Provisional Field Repair Shop Yard-Long Photograph, circa 1918

[world war I nerd]

For some reason I cannot past text from Microsoft Word when starting a new post. However, I can paste when replying to an existing post ... Therefore, I must begin this post with this informationless first post in order to paste the actual in formation I wanted to convey.

[world war I nerd]

Provisional Field Repair Shop

Yard-Long Photograph, circa 1918

 

Because I have an unnatural interest in the clothing of the A.E.F. and how it was worn, I was intrigued by this rather unusual yard long photo labeled: “Provisional Field Repair Shop, S.P.U. 427-452 JO 466 Camp Holabird”.

 

Photo No. 01: This overall view of the yardlong presents a wide variety of military clothing as worn By the U.S. Army and by the AEF. What really caught my eye was the casual manner in which the men were dressed and the diversity of the headgear they’d donned on the day the photo was taken. The subject of this post is primarily devoted to the various head covering depicted within the four corners of the yardlong.

 

Some of the garments worn included: several styles of regulation and non-regulation long sleeved and sleeveless sweaters, 1911 or 1917 Service Coats, tan and blue denim Fatigue Coats, a Mackinaw Coat, an officer’s overcoat and an officer’s trenchcoat, and several types of gloves and foot coverings.

 

Unless otherwise credited all photos courtesy of fold3

[world war I nerd]

“S.P.U.” was the Army acronym for “Service Park Unit”. However, I’ve no idea what the abbreviation “JO” stood for. Does anyone know or care to hazard a guess as to what the abbreviation “JO” might represent?

 

Camp Holabird was founded in 1917 as the Army’s first motor transport training center and depot. It was established on 96 acres of marshland near Colgate Creek in the southeast corner of Baltimore, Maryland. The camp was named after Quartermaster Brigadier General Samuel B. Holabird (1826-1907).

 

The primary purpose of Camp Holabird was twofold. First it supplied the AEF with motor vehicles made in Detroit. And second, it trained soldiers to drive, service, and repair and otherwise maintain motor cars and motor trucks of all types.

 

Supply activities were composed of receiving, storing and shipping vehicles, spare parts and accessories for use overseas. To achieve this, the camp housed a numerous warehouses and a massive crating shop where knocked down vehicles were crated for shipment to France.

 

The camp also acted as a training center for motor transport personnel. Various barracks, mess halls and schools were established on the grounds, each of which specialized in various aspects of vehicle repair, the use of shop machinery, and driving and convoy duties.

 

Some of the AEF organizations that passed through Camp Holabird were:

• Machine Shop Truck Unit No’s. 387, No. 388 & No. 389
• Water Tank Train No’s. 301& 302
• Repair Unit No. 307
• Service Park Unit No’s. 413, No. 414, No. 415, No. 418, No. 419, No. 420, No. 421 & No. 422

Photo No. 02: Part of Camp Holabird’s motor park.

 

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 03: The majority of the men in the photo are wearing the denim version of the 1904 Work Hat, aka “Fatigue Hat”. What is noteworthy about this particular garment is the innumerably ways in which the men wore it. From left to right: with a floppy brim, with the sides of the brim slightly curled up in the fashion of a cowboy hat, and with the sides of the brim rolled up like that of the “Boonie Hat” worn some five decades later during the Vietnam War.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 04: At left and right, the front brim of this pair of fatigue hats have been turned up in a similar, but different style. Meanwhile, the center hat’s brim has been folded in such a way that it looks a bit like a Revolutionary War era “Tricorne Hat”.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 05: What I was surprised to find was that quite a few men had starched and manipulated their fatigue hat in such a way that it took on the shape of the much more fashionable Derby Hat.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 06: Here the soon to be mechanics, drivers and machinists are wearing the much more mundane 1907 Winter Field Cap as it was intended to be worn (left), and as it was not (center). Because the Overseas Cap was never authorized for wear in the United States, soldiers in the training camps took to wearing Winter Field Caps backwards. Unlike this man, most men folded the cap’s visor up so it could not be seen. On the right is a 1911 Campaign Hat whose shape has been ever so slightly personalized by its wearer.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 07: Scattered throughout the yard long a number of men can be seen wearing an unidentified visorless cloth cap. Similar visorless caps have appeared with some degree of frequency in other WW I period photographs. The one thing all of the various photos had in common was that the visorless cap wearing men were also all wearing Army issued work clothing. I suspect that this type of cap was an article of issue that was prescribed for mechanics and other military tradesmen whose activities required the wearing of fatigue rather than service dress.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 08: From left to right, this selection of non-regulation workmen’s caps is comprised of a visorless oilskin cap, a knit cap, and what looks to be the crown of a campaign hat without its brim.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 09: More Motor Transport Corps men wearing different styles of non-regulation caps with visors. Welding goggles are presumed to be worn by the right hand soldier.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 10: A handful of the men in the yardlong are wearing denim fatigue coats that have been painted or chalked with either a numerical or an initialed legend. From left to right the inscriptions read: “454”, “456”, “K.P & 456”, and “K.P.” There were also a few men wearing fatigue coats bearing the numeral “466”. Presumably “K.P.” is for “Kitchen Police”, but what about the other numbers?

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 11: A random close up of some of the men and their clothing.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 12: A second close up of the men and their clothing.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 13: A third close up of the men and their clothing.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 14: And a fourth close up of the men and their clothing. Note that the officer is wearing Motor Transport Corps collar brass.

[world war I nerd]

End of post. Thanks for looking … World War I Nerd

[Brian Keith]

Excellent post! Thanks. Really enjoyed the photo's.

BKW

[GITom1944]

Does anyone know or care to hazard a guess as to what the abbreviation “JO” might represent?

 

Not even a guess but there was also a Service Park Unit No. 466.

 

 

Tom

[world war I nerd]

GI Tom, thanks for adding the more comprehensive list of Motor Transport Corps units that passed through Camp Holabird during the war.