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U.S. Army Brassards & Armbands 1898 to 1918 Part 2


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world war I nerd

In this postcard distributed by the American Red Cross, the third soldier from the front of the counter is wearing a brassard that appears to have lettering or initials on it. The two visible letters look to be "R.L." or "K.L.", or maybe not.

 

Does anybody recognize this brassard?

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MP25, a plain green brassard was worn to indicate that certain members of the AEF were "scouts or guides" in the theater of operations.

 

I doubt that the green brassard used by the post-Armistice Provost Marshal Department denoted that the wearer was a scout or a guide. My guess is that the green brassard is some sort of Provost Marshal brassard that is awaiting to be identified.

It's also interesting that the PMD collar tabs were made in the green and yellow branch of service colors of the Provost Marshal General Department, like the piping on this officer's overseas cap.

 

I think if anybody could ever identify it, it would be you!

 

I have seen a few images of occupation troops wearing the PMD tabs, but none are wearing a plain brassard.

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An AMAROC correspondent's brassard as worn for the post-Armistice Inter Allied Games in 1919.

 

I can't find any information on what "AMAROC" actually is, but I've been told it was some sort of newspaper or periodical that was printed in occupied Germany in 1919. (photo courtesy of the Chuck Thomas collection)

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In this postcard distributed by the American Red Cross, the third soldier from the front of the counter is wearing a brassard that appears to have lettering or initials on it. The two visible letters look to be "R.L." or "K.L.", or maybe not.

 

Does anybody recognize this brassard?

 

The soldier is standing between two French officers and the way of wearing the garrison cap looks French to me.

 

or

 

In #36 is a armband shown with RL, could it be a subdued version ?

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/45160-brassards-armlets-armbands/?page=2

 

Michael

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Roadrunner, you are correct in regard to French style overseas caps being worn by some of the American Doughboys waiting in line. There is however, only one French officer (wearing a kepi), and he is standing directly behind the soldier wearing the unidentified brassard.

 

Your theory about a British style brassard being worn is plausible, but without an ID on the purpose of the British "RL" brassard, it's hard to say. It's true that the AEF adopted, or copied, a number of British brassard designs to be used by AEF personnel. By 1917, the British Army was using literally dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of different military brassards. To my knowledge (which happens to be very sketchy on this particular point), only a handful of British brassard designs were officially adopted by the AEF. Was the "RL" brassard one of them? Maybe … Maybe not. I certainly don't know, but would very much like to though.

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Roadrunner, you are correct in regard to French style overseas caps being worn by some of the American Doughboys waiting in line. There is however, only one French officer (wearing a kepi), and he is standing directly behind the soldier wearing the unidentified brassard.

 

 

What do you think about the nationality of the person in front of the soldier with the brassard ?

For me it looks like a subdued version of a french kepi ( see round style of the headgear and the silver chinstrap could indicate officers )

 

Michael

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Michael, I stand corrected. The soldier in front of the brassard wearing Doughboy is also wearing a kepi and likely a French officer.

 

On another note, check out this 3rd Army Motor Dispatch Service motorcyclist wearing the MDS Brassard.

Also of intertest is the thickness of the soles of the dispatch rider's non-regulation knee-high boots.

 

(photo courtesy of eBay seller Topcat)

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The attached paragraph, about the MDS Brassard, is from 1st Division Memorandum No. 621, dated October 13, 1918 … proclaimed that the MDS Brassard was not to be worn by division personnel. It seems to imply that the MDS Brassard was intended to be used solely by the personnel of the Signal Corps, Motor Dispatch Service.

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The last paragraph in this excerpt, from a different 1st Division (unnumbered) memorandum, dated August 11, 1918 suggests or implies that there may have been an Ammunition Carriers Brassard or "distinguishing marks" worn by division personnel assigned to that duty.

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Brian---Amaroc is an early army acronym---American Army of Occupation---and was part of the name of the Third Army / AFG newspaper: The AMAROC News---it was a soldier run newspaper that was designed to replace all of the individual newspapers published by the 1st Division (the Bridgehead Sentinal), the 2nd Division (The Indian), the 3rd Division (The watch on the Rhine) etc in the occupation zone--when the Stars and Stripes, published in Paris, went out of business in July 1919, the AMAROC News became the primary English (American) language newspaper in Europe and was read by everybody who could get their hands on a copy---and the French in their occupation zone to the south of the American one were amazed that soldiers were allowed to complain about everything that bothered them in the AMAROC and they weren't punished for it....

An AMAROC correspondent's brassard as worn for the post-Armistice Inter Allied Games in 1919.

 

I can't find any information on what "AMAROC" actually is, but I've been told it was some sort of newspaper or periodical that was printed in occupied Germany in 1919. (photo courtesy of the Chuck Thomas collection)

 

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Al, many thanks for clearing up the AMARC acronym issue. I'd been trying to work that one, without success, out for a while now!

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AEF Division Staff Officers' Brassard in red with the numeral "1" denoting that the wearer was on the staff of the 1st Division. Images from newsreel footage taken of the 1st Division during the St, Mihiel offensive during September of 1918.

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  • 3 months later...
world war I nerd

Press photo depicting AEF Motor Dispatch Service brassard wearing motorcycle couriers and their mascot, August 1918.

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Motor Dispatch Service brassard as worn by a 3rd Army motorcycle courier circa 1919.

 

Photo courtesy of the National Archives

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world war I nerd

AEF Postal Service Brassarda/Insignia. This photo looks to have been taken on a homeward bound troop ship, probably in 1919.

 

Photo courtesy of the Troy Morgan collection

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The "E" Brassards worn by this pair of Corps of Engineers officers are thought to be for "Embarkation Brassards" worn by AEF officers assigned to supervise the boarding process of AEF troops returning to the United States. So far no documentation of the purpose of this white on blue brassard has been found.

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Another example of an Embarkation Brassard, as well as a never before seen "Dock PA" Brassard. Based on the sign on the structure by which each soldier boarding the ship must pass, the latter brassard is presumed to signify "Dock Personnel Adjutant".

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A closer view of the "E" and "Dock PA" brassards. In the case of the Doughboy wearing the Dock PA brassard, his insignia denoted him as an Engineer officer from the 90th Division.

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A different photo of the same 90th Division Engineer officer wearing the Dock PA brassard. Over to the right is a man wearing a different type of "E" brassard. The armband of his brassard is composed of two colors rather than one as seen in previous images. Presumably the "E" still represents "Embarkation". The bi-colored armband, however, likely represents that the wearer has a different function or duty to perform.

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