A.E. F. ‘Trench’ & Overseas Caps

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 151: The upper image shows the French cap’s most common shape, i.e. a high crown surrounded by a tall turban. This particular cap appears to have been fabricated from both olive drab and a browner shade of olive drab cloth. The lower cap, which I believe to be a variation of the French contract cap, has a crown that is higher than its U.S. made counterpart, but lower than that most conventional French contract caps.

 

Upper photo courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

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Photo No. 152: I’m not sure whether this style of cap was of U.S. or French manufacture. However, I am leaning more towards it being French made, due to its color, its shape, and the fact that it appears to also have a French made collar disc.

Left hand photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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Photo No. 153: These ‘Robin Hood’ style overseas caps are also thought to be another variation of the French contract cap’s shape. Both caps have high crowns with an extreme taper running from back to front. Note how much lower the front of the bottom cap is.

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Photo No. 154: All French contract caps have a white cotton sweatband on which an acceptance or inspector’s stamp appears along with the cap’s size stamped in red, purple or black ink.

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Photo No. 155: In most group photos of Doughboys, a mixture of overseas cap styles and patterns are commonly found. The two circled look to be French contract caps. In addition, at the far right and left are two French Modele 1918 Bonnet de police caps. The remaining caps are of either British or U.S. manufacture.

[world war I nerd]

U.S. Pattern Overseas Cap: British Contract

In service from May 1918 until June 1919

I’ve yet to locate any detailed AEF or Quartermaster Corps information as to when British clothing manufacturers were hired to fabricate U.S. pattern overseas caps. It is however, a known fact that Great Britain produced woolen puttees, copies of the 1916 flannel shirts, 1917 woolen service breeches, both the 1917 and 1918 pattern woolen service coats, and of course, U.S. pattern overseas caps for the AEF.

 

Presumably, in 1918, French garment manufacturers were struggling to keep up with the clothing demands of their own army. Therefore, they likely had few resources and even less time to devote to the needs of the American Army.

With the productivity of the French garment industry stretched to its limit, Uncle Sam, with cap pattern in hand, sought and received assistance on the other side of the channel from Great Britain.

 

In terms of numbers, I do not know how many British contract overseas caps were manufactured. Close examination of hundreds of period photographs indicate that British contract overseas caps may have actually outnumbered those of both French and American manufacture.

 

In regard to design and style, the British contract overseas cap closely followed that of the pattern of the late war U.S. overseas caps. The most noticeable difference between the Anglo and American made caps was that the British cap lacked the reinforced grommet needed to affix a regulation collar disc to the cap’s shawl or curtain.

Construction wise, the British Contract Overseas Cap was nearly identical to its U.S. made counterpart. I say nearly, because it was made up of only five rather than six separate parts.

 

The cap was comprised of a top, a right and left hand side, and a one piece wrap around curtain. The cap’s only interior component was a white cotton sweatband. Instead of the white contract label found on all U.S. made caps, British contract caps had the size, date and manufacturer’s name, as well as a British War Department acceptance seal randomly stamped in black ink on the white sweatband.

 

The texture of the woolen material from which the British caps were fabricated varied from smooth to coarse, and the colors ranged from a brown shade of khaki to a grayish shade of olive drab.

 

Photo No. 156: Left and right hand sides of a British contract overseas cap and an example of a French made pinback collar disc, which at one time had been fixed onto this cap’s curtain.

 

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 157: Front view of three British contract caps – two without insignia and one with an infantry branch of service ‘sweetheart’ pin. Note that the curtains on the left and center caps overlap from both the left and right hand sides. The two directions of overlap seem to only occur on British contract and tailor made overseas caps.

 

Left and right hand photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

Center photo courtesy of the National World War I Museum

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Photo No. 158: The curtain on all three of these British contract caps overlap on the right hand side as opposed to the majority, which1 overlap on the left hand side.

 

Photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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Photo No. 159: Both sides of another British contract overseas cap. This example bears a pinback Engineers branch of service sweetheart pin.

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Sorry, I got the photos and captions out of order on post number 158 and 159. Corrected posts to follow ...

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Photo No. 158: The curtain on all three of these British contract caps overlap on the right hand side as opposed to the majority, which overlap on the left hand side.

 

Photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

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Photo No. 159: Both sides of another British contract overseas cap. This example bears a pinback Engineers branch of service sweetheart pin.

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Photo No. 160: Comparison of a British contract overseas cap (top) with the American made overseas cap it was modeled after. Note the absence of the thread reinforced grommet hole.

Upper photo courtesy of the Dr Rambow collection

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Photo No. 161: Like its U.S. made counterpart, many American Doughboys chose to sew the British contract cap’s center fold together. Here African American Doughboys from the 93^rd Infantry Division wear British contract caps showing sewn and un-sewn tops.

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Photo No. 162: Three more images of the British contract cap, one with an open top (left), one with a poorly place pinback collar disc (center), and one with the center fold neatly stitched together (right).

