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Thomas Wharton, Volunteer Ambulance Driver


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Here are two photos from my collection that I recently picked up off of eBay. They are the studio portraits of a man named Thomas Wharton who served as an ambulance driver in France and in Italy and then joined the Foreign Legion!

 

This is from Harvard's Military Record in the World War page 1007;

 

Wharton, Thomas, S.B. (war degree) 1920. Driver, Norton Harjes Ambulance Corps, Section 24, August to November 1917, with French Army on Verdun and Champagne fronts; driver, American Red Cross Ambulance Service, February 1918 with Italian Army on Brenta Front. Enlisted private, French Foreign Legion, September 5, 1918; detailed to Artillery School, Fontainebleau; appointed aspirant December 30 and attached to 65th Battery, 32nd Field Artillery; demobilized February 15, 1919. Age 21 years.

 

This is a good example of one of the "vanguard of volunteers" that served in France prior to our declaration of war with Germany.

 

Wharton died in Philadelphia in October 1976.

post-3356-1214581912.jpg

post-3356-1214581920.jpg

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Very interesting... a foreign national serving as officer rank in the regular Army under Foreign Legion enlistment.

Mr Wharton must have been fluent in French and educated to make officer in no time.

Usually foreign nationals of the Legion who reach the officer ranks are Officier à titre étranger and could serve only in the Foreign Legion.

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Very interesting... a foreign national serving as officer rank in the regular Army under Foreign Legion enlistment.

Mr Wharton must have been fluent in French and educated to make officer in no time.

Usually foreign nationals of the Legion who reach the officer ranks are Officier à titre étranger and could serve only in the Foreign Legion.

The Wharton’s were a very wealthy family from Philadelphia. Thomas's father served as a YMCA secretary in Paris, his brother Henry drove ambulances for the American Field Service and all were Harvard alumni. It is highly likely that the family may have spent time in France before the war. There was a large American Colony in Paris and the wealthy elite of American society frequently vacationed in France. As far as his rapid advance in rank in concerned, your guess is as good as mine However he was educated and France was at war, so this may have sped things along.

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Your answer confirmed what I suspected that his family was wealthy and he was highly educated. Thomas must have been one of the very few foreign nationals to have achieved officer rank in the French Regular Army.

 

I salute Thomas Wharton for his service in the French Army during wartime.

Thanks for sharing this story.

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Your answer confirmed what I suspected that his family was wealthy and he was highly educated. Thomas must have been one of the very few foreign nationals to have achieved officer rank in the French Regular Army.

 

I salute Thomas Wharton for his service in the French Army during wartime.

Thanks for sharing this story.

post-3356-1214611569.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Notre Franchaise Amis! I am writing with the hope that one of the many french readings of this forum could provide any advice on researching French personell files. I would like to research several Americans who volunteered with the French Army during WWI and was curious if any one knows if it is possible to search the French National Archives for such information.

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Notre Franchaise Amis! I am writing with the hope that one of the many french readings of this forum could provide any advice on researching French personell files. I would like to research several Americans who volunteered with the French Army during WWI and was curious if any one knows if it is possible to search the French National Archives for such information.

I will see what I can do. The expert in Gvt archives research is Valéry but he is on holidays. I will drop him a line if he doesnt bump into this thread.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I just recieved pulled this information from the Harvard Class of 1920. Which by the way if any one has an extra copy I'm looking for one.

 

THOMAS WHARTON

 

Home address: 8623 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, PA

Born: Jan 18, 1898, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA

Parents: Henry Wharton and Francis Willing Lockwood

 

Driver, Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, Section 24, August to November 1917, with French Army at Verdun and Champagne Fronts; Driver, American Red Cross Ambulance Service, Service des Rapatries, Evian-les-Bains, November 2, 1917; trasnsferred to Section 1, American Red Cross Ambulance Service, February, 1918, with Italian Army on Brenta Front. Enlisted private Foreign Legion, French Army, September 5, 1918; detailed to Artillery School, Fontainbleau; appointed aspirant December 30, 1918 and attached to 65th Battery, 32nd Field Artillery; demobilized February 15, 1919. Enlisted June 5, 1942, Army of the United States; now (November 1944) technical sergeant. Headquarters 10th Army.

 

He was a re-tread, didn't know that!

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He was a re-tread, didn't know that!

 

CdG,

 

sadly, the whole concept of noblesse oblige so evident in the volunteers of Norton Harjes, AFS, Lafayette Esquedrille, etc, is nearly lost on the current generation of self entitled, elitists born into the upper reaches of American Society.

 

Today, very few children of wealthy American families see any kind of service as necessary at all.

 

Their ancestors would no doubt be somewhat disappointed.

 

Chris

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...Today, very few children of wealthy American families see any kind of service as necessary at all....Their ancestors would no doubt be somewhat disappointed....

And their descendants may well be more than somewhat disappointed someday as well.

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World War Two Enlistment Record

 

 

Thomas Wharton

Birth Year: 1898

Race: White, citizen (White)

Nativity State or Country: Pennsylvania

State: Alaska

 

Enlistment Date: 5 Jun 1942

Enlistment State: Pennsylvania

Enlistment City: Philadelphia

Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

Branch Code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

Grade: Private

Grade Code: Private

Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

Component: Army of the United States - includes the following: Voluntary enlistments effective December 8, 1941 and thereafter; One year enlistments of National Guardsman whose State enlistment expires while in the Federal Service; Officers appointed in the Army of

Source: Civil Life

 

Education: 4 years of college

Marital Status: Single, without dependents

Height: 68

Weight: 151

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"Wealthy family" does not begin to describe it.

