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A.E. F. ‘Trench’ & Overseas Caps


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Photo No. 51: Each of the French caps worn by these Yanks has a slightly different shape to the notch on the turban’s front. The left hand cap’s turban appears to have been edged with tape. The edge of the center cap’s turban, which could be either mustard or khaki in color, has been reinforced with additional rows of stitching. Meanwhile, the height of the turban on the right hand cap is noticeably taller and has a wide scalloped notch.

 

Right & left photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

Center photo courtesy of the Rogier Van de Hoef collection

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Photo No. 52: All French made caps had no means with which to attach an enlisted men’s collar disc, unless a hole was cut into the cap by its wearer. All three of these French pattern caps display collar discs which were likely of French manufacture and fastened to the cap by means of a pin.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

Center photo courtesy of the Rogier Van de Hoef collection

Right hand photo courtesy of Brennan Gauthier, PortraitsofWar.wordpress.com

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Photo No. 54: Three-quarter views of two round cornered V-notched caps. The French caps with colored piping were commercially manufactured and piped in the various French Army branch of service colors.

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Photo No. 55: There was very little uniformity within the AEF in respect to which pattern of overseas cap was worn, as a number of different styles and patterns will turn up in almost every period group photograph. The men showed here, all wear French 1918 style caps. From left to right, they served in the Army Service Corps, 4th Infantry Division, and the 83rd Infantry Division.

 

All three of these tailor made French pattern caps have two-piece crowns and two-piece turbans, each with a different shaped turban notch. Doughboys that preferred a less pronounced peak intentionally turned the corner points of the French caps inside, much like that of the right hand soldier’s cap. Others actually stitched the turned-in corners so that they permanently remained in that position.

 

Photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

 

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Photo No. 57: These three Doughboys from an unknown unit (left), the Military Police (center) and from GHQ (right), all favored a different shape for their cap, i.e. crushed so that its crown was flat, pointed corners, and pushed in corners. Also of interest are the rectangular red collar tabs worn by the Doughboy in the center photo. The red tabs were authorized for members of the Military Police very late in 1918.

Left hand photo courtesy of the Umac collection

Center photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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Photo No. 59: This montage shows the French pattern caps in profile with, from left to right, pointed corners, with turned or pushed in corners, and with rounded corners.

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Photo No. 60: At right is an example of a French pattern cap whose front corner has been pushed in and permanently stitched in place. The sketch by Captain Wallace Morgan depicts a French pattern cap with an extremely high corner in the back and a somewhat lower front corner in the front. The cap’s front corner has either been turned in and stitched in place or the cap was made in such a way that it drastically alter the cap’s profile. Also of interest is the crude French made brass, regimental cap badge for the 26th Division’s 101st Infantry Regiment.

 

Right hand photo courtesy of Bay State Militaria

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Photo No. 61: French pattern caps were also widely worn by commissioned officers of the AEF. At left is an infantry officers cap whose turban is piped in light blue. At center is a Signal Corps officer’s cap piped in orange and white, and at right, the black piped chaplain’s cap appears to be a hybrid of both the French Model 1915 and 1918 Bonnets de Police.

 

Center photo courtesy of the National World War I Museum

Right hand photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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Photo No. 62: This French pattern Overseas Cap bearing the regimental numeral ‘151’ was worn by Lieutenant Colonel Cooper D. Winn, the commanding officer of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion, 42nd Division (inset). The three rows of gold bullion braid on the front of the cap indicate the rank of Chef de Battalion, which was the French equivalent of a major in the U.S. Army, and it was the rank Winn held in the autumn of 1917.

 

The cap is one of three overseas caps that were worn by Winn, who finished the war as a lieutenant colonel. The cap is inexplicitly piped in red, which was the color of the artillery branch of service in both the French and American Armies. The light blue over scarlet piping that identified the machine gun service in the U.S. Army was not adopted until July of 1918.

 

The colonel’s two American pattern overseas caps are the subject of the background photo. They both display the rank of a lieutenant colonel and are piped in the light blue and scarlet of an AEF machine gun battalion.

 

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Photo No. 63: It should also be mentioned that the right and left hand sides of the turban on all French pattern trench caps did not overlap in the front.

 

The background photo shows an American Doughboy wearing a late war pattern U.S. Overseas Cap with an overlapping shawl, while his French comrades wear various interpretations of the Modele 1918 Bonnet de Police. The darker French cap on the far left is ‘iron gray’, the color that preceded horizon blue in the French Army.

