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AEF Special Duty Armbands & Stripes


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Just a notice to viewers that in case either nothing is posted after this entry or should the post abruptly end midway through the post, it's because the Forum's "Paste from Word" icon doesn't seem to be functioning properly. However, It looks as if it may work if I go through a convoluted process that involves using both the "Reply to this Topic" & the "More reply Options".

 

Anyway, finger's crossed lets hope it works ... World war I Nerd

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This post is a long answer to two questions recently posed in an older topic regarding the placement of AEF insignia. The primary inquiry this post attempts to answer is what was the purpose of a strip of green cloth sewn onto the left hand sleeve of a WW I service coat. The secondary query sought information on an inverted green triangle stitched below a sergeant’s chevron on the right hand sleeve of the same service coat. That particular thread can be viewed at this link:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/197992-ww1-us-army-sleeve-insignia-regulations/

 

The truthful answer to those questions is that I don’t know. However, the following is an educated guess based partially on actual fact, a small amount of collector’s lore, and a great deal on supposition on my part. Therefore, each viewer must take what is written here with the proverbial “grain of salt” and make of it what they will. It’s also why this post has been divided into three parts. Part one deals with actual facts. Part two is loaded with supposition, conjecture and theoretical notions, while part three is, for the most part, a fishing expedition for additional information.

 

I should also mention that much of the information within this post appeared elsewhere on this forum, on page three of the two links shown below. The information found in the older posts has been consolidated into this thread and some new information has been added:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/202900-world-war-i-war-service-chevrons/?hl=%20special%20%20duty%20%20stripe

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/210707-us-army-brassards-armbands-1898-to-1918-part-2/

 

If you are so moved, please add additional information, post relevant photos and feel free to add your opinion, contrary or otherwise. Who knows, if we all work together, maybe we can collectively unravel this 100 year old mystery.

By the way, the term “Special Duty Armband” and “Special Duty Stripe” are not official Army designations for either the narrow armbands or of the colored strips of cloth that I believe they inspired. Those two labels were made up by me for the purpose of identification. After all, I had to call them something.

 

– Part I: Actual Facts –

“Special Duty Armbands”

 

When the hastily organized American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) arrived overseas in the summer of 1917, it still had a great deal to learn about trench warfare. In fact, upon their arrival, the first contingent of “Yanks” and “Sammies” (after Uncle Sam) as the American “Doughboys were initially called, knew virtually nothing about trench warfare.

 

Much of the AEF trench doctrine was borrowed from the French and British Armies. This included everything from battlefield tactics, to arms and munitions, to anti-gas measures, and to a lesser extent, insignia. One area of insignia in which the AEF was heavily influenced by the Army of Great Britain was that of brassards.

 

By the time American joined the fray in April of 1917, England had been at war for three long years. During that time the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) utilized a veritable rainbow of armlets, armbands and brassards. By the time the Yanks first entered the trenches in the autumn of 1917, it seemed as if their British tutors had a brassard for every conceivable military purpose. The following list, which is just a fraction of the brassards employed by the BEF during the Great War, illustrates the endless array of armbands used by British and Commonwealth troops during that conflict:

  • Town Major, Billeting Officer, Area Commander, Camouflage Officer, Corps Chemical Officer, Division Gas Officer, Military Control Officer, Railway Transport Officer, Railhead Officer, Officer Engaged on Movement of Troops, Recruiting Officer & Convalescent Officer

 

  • Provost Marshal, Assistant Provost Marshal, Agents de Police, Intelligence Police, Field Security Police, Military Police, Regimental Police, Garrison Police, Water Police, Fire Police & Traffic Control … to name but a few.

British Armlets

Amongst the myriad of BEF brassards in use when the Americans arrived in Europe in 1917 were a group of narrow 1 ½ inch wide “Armlets”, which were to be worn on the left forearm. The armlets were made in various colors and issued to assault troops detailed for special duties during an attack. The colors of the British issued armlets were as follows:

  • Green – Scouts
  • Red – Runners
  • Blue – Company Signalers
  • Yellow – Carrying Parties
  • White – Unknown, but in the Canadian Army, white designated a Mopping Up Party
  • Khaki with the word “Salvage” – Salvage Parties

Photo No. 01: At left, white armlets are worn by British assault troops equipped with wire cutters troops resting prior to moving up to their “jumping off” position. Note that their armlets are worn on the right arm just above the elbow. Opposite is an Australian “Digger” wearing a red runner’s armlet in the proper location on the lower-left forearm.