 

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

Center photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

Right Hand photo courtesy of the National World War I Museum

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Photo No. 163: This photograph, dated October 24, 1918, depicts members of the 80^th Division somewhere in the Argonne sector. Each man is wearing a British contract overseas cap.

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Photo No. 164: Inside of the unlined British contract cap showing the white cotton sweatband with a faded War Department acceptance stamp.

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Photo No. 165: Four examples of the size, date and manufacturer’s ink stamp which were randomly placed on the British made cap’s sweatband.

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Photo No. 166: Four examples of the British War Department’s Broad Arrow acceptance stamp which were also randomly placed on the cap’s sweatband. Note that this Doughboy has placed a pinback collar disc on the right hand, which was the opposite side on which the collar disc was authorized to be worn.

 

Doughboy photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

Cotton & Waterproof Overseas Caps

Non-regulation caps of this description may have been in service from early 1918 until June 1919

During WW I, the regulation olive drab and khaki cotton service dress was never authorized as an article of equipment for the AEF. Therefore, there was no need for either an olive drab or khaki cotton overseas cap in France.

The overseas cap was not authorized to be worn by stateside troops or by those serving abroad in America’s possessions. Those soldiers however, were authorized to wear the cotton service dress. Thus there was again, no need for either an olive drab or khaki cotton overseas cap in the U.S. or in its possession.

 

Therefore, because there was no cotton uniform in France with which to wear a cotton overseas cap, and an overseas cap made from any type of fabric was not allowed to be worn with the cotton uniform stateside, there was absolutely no reason for the U.S. Army to officially adopt manufactured or issued a cotton overseas cap on either side of the Atlantic Ocean during the war.

 

The men of the U.S. Army who served during WW I, but not in the European ‘Theater of Operations’, wore instead, either the 1911 Service Hat or the 1911 Service Cap.

 

This however, does not mean that overseas caps made from cotton do not exist. It simply means that the handful of cotton overseas caps that do turn up were either tailor made or commercially made copies of the regulation wool overseas cap.

 

Photo No. 167: Despite the fact that majority of returning AEF veterans were discharged from the Army wearing olive drab woolen service dress, large numbers of AEF veterans were also discharged wearing khaki cotton service dress which had been issued to them upon their return to the U.S.

 

As a rule, cotton service dress was generally only issued to the soldiers who were discharged during the summer months or released from military duty in a southern state with a warmer climate.

 

Because there was no cotton overseas cap, the headgear worn by the majority of discharged AEF veterans who drew khaki cotton service dress, like the cotton 20^th Engineer Regiment (Forestry) service coat (center), would have been an olive drab woolen overseas cap, such as the one worn by the musician from the 82^nd Infantry Division (right). Occasionally, if a soldier still in possession of, or had been issued a new campaign hat, it too would have been donned as seen by the 84^th Infantry Division Doughboy (left).

Right hand photo courtesy of the Charles Thomas collection

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Photo No. 168: These two Doughboys wearing olive drab and khaki cotton service dress, depict soldiers whose heads are topped by a tailor made olive drab wool overseas cap (left), and a privately acquired khaki cotton overseas cap (right).

Photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 169: At top is an example of a tailor made enlisted man’s khaki cotton overseas cap. Below that is either a medical (maroon) or a faded artillery (scarlet) officers’ overseas cap made from tan corduroy cloth. Hard wearing corduroy or ‘Whipcord’ as it was also known was often the choice of preference of AEF officers when ordering a tailor made uniform for field service – some of whom also ordered a matching overseas cap.

 

Note that on this particular cap the shawl overlaps from right to left rather than the usual left to right. This seems to have been a common error made on many tailor made overseas caps.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 170: This unusual rubberized cotton overseas cap was likely commercially made and possibly an accessory that accompanied a private purchase raincoat. The cap’s only marking was its size: “large”, stamped on the cap’s interior.

Photos courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

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A.E.F. ‘Mascot’ Overseas Caps

For obvious reasons, over the course of the war, numerous French and German children lost both of their parents. It was not unusual for an American squad, platoon or company of soldiers to adopt and look after these young and often homeless street urchins.

 

The unit’s new ‘mascot’ would have been given medical treatment if needed, regular meals and would have been looked after and taught rudimentary English by the Doughboys. Somewhere along the way the soldiers outfitted their two legged child mascots in olive drab coats, breeches and overseas caps, making them miniature members of the AEF. In essence, the organization to which they belonged became the orphaned child’s new and rather large extended family.

 

Photo No. 171: The faces of these tiny tough guys, one of whom is wearing what appears to be a U.S. made or British contract overseas cap look far older than their tender young age. It was homeless youngsters much like this pair of German waifs who were adopted and cared for by the men and boys of the AEF.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 172: These two AEF mascots are wearing U.S. and French pattern overseas caps. They’ve also both been the recipients of pint sized AEF uniforms likely made by a local seamstress or by the company tailor. The left hand mascot is “Stanley” of the 50^th Coast Artillery Corps Regiment.

Right hand photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection