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Post Your Span-Am to WW I Full-Length Soldier Photos


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world war I nerd

Lieutenant Clayton Bissell. Bissell shot down five enemy aircraft during the war while flying with the 148th and 41st Aero Squadrons.

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A pair of unidentified, black service tie wearing, raw recruits training in the U.S. for war in France, 1917 - 1918.

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Laundry day in the pre-WW I U.S. Army. The date is likely around 1911 or 1912.

 

The men are wearing, from left to right, blue denim fatigue trousers, OD woolen service breeches and full length khaki cotton trousers.

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An undated real-picture-postcard of what I'm presuming to be pre-WW I U.S. Marines at an unknown locale.

 

Their campaign covers look to be an earlier pattern than the folded brim P12 style USMC campaign cover. Likewise, their leather waist belts also look to predate the later 1907 and 1910 web Army style web waist belts.

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A closer look at the early USMC covers and waist belts.

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The anti-aircraft machine gun squad of the 8th Balloon Company circa 1918.

 

Note that the seated man in the front row is wearing the seldom seen leather and chainmail shoulder pad that was used to carry the Hotchkiss machine gun when the weapon's barrel was hot.

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Close up of the two French machine guns and the chainmail shoulder pad.

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world war I nerd

"Expert Rifleman, Clarence Luhraen & Aldrin Powell, Company B, 10th Wisconsin Infantry, Camp Douglas, 1912."

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Close up of the Wisconsin National Guardsman's field gear and early campaign hats, which look to be the 1904 pattern.

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world war I nerd

No ID or date on this one. A rifle squad from either the Regular Army or National Guard ... Hard to tell, circa 1914-ish.

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A closer look at the above rifle squad's hats, cartridge belts and rank insignia.

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world war I nerd

A grubby bunch of soldiers after some serious fatigue duty at Ft. Bliss, Texas in 1915.

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The third soldier from the left has a lot of ink on his right forearm.

 

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USMC boots or regulars(?) wearing P12 Winter Field Dress sans insignia, with and without leggings. The second Marine from the right, however, does appear to be wearing a Victory Medal or other campaign ribbon.

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A closer view of three of the above Marines and the solitary ribbon.

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AEF Military Police somewhere in France, circa 1918.

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In this close up you can clearly see the red rectangular shaped collar tabs that were worn by MPs behind the collar discs. Although this particular MP is not wearing any collar discs. In another image I have of this group of MPs, all are wearing MP Brassards, as well as red collar tabs behind a combination of U.S. & USNG and infantry branch collar discs.

 

It would be nice to find out what outfit these guys were from and where they were posted at the time this photo was taken.

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It's really hard to tell if they are wearing red bands around their campaign hats. To me, it looks like they are not, but I could be wrong. Even though the red hat bands were specified in regulations, I don't think I've ever seen one in period photos ... Has anybody ever seen one before?

 

Check out these close ups from another photo. The bands look dark, but I don't think they're red. One thing I thought was interesting is that each man's red collar tabs are cut to a slightly different shape.

 

All of five of these men were in the same photo. The photos were printed on French postcard stock and the only thing written on the back of each image (there are four photos) was "Oscar". Anyway, these are the two men on the far right of the photo.

 

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And the three military policemen to their right.

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From left to right, for better viewing, here are enlargements of the first two MPs.

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And the middle two MPs.

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And finally, the far right MP.

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While I'm at it, I might as well post the overall image.

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Salvage Sailor

Interesting that the MP on the right has a .45 magazine pouch and a revolver.

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Yes, I did notice the revolver and .45 automatic pistol magazine pouch combo. I've seen them paired up like that a couple of times in period photos. I've also seen .holstered 45 automatic pistols being worn with the three pocket revolver ammunition pouch and revolvers holstered in automatic holsters as well! I guess it was a case of use whatever you got.

 

Early U.S. cavalry sergeant. The photo is dated 1908. I can't quite make out the regimental number on his collar insignia though.

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A closer look at the sergeant's service coat and insignia.

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Artilleryman circa circa 1906 to 1910.

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A better look at the above artilleryman and his badge. The badge is the Field Artillery Gunner's Badge, 1st Class, which was in use between 1904 and 1913 (thanks JAG for that info),

 

I almost forgot to ask, can anybody ID the chevrons he's wearing?

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WW I era stateside ambulance driver Raymond D. Fuller and his ride, circa 1917 or 1918.

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Close up of Raymond's goggles and collar discs.

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Chet Kratz (wearing overcoat) and some of his pals from the 5th Division hanging out in front of the Lyon Hotel in France possibly in 1918, but probably later in 1919.

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Close up of some of the boys from the "Red Diamond" Division and their shoulder patches.

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world war I nerd

Members of the 1st Infantry Regiment, probably National Guard from an unknown state, circa 1908.

 

A guy going by the single initial 'O', sitting on the left is wearing a patterned civilian shirt. The bugler in the center is wearing an obsolete 1903 Service Coat with breast pocket pleats. Aside from the cook's cap, headgear seems to be comprised of 1902 and 1904 pattern campaign hats. Not sure if the two light colored shirts worn by the two men standing to the right of the cook are military or civilian issue.

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world war I nerd

A neat mock bayonet duel conducted by infantry men of an unknown outfit. This one also dates to around 1908.

 

It's interesting to see just how high the cartridge belts are riding due to the short length of the 1903 equipment suspenders. Based on this, and other period photographs, sleeve garters seemed to have been quite popular with soldiers during the early years of the 20th century.

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A closer look at the two bayonet wielding ruffians and the suspender supported high-water cartridge belts.

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Now here's a sport that is not normally associated with WW I American soldiers. Baseball, yes. Football, sure. Basketball, once in a while. Boxing, wrestling and track and field, occasionally. But Hockey ... This is a first for me.

 

By the way, one of the two visible collar discs is a U.S. disc bearing the numeral '313'. The other is a plain infantry disc. If they go together, that would make these men members of the 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Division. The photo is alleged to have been taken at Camp Grant, Illinois. Anyone know if the 79th Division passed through Camp Grant?

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Close up of the left half of the "Hockey Group". The players are wearing an interesting assortment of leather and wool gloves, including wristlets, as well as various designs of sweaters and one muffler or scarf. It's also one of the rare occasions when the flaps of the Winter Field Cap is being worn in the down position.

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A closer view of the right half of the Camp Grant Hockey Group.

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world war I nerd

The collar disc identifies this man as an AEF Engineer. The name scrawled several times on the back of this photo taken, and printed in France, informs us that there's a good chance his name was Alfred Washington.

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It looks as if Alfred has decorated his overseas cap with what looks to be a Croix de Guerre, or other similar French medal, minus its ribbon.

 

Can anybody ID badge or medal that's been pinned or otherwise attached, to the front of his cap?

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world war I nerd

I don't think I've ever seen a WW I American soldier wearing four stateside service chevrons before. The four white service chevrons worn by this unknown soldier indicate that he served stateside for between 24 and 30 months without interruption.

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A better look at the stateside service chevrons and his other insignia. Regulations called for stateside chevrons to be silver in color. However, the demand for silver chevrons was such that stateside manufacturers could not keep up with the large quantity of chevrons needed. Thus the color white was frequently substituted for that of silver until chevron makers could catch up with the quantities ordered.

 

He'a also wearing a Supply Company, Infantry Collar Disc, a silver Sharpshooter's marksmanship badge and a non-regulation multi-colored ribbon for an unknown, and unauthorized, commercially made WW I victory or service medal.

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Close up of the torso and pistol belt worn by the above sailor.

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Sailor with revolver, circa 1910 to 1917.

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