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In the fall of 1917, General Headquarters, AEF (GHQ) adopted a set of its own “Special Purpose Armlets”. However, the American document in which they were announced referred to the new insignia as “Arm Bands”. As a point of fact, in three separate U.S. Army wartime publications, the recently adopted AEF armlets were referred to as … “distinguishing marks”, “armbands” and “brassards”. Due to their narrow width of 1 ½ inches, in this post, I’ve opted to call them “armbands” to better distinguish them from their wider counterpart – the brassard.

 

GHQ General Orders No. 59, issued on November 11, 1917, publicized the AEF new “distinguishing marks”, which were nearly identical to the above mentioned armlets. The relevant text from that General Order proclaimed:

 

  1. The following distinguishing marks for specialists and individuals detailed for special duties, which, on occasion, separate them from their organizations, are hereby prescribed:

Guides and Scouts – Green Arm Band

Orderlies and Messengers (Runners) – Red Arm Band

Agents and Signalmen – Blue Arm Band

Carrying Parties (Munitions, Material, Food, Water) – Yellow Arm Band

Trench Cleaners* – White Arm Band

Salvage Parties – Khaki with “Salvage” in red letters

 

These bands will be one and one-half inches wide, and with the exception of orderlies to different headquarters will be worn around the left fore-arm.

 

Men equipped with wire-cutters will wear a piece of white tape tied to the right shoulder strap.

 

AEF General Orders No. 59, November 11, 1917

 

Photo No. 02: *In case you’re wondering, “Trench Cleaner” was the name given to the men detailed to decontaminate a section of trench and the equipment within that trench after it had been exposed to the harmful effects of poisonous gas. Special equipment issued to accomplish that task was primarily comprised of chloride of lime powder (ordinary bleaching powder), special gas fans devised by a British housewife (right) and something called a Vermoral Sprayer (left), which before the war had been used for spraying pesticide (At some point, AEF anti-gas equipment will be the subject of a future forum topic). By the time the Armistice was signed the duty of trench cleaning had evolved to the point that a specially trained “Decontamination Squad” had been assigned to each line company.

 

Photos courtesy of the Rusty Canteen collection

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Photo No. 03: According to War Department, Special Regulations No. 42, Change No. 1, the six different colors of the AEF Special Duty Armband were described as being:

 

1 ½ inches wide and 13 inches long, made of stiff cotton webbing, and equipped with stiff tongued trouser buckles for adjustment.

 

Special Regulations No. 42, Change No. 1, December 20, 1917, page 04

 

The stiff cotton webbing and double pronged trouser buckles are both apparent in this display of unissued AEF Special Duty Armbands.

 

Photo courtesy of Emmersoninsignia.net

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Special Duty Armbands: Issued to Whom

The armlets fell under the domain of Quartermaster Property and were designated as part of an AEF organization’s “Mobile Equipment”**. Within each AEF Infantry Regiment the armbands were issued to the following companies:

 

  • Each Rifle Company was authorized to be in possession of: 4 blue Agents & Signalmen Armbands – 12 green Guide and Scout Armbands – 16 red Orderlies and Messengers Armbands – 25 white Trench Cleaner Armbands and 58 yellow Carrying Parties Armbands.
  • Each HQ Company was directed to have: 23 blue Agents and Signalmen Armbands – 25 green Guide and Scout Armbands and 29 red Orderlies and Messengers Armbands.

 

  • Each MG Company was prescribed to have: 25 blue Agents and Signalmen Armbands – 25 green Guide and Scout Armbands – 25 red Orderlies and Messengers Armbands and 35 yellow Carrying Party Armbands.

 

  • For reasons unknown, the quantity of khaki Salvage Party armbands, if they were allotted to the above companies, was not mentioned.

