Unusual Collar On An AEF Chaplain's Service Coat & Cap Insignia?

[world war I nerd]

Here's another one for the "X-Files" ... What I believe to be an AEF Chaplain wearing a tailor made or non-regulation service coat with a the collar notched to expose the white priest's collar underneath.

 

The coat is cut very much like that of an AEF officer's service coat, except that it has pleated upper pockets, bellows lower pockets (both of which were not unheard of overseas) and it appears to have no cuff braid or visible insignia.

 

Could this be a civilian priest, attached to the AEF?

 

Also can anybody ID the badge or insignia beneath the cross on the overseas cap (which appears to be piped in black as prescribed by War Department regulations)?

 

Photo courtesy of the John Adams-Graf collection

Once again, any thought or ideas?

[littlewilly]

Happy New Year!

 

I think the uniform is French, and the badge looks like the cap eagle worn by the Polish Legion in France (not really clear enough for my tired eyes to tell for sure). The Polish Legion in France wore an eagle on a red disc on each shoulder strap which cannot be seen here. They also wore cloth collar insignia designating the branch of service by color and regiment number, which do not appear in this photo. I have never seen a Polish Legion chaplain photo, so I do not know if collar insignia was standard for them. The white collar was probably i.d. enough. Really neat photo! MHJ

[world war I nerd]

Willy, you're probably right about the Polish Legion and the French coat. The photo was mixed in with a bunch of AEF images, but I wasn't 100% convinced that the chaplain was from the USA. However, I have seen AEF officers wearing French & English style service coats. His facial features though, definitely looked Eastern European to me. I was thinking that perhaps he could be a recent immigrant to America. The badge and the oversized Latin cross on his cap is probably what gave me the most doubt about him being in the U.S. Army.

[littlewilly]

Hello again!

 

Many of the volunteers for the Polish Legion in France did come from the United States. They were trained in Canada, as it was illegal for a foreign army to train in the US. MHJ

[littlewilly]

A little more information for you on the Polish Legion in France-a total of 22,395 ethnic Poles from the US went to Canada to join the Polish Legion. About 20,700 made it to France. Many of them were Poles classified as enemy aliens who were not eligible to enlist or be drafted into the US Army. They constituted a reservoir of men for the Legion. Surprisingly, the Polish Army cause was not really very popular with many Polish-Americans, who saw it as a hindrance to their assimilation as Americans into US society. MHJ