Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Share #1 Posted July 25, 2008 Thought I'd share this one since it came while I was overseas... This uniform belonged to Captain Russell Davenport Bell, who was born in New York City, NY, but moved to and lived in Montreal, Quebec in 1911. His life in Quebec was fascinating...by the time he was listed in "Prominent People of the Provence of Quebec" in 1923, he was a partner in Greenshields & Co investment bankers, the Vice President of Greenshields, Willis &Co Inc Investment Bankers, Director of Travellers' Life Insurance Co. of Canada, Director, Dryden Paper Co., Director, Gunn's Ltd., Director, Ames Holden Tire & Rubber Co., and President of the Bond Dealer's Association of Canada! Prior to moving to Canada, he was a columnist for the New York Evening Sun from 1908-1911 after his graduation from Lehigh University. In Jun 1917, he filled out his draft card at the US Consulate in Montreal and was drafted soon thereafter. His bio states that he served as a Lieutenant in the 351st Field Artillery in France with the American Expeditionary Force, and was appointed to Captain on 10 November 1918. This group consists of his uniform jacket, pisscutter hat, numerous artillery instruction books, framed photos of him in uniform, photos (unframed) in uniform, and may personal favorite - his "wheelbook" for notes taken for firing data for artillery barrages during the Meuse-Argonne offensive! Interestingly, this group was sold by an antique store about a year ago (I posted a thread on here about the patch at the time) and it closed for something just under $1K. I didn't know enough about it at the time and was astounted by the price. About four months ago, it was offered again on eBay for a $500 profit to the buyer. By this time, I had done my research on him though (plenty via google!) and when the group didn't sell, I bought it post-auction. Apparently, in e-mailing with some of my fellow WW1 collectors, there was (is) concern about the patch being the right colors, as it doesn't conform to the ASMIC article on 351st patches. I figured that there was too much there to have it be a bad fake...so I still jumped on it. Maybe I am more of a "sizzle" buyer (rather than steak) but it seemed like a SUPER group to me (and much of the information I now know, was unknown). Here's a pic of the jacket... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share #2 Posted July 25, 2008 Here's the collar brass. A lot of work for someone to fake them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share #3 Posted July 25, 2008 The "fake" patch. I think it looks pretty good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share #4 Posted July 25, 2008 One thing that the seller didn't put in the description was the name in the jacket. In fact, I asked them directly if there was a name on the tailor's label, to which they replied (openly in the auction) "no, I can't find a label at all". That might have turned bidders off too... Looks plenty named to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share #5 Posted July 25, 2008 There were several photos of him in the lot. Here's one of them that was unframed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted July 25, 2008 Now here's the interesting thing... I was surfing the net for the 351st and found a pic of Battery A (his battery) coming back home to New York via the USS LOUISVILLE. A nice photo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share #7 Posted July 25, 2008 Now if you note in the lower left corner, there's a white Captain (looking rather pissed, actually). I took one glance and...WHAM...IT IS HIM! Here's a pic of the two together... Now, you tell me: The uniform is named. All of the items came from an antique store in Montreal where they came from an estate sale. Lots of pictures of this guy with the uniform. His bio lists him as a Captain with the 351st. So, is the patch fake? Or is it just a variation that isn't yet known? I'm guessing the latter...WAY too much stuff here to say that someone put this group together. Enjoy - this is one of my favorite groups. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belleauwood Posted July 25, 2008 Share #8 Posted July 25, 2008 Now if you note in the lower left corner, there's a white Captain (looking rather pissed, actually). I took one glance and...WHAM...IT IS HIM! Here's a pic of the two together... Now, you tell me: The uniform is named. All of the items came from an antique store in Montreal where they came from an estate sale. Lots of pictures of this guy with the uniform. His bio lists him as a Captain with the 351st. So, is the patch fake? Or is it just a variation that isn't yet known? I'm guessing the latter...WAY too much stuff here to say that someone put this group together. Enjoy - this is one of my favorite groups. Dave Your patch is 1000% real!! I sold a trunk group to an officer in the 351st by the name of Donovan. Almost all officers of these Black Artillery Regiments were white as were most of the staff officers in all the US Black Divisions. There is another trunk group that was split up several years ago. The paper and some photos are now in PA and the trunk and uniform with some paper and photos are in OHIO the last I heard. Same patch and right out of the woodwork - As I recall the artillery units were formed late, and while properly trained, saw no action at the front. Old time B/W polotics prevailed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cthomas Posted July 25, 2008 Share #9 Posted July 25, 2008 One simple observation is the fact that the swaz is flipped. The upright arm you see on the left is seen on the right side in any of the samples I've encountered in the books. For example, turn to page 262 of the new schiffer book "Organization & Insignia of the American Expeditionary Force 1917-1923" for two excellent examples. They even have a 351st SSI posted on that page. Maybe the officers made the simple alteration in the SSI you posted to differentiate themselves from the enlisted??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croix de Guerre Posted July 27, 2008 Share #10 Posted July 27, 2008 Hi, I have an ID'd uniform to a black officer who served in both the 368th Infantry and then was attached to the 351st Artillery. In an article he wrote in the 1940's he expressly commented on the swasika patch. He claimed that the white officers of the 351st refused to wear the buffalo patch assigned to the rest of the division and were allowed to deviate from the norm despite protests from some black officers in the division. The irony that the white officers chose to use a symbol that later came to be associated with racism did not escape him! I think the uniform is 100% correct and I want to thank you for sharing it with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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