 

I am going to guess that he is related to Joseph Wharton, a philanthropist who donated the money to start the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. According to Wikipedia it was the world's first business school.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharton_Schoo...of_Pennsylvania

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From NARA

 

Field Title Value Meaning

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 13080387 13080387

NAME WHARTON#THOMAS########## WHARTON#THOMAS##########

RESIDENCE: STATE #2 Undefined Code

RESIDENCE: COUNTY 101 Undefined Code

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 3295 PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA

DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 05 05

DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 06 06

DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 42 42

GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private

GRADE: CODE 8 Private

BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION BI# Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

BRANCH: CODE 00 Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #

TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

LONGEVITY ### ###

SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life

NATIVITY 32 PENNSYLVANIA

YEAR OF BIRTH 98 98

RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen

EDUCATION 8 4 years of college

CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 003 Architects

MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents

COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 6 Army of the United States - includes the following: Voluntary enlistments effective December 8, 1941 and thereafter; One year enlistments of National Guardsman whose State enlistment expires while in the Federal Service; Officers appointed in the Army of the United States under Army Regulations 605-10

CARD NUMBER # #

BOX NUMBER 0123 0123

FILM REEL NUMBER 1.123 1.123

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Oh yeah I believe the latin word is LOADED! The ironic thing is that apparently the house on College Hill is now gone and has been replaced by a bank! I ain't making this stuff up folks. On a different note I am researching his brother who was in the American Field Service and the served in the 17th F.A. 2nd Division. He was awarded the DSC. No photos or anything as of yet.

 

 

"Wealthy family" does not begin to describe it.

 

I am going to guess that he is related to Joseph Wharton, a philanthropist who donated the money to start the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. According to Wikipedia it was the world's first business school.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharton_Schoo...of_Pennsylvania

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I knew only a little about the Norton Harjes Ambulance Corps until you started posting this stuff recently Tom. My already rabid desire to know about WWI Ambulance Corps and Sanitation Trains and WWII Medic has now been moved up a notch! Thanks for the interesting postings. thumbsup.gif

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  • 2 years later...
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I knew only a little about the Norton Harjes Ambulance Corps until you started posting this stuff recently Tom. My already rabid desire to know about WWI Ambulance Corps and Sanitation Trains and WWII Medic has now been moved up a notch! Thanks for the interesting postings. :thumbsup:

 

 

Thanks Scott, :thumbsup:

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This thread is triggering a memory!

Was this on the GWF?

I looked this guy up @ 4-5 years ago in the Harvard archives. He is my 4th cousin:3rd removed.

Do you have his Italian war time photo album at all? I remember seeing it and his Italian wound certificate at some point.

Did you post this at GMIC?

By the way- Chris Boonzaier and Prosper Keating can help you with French research. Chris and his comrade Bernard are both French Foreign Legion vets and always take an interest in stuff like this.

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  • 4 months later...
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Due to perseverance, a little luck and the generosity of the seller I was recently fortunate to be able to add several more photos to my ever growing file on a young man named Thomas Wharton.

 

The following are two additional views of Wharton in the uniform of a French officer of artillery and finally, the view I had hoped for, an image of Wharton wearing the uniform of Norton-Harjes Section 24.

post-3356-1297377675.jpg

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Due to perseverance, a little luck and the generosity of the seller I was recently fortunate to be able to add several more photos to my ever growing file on a young man named Thomas Wharton.

 

The following are two additional views of Wharton in the uniform of a French officer of artillery and finally, the view I had hoped for, an image of Wharton wearing the uniform of Norton-Harjes Section 24.

post-3356-1297377695.jpg

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Croix de Guerre
Due to perseverance, a little luck and the generosity of the seller I was recently fortunate to be able to add several more photos to my ever growing file on a young man named Thomas Wharton.

 

The following are two additional views of Wharton in the uniform of a French officer of artillery and finally, the view I had hoped for, an image of Wharton wearing the uniform of Norton-Harjes Section 24.

post-3356-1297377714.jpg

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I just recieved pulled this information from the Harvard Class of 1920. Which by the way if any one has an extra copy I'm looking for one.

 

THOMAS WHARTON

 

Home address: 8623 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, PA

Born: Jan 18, 1898, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA

Parents: Henry Wharton and Francis Willing Lockwood

 

Driver, Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, Section 24, August to November 1917, with French Army at Verdun and Champagne Fronts; Driver, American Red Cross Ambulance Service, Service des Rapatries, Evian-les-Bains, November 2, 1917; trasnsferred to Section 1, American Red Cross Ambulance Service, February, 1918, with Italian Army on Brenta Front. Enlisted private Foreign Legion, French Army, September 5, 1918; detailed to Artillery School, Fontainbleau; appointed aspirant December 30, 1918 and attached to 65th Battery, 32nd Field Artillery; demobilized February 15, 1919. Enlisted June 5, 1942, Army of the United States; now (November 1944) technical sergeant. Headquarters 10th Army.

 

Does your interest extend to the American Field Service during WWII? If so, I have a fair amount of material received directly from a member that served in Italy as an ambulance driver. If any interest, let me know. Jack Angolia [email protected]

 

He was a re-tread, didn't know that!

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Do you know his middle name or initial?

 

I may have once owned his French uniform and an overcoat.

 

Steve

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