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81st Division's Tuffy replaced with Dog Mascot WW1

nchistory

By nchistory,
in (1917-1919) WORLD WAR ONE, RUSSIAN INTERVENTION

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nchistory

nchistory

Posted
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Where the hell is Tuffy, the bobcat of the 81st Division?? Wildcat's return home. North Carolina's finest.

Most likely Tuffy died enroute to France, last mentioned on a train to New York prior to the 81st Divisions departure for France. The mascot pictured here is a Dog, maybe Tuffys replacement while in France (easier to obtain a dog, than a bobcat), his handler on his left with leather carrier under arm. Picked this yard-long up on the forum, with mention of one soldier wearing a 81st patch, but through all the division photos I had reviewed, this one eluded me. It was taken on Subway June 8, 1919 at Newport News, VA, and the soldiers have just departed ship with full gear and rifles, not necessarily a staged photo as normally seen, these guys carrying red-cross ditty bags. I couldnt find any arrivals of the 81st June 8th in their history, by digging through period newspapers from North Carolina finally uncovered that the 317th Field Artillery, 306th Ammo Train, and 3rd Artillery Park did indeed arrived on Sunday June 8th. Scanning the image, and digging in the details, I believe this image to be that of the 317th Field Artillery under Colonel W H Dobbs.

To right of photo, guidon appears to be crossed cannons and partial 7.

Several blow ups show crossed cannon artillery collar disk, and PFC artillery chevrons.

Several examples of the 81st Division patch.

Appears to be USS Missouri docked on left background. The 306th Ammo arrived on the Missouri, the 317th arrived on the USS South Carolina.

Notes, rifles tagged, red cross ditty bags, trucks in rear still unloading. Image recovered in western North Carolina.

If anyone can add to observations of ID, please do.

post-153086-0-16043200-1534607821_thumb.jpg

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world war I nerd

world war I nerd

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Wow! What a great yard long! I love seeing images of Doughboys fresh off the homecoming transport ships.

 

Almost always an unkempt gang wearing an assortment of varied equipment & clothing and carrying all manner of regulation and non-regulation gear.

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