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A.E. F. ‘Trench’ & Overseas Caps


world war I nerd
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world war I nerd

Sorry everybody, I've made another mistake!

 

The above photo of the 81st Division overseas cap was mistakenly labeled to have been of the Owen Williams collection. It was not, it was taken by Wenner A. Funk of the 101st Photo Section (also part of the Chuck Thomas collection). The date the photo was taken is not known. Therefore, there is no way to know whether the insignia was sewn onto the cap while the war was still in progress or if it was added after the Armistice was signed.

 

I was going through my files and found an photo of what I think is the insignia worn on Signal Corps pigeon section soldiers overseas cap (photo No. 269).

 

Period photos courtesy of the Brennan Gauthier, Portraits of War.wordpress.com

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Photo No. 266: Based on these three examples, it must have been a common practice for the men of Company E (regimental number unknown) of the 91st Infantry Division to so mark their collar discs.

 

Just based on some of the feedback given by other users, I believe that it was the 363rd Infantry Regiment, Co. E that most commonly have done this to their insignia. It hasn't been 100% confirmed, but who knows, maybe someday someone will stumble across a group or named photo with similar "customization".

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My contribution (although the cap with trimmed Medical Corps PFC insignia looks like mine). An embroidered "disk" for Troop I, 3rd Cavalry on this worn cap. A hole for a regular disk can be seen in the center.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
world war I nerd

Stahlberg, thanks for adding information in regard to the 91st Division collar discs bearing the image of an evergreen tree.

 

Also thanks to atb for another photo showing unusual insignia worn on the overseas cap.

 

PS, if you posted a photo of an overseas cap with Medical Department PFC insignia on the forum, the cap you mentioned was probably yours as quite a few images used in this post were downloaded from the forum over the years. However, I neglected to record who the original posters were ... my apologies.

 

This British contract overseas cap, which bears the insignia of the Advance Sector of the Service of Supply was part of a grouping that belonged to Corporal William Albert Coons of the 20th Engineer Regiment (Forestry). The inset shows the 1st Army and Advance Sector SOS insignia worn on the left shoulder of his service coat.

 

Photos courtesy of International Military Antiques.com

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world war I nerd

This engineer is incorrectly wearing a Master Engineer, Junior Grade, rank chevron on the shawl of his overseas cap. The chevron is also worn correctly on the right sleeve of his service coat. He has also donned a pair of lace front 'Aviators Boots' an unusual choice of footwear for an enlisted man.

 

Unfortunately the image of the chevron isn't any clearer in the enlargement at upper right. At lower right is an example of the Master Engineer, Junior Grade Chevron.

 

Doughboy photos courtesy of the Stephen McGeorce collection

Chevron photo courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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world war I nerd

This commercially made officers' style overseas cap was found on Ebay. The piping colors however, I do not recognize. Does anybody know what this color combination might represent?

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world war I nerd

Another view of the cap with the unknown piping colors along with the maker name, size and date stamp on the caps interior lining.

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Excellent and very thorough job of classifying the myriad of WWI caps. Thank you for all of your work (and the contributing collectors). I think with all of the variants of the WWI caps I have seen over the years, this post does a great job of identifying and classifying them.

 

Thank you for sharing this information.

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  • 1 month later...
world war I nerd

Thanks to all who've looked and posted.

 

Forum member Jagjetta sent me this image of a 6th Infantry Division soldier proudly posing next to his French pattern overseas cap. His cap bears the French made numerals 52' for the 52nd Infantry Regiment, and a miniature 6th Division insignia with the numeral '6' in its center.

 

Photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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world war I nerd

On the left is another Doughboy wearing his overseas cap sideways! Opposite is a wonderful portrait of a member of the 26th Infantry Division whose cap bears stamped brass, false bullion, French made numerals carefully arrayed in such a way as to represent the 101st Infantry Regiment.

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world war I nerd

These two caps recently offered for sale by Bay State Militaria.com show a generic, enameled patriotic pin on the left, and an enameled 5th Infantry Division pin on the right.

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  • 1 month later...
world war I nerd

The book America's Munitions stated that Doughboys added improvised visors made from letters from home to the front of their overseas caps to keep the sun out of their eyes. Until now, I'd never seen evidence of that fact.

 

Here a visor fashioned from paper has been added to the overseas cap worn by this soldier on a rifle range somewhere in France.

 

Photo courtesy of the National World war I Museum

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world war I nerd

Frank H. Baxter served in Company M, 362nd Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division. prior to being photographed, he had added a miniature 91st Division insignia, as well as an Infantry branch sweetheart pin onto the front of his tailor made overseas cap. Note that he also wears Infantry sweetheart pins on his collar instead of collar discs.

 

Photo courtesy of the Stahlberg collection

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everforward

I have one here that has some pretty cool embellishments....this cap belonged to Pvt. William E. Smith, Headquaters Troop, 29th Division AEF......chain-loop stitch 29th Division emblem with embroidered cavalry sabres. It's the only 29th-related example I've seen like this.

 

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world war I nerd

Nice cap Everforward. It never ceases to amaze me, when I see all the "stuff' that soldiers pinned, sewed, screwed, or embroidered onto their overseas caps ... sort of like the WW I equivalent to Vietnam helmet graffiti.

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everforward

Nice cap Everforward. It never ceases to amaze me, when I see all the "stuff' that soldiers pinned, sewed, screwed, or embroidered onto their overseas caps ... sort of like the WW I equivalent to Vietnam helmet graffiti.

Thanks, and thanks for a great thread. I've had that cap for at least 20 years and it's the only example I've ever seen. The HQ Troop may have been in a better position to have stuff like this done since they travelled around with the Division Gen. Staff........

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  • 4 weeks later...
world war I nerd

A U.S. made overseas cap bearing an engineer's collar disc and a miniature 1st Army, Engineer insignia with the numeral "1" embroidered in yellow. The cap belonged to a member of the 25th Engineer Regiment (General Construction).

 

Photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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world war I nerd

This overseas cap with a miniature 28th Infantry Division insignia sewn where the collar disc is normally worn is likely a British contract cap.

 

Photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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  • 3 weeks later...
world war I nerd

Here's another piping color for officer's overseas caps from WW I.

 

On page one, in the November 22, 1918 (Vol. 1, No. 42) issue of the Stars and Stripes newspaper, it was announced that GHQ had made the piping colors of "steel gray and marine blue" official for the Army Service Corps.

 

The colors depicted here may vary from those found on actual overseas caps, as interpretations of the two colors vary considerably. Therefore they will likely range from blue-gray to sky blue and a deep green toned ultramarine to turquoise.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

This is such a great thread, hopefully my contribution will fit in here. This cap looks like it was made for the theater or a kid with a really fat head! It's big on me and I wear a 7 1/4. However, this came with the WWI Indiana State Guard uniform shown below. The ISG were volunteers who were organized to replace the Indiana National Guard after they were mobilized.

 

Both the cap and coat are cotton.

 

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The overseas cap

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