 

Special Duty Armbands were a part of HQ Company equipment and were distributed as directed by each Company Commander. Upon completion of all special duties requiring an armband, they were to be returned to the Top Sergeant at Company HQ. It should also be said that the Special Duty Armbands were an article of equipment issued only to the AEF. Therefore, armbands were never issued to, nor were they worn by any soldier serving in the stateside Army.

 

**AEF Mobile Equipment was defined as … “the equipment prescribed for use in troop movements, temporary billets, and open warfare. It is limited to the animals, vehicles, and articles of equipment prescribed in the Tables of Organization, the equipment and clothing worn on the person, and the articles carried in pack and on mount and transported in field combat and divisional trains”.

 

Equipment Manuals for Service in Europe: Series A-No. 1, Infantry Regiment, May 1918, Page 05

 

Photo No. 04: These men from the 1st Field Signals Battalion, 2nd Division have been detailed to ensure that telephone lines between regimental HQ and the advancing Company Commanders remain uncut during the upcoming attack. In order to identify that each man was authorized for “special duty”, and was permitted to be away from the main body of the command, they’ve been issued, and are wearing blue Agents and Signalmen Armbands. The inset is of a British made, red “Runner’s Armlet” as issued to the British “Tommy” and to any Yank messengers’ operating under British command. Note that the British made buckle featured three tongues.

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Special Duty Armbands: Purpose

The purpose of the Special Duty Armbands was to distinguish the men wearing them from ordinary line troops. The armbands permitted the men to carry out their duties unimpeded by inquisitive officers, meddlesome non-commissioned-officers and the always curious Military Police. In short, the narrow armbands proclaimed to any observer that the wearer was away from his parent organization on official business, and therefore not a malingerer, slacker or shirker evading the dangers of combat.

 

In AEF General Orders No. 59, mention was made that Special Duty Brassards would be worn “with the exception of orderlies to different headquarters.” According to the Uniform Regulations published in 1912, 1914 and 1917, orderlies assigned to brigade and higher HQ were to wear a “Red Brassard” on the right, not the left forearm. The description of the Red Orderlies Brassard was exactly same in each of those publications:

 

61. BRASSARDS.

[brassards] Red. – The authorized mounted orderlies of infantry and cavalry regiments, the mounted men assigned as orderlies to brigade and higher commanders, and agents of communication of the Field Artillery and machine-gun companies will, while on duty in that capacity at drill or in the field, wear a red brassard on the right forearm. The brassards will be furnished by the Quartermaster Corps.

 

Regulations for the Uniform of the United States Army, 1914, page 31, 32

 

Evidently, Special Duty Armbands were utilized only by Company HQ and Red Orderlies Brassards were employed by Brigade and higher HQ. Unlike the Special Duty Armbands, which were issued only to the AEF, the Red Orderlies Brassard was issued and used by both the U.S. Army in America and by the AEF in Europe.

 

Photo No. 05: At approximately 3 inches in width, a wider Red Orderlies Brassard, as worn by higher HQ (left) is compared to a narrower, British made, red Runners Armlet, as issued by Company HQ (right).

 

Left hand photos courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

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Photo No. 06: A number of the motorcycle messengers of the 370th Infantry Division, 93rd Division (left) wear dark colored brassards on their left forearm. Because of their width, they are presumed to be Red Orderlies Brassard worn in the location prescribed for the Special Duty Armbands, which was the lower left sleeve. There is however, a very slim chance that the brassards are the seldom seen white on red Motor Dispatch Service Brassard (bottom, right).

 

Right hand photos courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

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Photo No. 07: This photo taken by war correspondent Otto P. Higgins from the Kansas City Star newspaper, was inscribed on the reverse with the following information:

 

Col. Bill Donovan – Seven miles ahead – Signal Corps – Chateau Thierry – Late July [1918] - Donovan & scout & four Signal stringers were lost.

