1934-dated Marine officer's greens

[USMCRECON]

Here are pictures of my 30s Marine officer's uniform. It has a date stamp in the inside pocket of SEP 24 1934. I think I can squeeze about three pics on this post after reducing the size of the originals considerably. I hope they are still adequate.

 

Top picture is the full front view of the tunic. They don't shgow well but the buttons are very high-domed. Also, the waist belt is sewn directly to the tunic almost all the way around and is only loose in the front.

 

The middle picture is a composite pf both collar EGAs. They are mounted by the standard long screwpost and spinner.

 

The third picture is a closer picture of one of the lapels where the EGAs go. The hole for the EGAs is not grommitted in any way and it looks like the screwposts were just pushed through the material. What unfortunately doesn't show up all that well are two smaller holes that look like they might have been made earlier by a pair of EGAs with the smaller double screwposts.

 

 

 

[USMCRECON]

Here's the last two pictures. The top one is a close up of the engraving on the back of the Captain's bars, including the date; 12-30-36.

 

The other picture is one of the two pairs of riding breeches that came with it. The pair pictured here look like they are a different color than the tunic. They are actually just ever so slightly lighter than the tunic but the photo makes them apperar much lighter than they truly are. As you can see, instead of the traditional front fly, they close with a sort of "bib" front. The other pair of riding breeches that came with the tunic are more traditional in that thet have a standard button front fly and no leather protectors on the inner legs.

 

[teufelhunde.ret]

Hey Bill, love those EGA's great patina and very even wear. Thanks for sharing s/f Darrell

[cbuehler]

This coat is made from the whipcord material that was also favored by the Army in prewar days as opposed to the elastique so common to ww2 uniforms. The collar ornaments I would guess were those droop wing types with the 2 screw posts. The ones on the coat now are later replacements at some point.

It appears that the belt was added later as well. Before 1942, all officers wore the

cordovan sam brown belt. The coat should have belt hooks or wide button down loops which we cannot see. Some officers coats of the ww2 period have these as well when the sam brown became optional, but most were tailored with simple narrow cloth loops for the cloth belt only during the war and after.

The captains bars are great with the inscription on them.

These prewar Marine officers uniforms are surprisingly scarce. Most continued to be worn right through the war by the officers who had them.

The breeches were standard requirement by all Marine officers before the war and vary quite a bit in styling and features. They came in Khaki twill for the summer service uniform as well. They were discontinued by the beginning of the war.

 

CB

[USMCRECON]

This coat is made from the whipcord material that was also favored by the Army in prewar days as opposed to the elastique so common to ww2 uniforms. The collar ornaments I would guess were those droop wing types with the 2 screw posts. The ones on the coat now are later replacements at some point.

It appears that the belt was added later as well. Before 1942, all officers wore the

cordovan sam brown belt. The coat should have belt hooks or wide button down loops which we cannot see. Some officers coats of the ww2 period have these as well when the sam brown became optional, but most were tailored with simple narrow cloth loops for the cloth belt only during the war and after.

The captains bars are great with the inscription on them.

These prewar Marine officers uniforms are surprisingly scarce. Most continued to be worn right through the war by the officers who had them.

The breeches were standard requirement by all Marine officers before the war and vary quite a bit in styling and features. They came in Khaki twill for the summer service uniform as well. They were discontinued by the beginning of the war.

 

CB

 

Yes.....I forgot to mention the belt hooks. It does have two brass belt hooks sewn into the tunic. The "hook" part hangs over the sewn-on belt and they are attached just behind each sleeve.

[themick]

A very nice early uniform set, indeed, and I love those captain bars. CB is right on the money, and yours fits perfectly. Some years ago I had an almost identical tunic and breeches (no leather) from a Banana's war era Marine. That blouse did not have holes for screw post collar emblems either. Very nice!!

 

Steve

[bobgee]

What are the initials on the Captain's insignia" I have USN/USMC Registers of that period and may be able to give you a name if you don't have one.

S/F.........Bob

[cbuehler]

Can we see a close up of the ribbon bars and how they are attached to the coat?

I think I can make out a PH, GC, expeditionary, ww1, 2nd Nic and Yangtze.

If that is a GC, he was an enlisted man during ww1 when wounded and became an officer sometime in the 1920's. He must have gone into the reserves in the late 1930's? The PH ribbon was not available to Navy/Marines until 1942.

I have a captains uniform to a ww1 retread who was an enlisted man in ww1

and became a reserve officer between the wars. He went to active status at the beginning of the war and had the uniform made at the time. The only ribbons are ww1 and GC sewn on.

 

CB

[USMCRECON]

Can we see a close up of the ribbon bars and how they are attached to the coat?

I think I can make out a PH, GC, expeditionary, ww1, 2nd Nic and Yangtze.

If that is a GC, he was an enlisted man during ww1 when wounded and became an officer sometime in the 1920's. He must have gone into the reserves in the late 1930's? The PH ribbon was not available to Navy/Marines until 1942.

I have a captains uniform to a ww1 retread who was an enlisted man in ww1

and became a reserve officer between the wars. He went to active status at the beginning of the war and had the uniform made at the time. The only ribbons are ww1 and GC sewn on.

 

CB

 

 

I'll haul it out and try to take a shot of the ribbons in the next day or so. I don't know much about the background of the officer at this point. There is a GCM on the ribbon rack so he certsinly did some enlisted time, probably in WW-I but I can't confirm that at this point.

[USMCRECON]

What are the initials on the Captain's insignia" I have USN/USMC Registers of that period and may be able to give you a name if you don't have one.

S/F.........Bob

 

The script is not all that easy to read, even with a magnifying glass. I think it says H. D. W. but it might also be H. O. W.

[USMCRECON]

Can we see a close up of the ribbon bars and how they are attached to the coat?

I think I can make out a PH, GC, expeditionary, ww1, 2nd Nic and Yangtze.

If that is a GC, he was an enlisted man during ww1 when wounded and became an officer sometime in the 1920's. He must have gone into the reserves in the late 1930's? The PH ribbon was not available to Navy/Marines until 1942.

I have a captains uniform to a ww1 retread who was an enlisted man in ww1

and became a reserve officer between the wars. He went to active status at the beginning of the war and had the uniform made at the time. The only ribbons are ww1 and GC sewn on.

 

CB

 

It might be OBE now but here's the closer shot of the ribbons you asked for. The ribbons are mounted on pinback ribbon bars with open "C" type clasps. I didn;'t photograph it but a dark cordovan brown Sam Browne belt did come with it.

 

Also, I photographed the service cover that came with it but forgot to attach it earlier so am doing attaching it here. You can see the fading of the mohair trim around the sides. The quatrofoil on top is also faded to this same brownish color.

 

 

[cbuehler]

Those ribbons would be early ww2, so he was probably a reserve officer as most ww1 "retreads" were. Most of them seem to have had permanent ranks of captain and sometimes went as high up to Lt. Col. temporary appointment.

 

CB