 

The inset shows from left to right, the front of a French Modele 1915 Bonnet de Police, a French Modele 1918 Bonnet de Police, and an American pattern overseas cap.

 

Right hand inset courtesy of Portraits of war.com

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British RFC Field Service Cap

Tailor made and regulation British caps of this pattern were worn by AEF personnel from November 1917 until 1919

In the late 19th century, a style of cap made in the unique colors that identified each British regiment, with a folding ‘peak’ or visor known as “Cap, Field Service” was adopted by the British Army. The Field Service Cap was worn by all British Army regiments except those of the Scottish infantry. The Scottish infantry regiments continued to wear the traditional Glengarry Bonnet.

 

In 1913, the Field Service Cap, made from khaki wool, replaced the more colorful regimental caps, as well as the ‘Gor Blimey Cap’* or 1915 Service Dress Cap as the standard headdress for all ranks of the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

 

*Gor Blimey was Cockney slang for “God blind me”. The 1905 Service Cap was given that nom de guerre because in the eyes of British military spit and polish the soft caps with ear flaps were considered to be somewhat un-presentable by senior commanders.

 

Some RFC officers continued to wear the pre 1913 Field Service Caps in their distinctive regimental color; most however, opted for the khaki drab colored Field Service Cap.

 

All of the Great War RFC Field Service Caps featured a bronze RFC cap badge mounted on the crown’s left side. The ‘curtain, as the British called the flap which could be folded down to cover the ears, was secured in the front by two RFC pattern brass buttons, and often by a hook located on each side.

 

Photo No. 64: These British officers circa 1914, still wear the pre war pattern RFC Cap in their regimental colors.

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Photo No. 65: The enlisted man at left is also wearing a pre-war Other Ranks, Field Service Cap in the ‘Sherwood Foresters’ or Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regimental colors. At right is the wartime subdued version of the ‘Cap, Field Service, Other Ranks’ of the RFC that was adopted in 1913.

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Photo No. 66: Two British soldiers of the RFC, one an enlisted mean and the other an officer and an aviator, each with a khaki colored Field Service Cap flank the sketch of an AEF officer drawn by Captain Wallace Morgan, who is also wearing a British style Field Service Cap.

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Photo No. 68: Interior of the above cap showing its quilted silk lining, the tailor’s label, as well as the cotter-type pin securing the bronze RFC cap badge to the crown of the cap.

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Photo No. 69: At left is a similar cap worn by an AEF aviator, which still retains the RFC cap badge. It appears to have one regulation U.S. Army button and one bronze RFC button. On the right is an AEF aviator wearing a RFC style cap on which he swapped a British cap badge for a U.S. cap badge borrowed from a 1911 Officer’s Garrison Cap.

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Photo No. 70: Because the RFC cap was associated with British aviators, many American aviators also adopted this style of trench cap. This trio of well known 94th Aero Squadron aviators all wear British RFC style caps. Note that the visor on right hand cap is piped in the branch colors of the Signal Corps.

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Photo No. 71: Another Yank aviator wearing a British style RFC cap. Also of interest is the fact that this 1st lieutenant is wearing an enlisted man’s 1912 Service Coat that has been altered to have an open neck like the British officers service coat.

 

This was apparently done so that high collar on the regulation U.S. service coat would not chafe the pilots neck while they constantly swiveled their heads left and right scanning the horizon for enemy aircraft. If you look closely at the upper points of the coat’s lapels, you can still see the metal hook and eye that once held the high collar closed.

 

Photos courtesy of the National WW I Museum

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Photo No. 72: Side view of a tailor made RFC style cap made for a member of the 26th ‘Yankee’ Infantry Division. Note the hook engaged with the threaded grommet on the cap’s side that was used to keep the cap’s curtain in an upright position.

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Photo No. 73: Three more American aviators, all of whom are wearing an RFC style cap.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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Photo No. 74: An un-piped officers tailor made RFC style cap bearing the rank insignia of a captain and an officer’s Air Service collar device.

Photo courtesy of the Trenchbuff collection

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Photo No. 75: In British service the 2 button RFC cap’s curtain was secured by two small sized bronze RFC buttons (left). In U.S. service most aviators and Doughboys replaced the RFC buttons with small sized regulation U.S. Army bronze service buttons (center). When worn by members of the USMC, the British style cap was secured by two small sized regulation, bronze USMC service buttons (right)*.

 

Information on USMC two button RFC style and other USMC overseas caps will be covered in part two of this post.

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