 

The “wire stringer” with his back to the camera, appears to be wearing a wider version of the blue Agents and Signalmen Armband. At first glance it looks as if the armband has some sort of white device emblazoned on it. However, I believe this to be the armband’s buckle or perhaps a safety pin used to secure it to the sleeve. Colonel Donovan, clad in a trenchcoat, is seated to the signalman’s right and the “scout”, in the foreground, is presumed to be wearing a green Guides and Scouts Armband, which also happens to be wider than the regulation Guides and Scouts Armband. Both men are also wearing the armbands above the left elbow. Which according to the prevailing uniform regulations, was technically the incorrect location for both the Special Duty Armband and the Red Orderlies Brassard. The former was to be worn on the left sleeve below the elbow and the latter was to be worn on the right sleeve, also below the elbow.

 

Photo courtesy of the Missouri Over There collection

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– Part 2: Supposition –

“Special Duty Stripes”

 

Some of you may have noticed that the lower left hand sleeve of some surviving WW I era Doughboy service coats have been encircled with a ring of colored cloth or adorned with a rectangular shaped stripe, or patch. Both of which were usually situated either behind or underneath the overseas service chevrons. I personally have witnessed these bands or stripes made from green, red, blue and black cloth, as well as gold bullion tape.

 

To date, no record of an insignia of this type has been found in War Department, U.S. Army or AEF archives. Therefore, the origin and purpose of this enigmatic insignia is unknown. Also, because of the absence of official documentation, this type of insignia is presumed to have never been sanctioned and to have no official standing. Nevertheless, over the years, more than a handful of these mysterious insignia have turned up in both private collections and on film in period photographs … so there can be no doubt than an insignia of this type did exist.

 

Photo No. 08: From left to right, this selection of period photographs depict a soldier of the 78th Division whose left sleeve bears a rectangular shaped piece of cloth; two men serving in the 3rd Division, both with bands of colored cloth sewn around their lower left sleeve, and a Doughboy from the 91st Division also with a ring of colored cloth, similarly wrapped around the left cuff of his service coat.

 

Center photo courtesy of the Missouri Over There collection

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Special Duty Stripe: Purpose

It is my belief that this insignia, which I have dubbed the “Special Duty Stripe”, was unofficially adopted by Doughboys of the AEF who were chosen for, or volunteered to carry out, the duties for which the Special Duty Armbands were devised.

 

The stripes or bands of appropriate color cloth were likely sewn onto service coats shortly after the signing of the Armistice, during the occupation of Germany, or following an individual soldier’s discharge from military service. So far, no official documentation either proclaiming or prohibiting the use of this insignia has been found.

 

The purpose of the so called Special Duty Stripe was to signify that the wearer had routinely performed one of the aforementioned and often hazardous duties during his service with the AEF. The colored bands or stripes, when combined with officially sanctioned gold and blue overseas service chevrons, gold wound chevrons, unauthorized, gold first 100,000 over star and unofficial, silver voluntary enlistment star, were all used in various combinations to more accurately depict each soldier’s overseas service.

 

Photo No. 09: A closer view of the insignia cropped from the period photographs scattered throughout this post. From left to right, an actual Special Duty Armband affixed to the lower left cuff – a band of colored cloth sewn onto the lower left sleeve mirroring the armband – a rectangular shaped patch of colored cloth, and a small stripe of gold bullion tape, both of which have been sewn onto the lower left cuff in the approximate location where the Special Duty Armbands was to be worn.

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Special Duty Stripe: Color, Material & Placement

I doubt it’s a coincidence that the color of the Special Duty Stripes (with the exception of black and gold) all matched that of the Special Duty Armbands. Thus far, Special Duty Stripes have been seen in green (Guides & Scouts), red (Orderlies & Messengers, and blue (Agents & Signalmen).

 

In respect to the size of the Special Duty Stripe, most of which were narrow in width like the issued Special Duty Armband. However, based on the fact that the stripes were likely made on an individual basis, they show up in a variety of heights and widths and have fabricated from an assortment of different materials. In addition, although most have been similarly placed on the lower left sleeve, their exact location varies from garment to garment.

