[solcarlus]

Bonjour.

 

Another type of work garment:

 

 

 

 

[solcarlus]

La suite:

 

 

 

 

[world war I nerd]

Thanks Socarlus! Other than period photos, that's the first example of the AEF's one piece suit that I've ever seen. It's nice to know that there is at least one still in existence. It's also a work/fatigue garment that I've found no period documentation on.

 

Does anybody out there have any official information on this particular garment?

 

The two men on the right in this image of mechanics from Company F, 2nd Supply Train, 2nd Division are wearing a similar one piece 'work-suit', which I've also seen called a 'boiler-suit', 'unionalls', and 'coveralls'. I have no idea what the official name bestowed on this garment by the U.S. Army was, or when, or why it was adopted.

[solcarlus]

Bonjour WWIn.

 

There is a trace of a label in the back. It is a pity, the label I posted is illegible because of the size imposed. But we can guess in normal size.

 

[max0073]

Hi,

where was located the missing label in the back ?

thanks,

Max

[solcarlus]

[liozac0261]

I found some images in an Oxy-Acetlyene welding manual that was published in 1919. I've included the captions with them.

 

Link to the manual:

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=1OtIAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=oxy+acetylene&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXstrs7_biAhVhTd8KHUfIAL4Q6AEIOjAD#v=onepage&q=oxy%20acetylene&f=false

 

[liozac0261]

Continued from previous post.

[Salvage Sailor]

Terry K, by all means ... please post as many photos as you can. I used to have loads of WW I photos of men wearing fatigue clothing. Unfortunately, because of a hard drive melt down, I lost them all along with a ton or research and notes. Anyway, thanks for posting and post more if you have them.

 

US Victory Museum, the "Chore Coat" is certainly interesting. Aside from the red shoulder straps, it definitely looks as if it was initially designed to be a fatigue coat. I wanted to include the Stable Frock in the post but I just didn't have any photos showing it, so thanks for posting the example from your collection.

 

Do you have any period photographs showing troops wearing it or anything that shows what the stable trousers looked like?

 

The domed brass buttons on both your chore coat and stable frock, look to be similar to the "shiny buttons" on the fatigue coat worn by the ground crewman shown above. Does anybody have an opinion on whether or not similar brass buttons might have been used on later pattern fatigue coats?

 

4th US Cavalry L Troop picket line, Schofield Barracks, T.H. 1914 - 'Stable Frocks'?

[AustinO]

A set of 1908s turned up in Colorado a few months ago, these photos were provided to me by the seller. The set was purchased and is now in a collection overseas.

 

[AustinO]

Pocket tag from top:

 

Trousers:

[AustinO]

Hat:

[AustinO]

Trousers tag:

 

Note on the reverse of the trousers at the waist there is loose white thread from where a paper tag would have originally hung.

[world war I nerd]

Thanks AustinO for posting a very rare set of fatigues. And a complete set … hat, jumper and trousers to boot. Too bad they're overseas though.