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M1902 of a WWI 4th Infantry Officer


Spathologist
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Allen Willard Reid was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on 24 February 1887. He attended Yale University before graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Class of 1913. With the entry of the US into WWI, Reid volunteered for service and was inducted into the Third Battery of the Second Officer’s Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

 

He graduated in November 1917 and was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. He was assigned to the 4th Field Artillery Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division and departed for France in April 1918, where he participated in the Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne engagements. In October 1918, he was promoted to Captain of Field Artillery. After the Armistice, he remained overseas with the Army of Occupation until July 1919, when he returned to the United States and was discharged.

 

Before his departure for France he was engaged to Miss Myra Paine, and they married upon his return. Reid became a prominent hydraulic engineer, with many professional articles and patents to his name. He was one of the trustees who purchased the present Chapter Home for the oldest fraternity at MIT, the Alpha Theta Chapter of Sigma Chi. He eventually moved to Wyomissing Hills, Pennsylvania, where he served as an Alderman before passing in 1963 at the age of 75. He is buried at the Forest Hills Memorial Park in Exeter Township, Pennsylvania.

 

The saber is a German import retailed by Jacob Reed's and Sons of Philadelphia. Heavy white metal furniture and a black horn grip.

 

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A super identified WWI era M1902 Officer sword. I love the photograph of the owner in his Captain's uniform. I find it very difficult to find photos of sword owners and even more so to find pictures in uniform.

 

Congrats on the sword, and research, and thanks for showing it.

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I was made by the Ames Sword Co., Chicopee MA and has the type I etching pattern which is the same as the second pattern on the Springfield M1902's.

Reed was the retailer.

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