 

Photo No. 10: The Special Duty Stripes, each composed of a different shaped piece of green cloth, on the 78th Division (left & right) and 90th Division (center) service coats, all presumably commemorate the fact that their original owners served as a scout or guide in the AEF.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Photo No. 11: The bottom trio of green Special Duty Stripes in green, sewn onto service coats bearing (from left to right) a 90th Division, no division and a 78th Division shoulder patch, are all vaguely similar in regard to their size and placement. This however, is not the case for the upper green stripe, which hails from the service coat shown in Photo No. 12. It differs from the others by being sewn midway between the elbow and the shoulder on the left sleeve of an olive drab cotton service coat without division insignia and bearing an infantry collar disc. This opens the door for this particular insignia to be an entirely different and as yet, unidentified badge or emblem.

 

Center photo courtesy of the Lady GI collection

Right hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Photo No. 12: From left to right, an image of the unusually placed green guide’s stripe, and two green guide, faux armbands that are sewn onto a 33rd Division enlisted man’s service coat and an officers commercially made Mackinaw Coat.

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Photo No. 13: A blue Agents and Signalmen’s faux armband is sewn directly to the service coat under a single gold overseas service chevron. To the right is an overall view of the service coat to which the green faux armband depicted in the previous photo was sewn.

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Photo No. 14: The following montage displays three special duty anomalies. At far left is a faux armband in black, which was said by the vendor to represent service with the Military Police. The center image is of an III Corps enlisted man, whose coat is without collar discs, wearing what appears to be a wide example of a white Trench Cleaner’s Armband. On the right is another slightly wider example of a blue Agents and Signalmen Armband stitched to a 28th Infantry Division service coat bearing a Signal Corps collar disc. Note that both the white and blue armbands are roughly the same width and worn in the nearly identical position as the Special Duty Armbands depicted in Photo No. 7.

 

Left & center photos courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

Right hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Gold “Runner’s Stripe”

On occasion, something called a “Runner’s Stripe”, made from gold tape similar to that used in the fabrication of gold wound and overseas service chevrons, have from time to time appeared on the lower left cuff of AEF service coats. As far as it is known, the term “Runner’s Stripe” was coined by militaria vendors (that’s where I first encountered that label). In the description of the article for sale that title was used to indicate the significance of the gold stripe. However, whether or not if the gold stripe did, or did not, signify service as an orderly, or messenger, or runner in the AEF has not yet been proven. At the time of posting no documentation has been found to verify that assertion or proven it to be false.

 

Photo No. 15: The inset is of the gold, so called, Runner’s Stripe. The period photo to the right depicts a 1st Army Engineer with a light colored Special Duty Stripe that could be yellow (carrying Parties), white (trench cleaner), khaki (salvage party), or possibly even gold (runner’s stripe) in color.

 

Right hand photo courtesy of the Rogier Van de Hoeff collection

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Photo No. 16: A 12th Division service coat bearing a gold Runner’s Stripe and an infantry collar disc. The pair of insets show that at least on one service coat service coat, gold Runner’s Stripes were sewn onto both the lower right and the lower left sleeves.

Can any member or visitor provide any information regarding the purpose of the gold stripe placed below the overseas service chevrons?

 

Inset photos courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

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– Part 3: What is It? –

Possible Special Duty Insignia

 

Is it an Intelligence Section Insignia?

The second question that was posed recently on this form was in regard to an inverted green triangle sewn below a sergeant’s chevron found on the same WW I era service coat bearing what is presumed to be a green Guide and scout Special Duty Stripe. I’d never seen anything exactly like the inverted triangle before, but it did remind me of a similar, but different insignia that’s associated with the 35th Infantry Division.

 

In another forum post devoted to the insignia of the 35th Division, mention was made of a point up, black triangle sewn onto the left hand sleeve, midway between the elbow and the shoulder. In that thread it was said that the insignia indicated the wearer was an observer in an Infantry Regiment’s Intelligence Section. It was also inferred that other shapes were used to designate alternate duties within the Intelligence Section, i.e. square for scouts and round for snipers. Unfortunately no reference for that information was cited. Here is the link to that post:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/236438-unusual-ssi-on-35th-division-uniform/

 

Photo No. 17: From left to right, the inverted green triangle from the unknown AEF unit that spawned this section of this post, a period photo of what is reputed to be a Company I, 139th Infantry Regiment soldier with a 35th Division insignia, and the so called Intelligence Section, observer’s insignia, and a second example of the mysterious black triangle stitched onto the sleeve of another enlisted man’s 35th Division service coat.

 

I realize that this is pure speculation, but could a triangular shaped emblem have been used to indicate the Intelligence Section within other AEF divisions? Furthermore, could the color (or shape) of the emblem denote the particular duty in which the wearer specialized within that section? For example, could the color black be synonymous with an observer – green with a guide or scout – red with an orderly or messenger, and so on?

 

Left hand photo courtesy of the LadyGI collection

Center photo courtesy of the Rolfi collection

Right hand photo courtesy of the WW 2 Jake collection

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Photo No. 18: This image borrowed from a post war unit history identified the captain, two sergeants and six privates first class depicted, as members of the 139th Infantry Regiment’s (35th Division) Intelligence Section. The photograph confirms that at least two of the men (8th & 9th from the left) are wearing a dark color, possibly black, triangular shaped insignia on their left arms. When enlarged the edge of another insignia, whose shape cannot be distinguished, is visible on the left arm of the second soldier from the left.

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Photo No. 19: Another image of a different 35th Division Intelligence Section, this one minus the officer. In it, all but one man is wearing the observers’ triangle symbol, all of which also appear to be black in color.

 

Photo courtesy of the Mccooper collection

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Photo No. 20: Note that in these close ups of the two period photos, one observers’ insignia bears the initial ‘R’ (left) and the other, the initial ‘B’ (center), while a third example (right) has no initial at all. Could the letters and the absence of a letter indicate an affiliation with the Intelligence Section attached to “Regimental HQ” (‘R’), “Brigade HQ” (‘B’), and “Division” or “Company HQ” (no letter)?

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Photo No. 21: Here, three 27th Division painted helmets, each of which had a 27th Division insignia painted onto one side and a triangle (each a different color) painted onto the other side. One triangle appears to be blue, another red and the third is yellow. All of those colors coincidentally match the colors in which the Special Duty Armbands were fabricated … Did this happen by chance, or could the color of the symbols on the helmets’ be synonymous with the tasks for which the Special Duty Armbands were devised? And could the triangle shape be the AEF generic symbol for the Intelligence Section in general?

 

Besides being a component of the AEF, both the 27th and 35th Infantry Divisions were at one time both under British command as a part of the II Army Corps. Therefore, it’s also entirely possible that those divisions borrowed the triangular shape from one of the many so called “Formation Badges” that were employed by their British comrades in arms to identify various English Army organizations on the battlefield?

 

Does anyone have any information that explains the significance of the triangles painted onto the sides of the 27th Division helmets?

 

Photos courtesy of the Don L. collection

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Photo No. 22: Here is another unidentified sleeve insignia in the shape of a triangle. It’s obviously a long shot, but could this be another variation of the Intelligence Section insignia … that is, if that insignia actually existed?

Or, is this insignia an attempt by the AEF to mimic the British style “Formation Badges or “Battle Blazes” that were used to help identify the various units during the chaos of combat. Experiments were conducted by the 2nd Division, and possibly other AEF organizations, to determine the effectiveness of the British battle blaze in September of 1918, during the St. Mihiel offensive.

Can anyone positively identify this insignia?

 

Photos courtesy of the John Adams-Graf collection

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Unknown AEF Sleeve Insignia

Photo No. 23: The soldier standing on the far right is wearing an unidentified insignia that appears to be made of metal and pinned onto the upper left sleeve of his service coat. The photo taken by war correspondent Otto P. Higgins is captioned “Men by a supply car” and bears no date. The trunk on the lower left hand side however, is painted with the name of a lieutenant in the 21st Engineer Regiment. The only reason that this image is included in this topic is that the insignia depicted in it is of a similar shape, and placed in the same approximate location as the green stripe shown earlier in Photos No. 12 and 13 of this thread.

 

Can anyone identify this insignia?

 

Photo courtesy of the Missouri Over There collection

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