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WW I Shoulder & Helmet Insignia of the 35th Division, AEF


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In respect to the location of the quadrant colors, no official directive designating the correct order in which a single, pair or alternating opposite colored quadrants were to be situated when on the shoulder has been found. Period photos and surviving service coats reveal that the off colored quadrants were frequently randomly positioned at all four compass points. However, a careful analysis of period photos and existing service coats suggests that there may have been an unwritten understanding regarding where the various colors were to be located.

 

Photo No. 25: It would seem that 35th Division insignia bearing a single quadrant that differed in color from the other quadrants was to be positioned on the service coat so that it was situated in the lower right hand corner. Five examples of what are presumed to be correctly positioned shoulder patches are shown here. Clockwise from upper left: 137th Infantry Regiment, another 137th Infantry Regiment featuring an extremely dark blue quadrant, a 128th FA Regiment with a very dark blue or black rather than blue quadrant, 129th FA Regiment, and a possible variation of the 139th Infantry Regiment (?) with a yellow, rather than the prescribed black outer-ring.

 

Upper left photo courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

Upper right photo courtesy of the Dave Schwind collection

Center & bottom right photos courtesy of the Missouri Over There Collection

Lower left photo courtesy of the John Adams-Graf collection

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Photo No. 26: This series of images depicts the insignia of the 110th Sanitary Train (left), the 130th FA Regiment (upper right), and the 110th Engineer Train (lower right). The odd colored quadrant in each insignia, which are here thought to be incorrectly positioned in the lower left and upper right hand corners respectively.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of the National World War I Museum

Right hand photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Photo No. 27: When the color of the four quadrants were divided equally in half, it is thought that the color matching that of the outer-ring was to be positioned on the upper half of the insignia, much like the 138th (left) and 140th (right) Infantry Regiment insignias.

 

Photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Photo No. 28: If the quadrant colors were alternating, the quadrant colors matching that of the outer-ring color were to be in the upper left and lower right hand corners, similar to the two 130th MG Battalion SSI shown here.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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35th Division Insignia: Materials

Just as all other AEF divisional SSI were, the cloth shoulder insignia of the 35th Division were also fabricated from a wide variety of materials. The dissimilar materials were often the result of using materials that were best suited for the method of production or of utilizing supplies that could be conveniently procured at the time of fabrication.

 

Despite consisting of a single design, the components of the 35th Division insignia were cut from an assortment of different fabrics, like wool, felt, silk, cotton, velvet and linen. Various types of thread, such as silk, cotton, mercerized cotton; metallic bullion and woolen yarn were also used to embroider the entire insignia or individual components within it.

 

Photo No. 29: The diverse materials used for the backing cloth of the left hand “composite” 35th Division insignia includes three different shades of olive drab woolen cloth and an olive green fabric that was woven from thin strands of cotton. Clockwise from upper left, the outer ring and quadrants are composed of black mercerized cotton embroidery thread, applied blue and red felt, red woolen yarn, and thin blue cotton, silk or artificial silk fibers that were woven into the green background fabric.

 

The backing cloth on the right hand “composite” insignia is comprised of (clockwise from upper left) olive drab wool, red felt, olive drab wool, and green cotton twill. The outer-ring of the respective sections are made up of blue mercerized cotton embroidery thread, red felt, applied green felt and green cotton twill. The materials from which the quadrants are made are identical to their respective outer-rings with the exception of the lower right quadrant, which was hand embroidered using metallic gold bullion thread.

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35th Division Insignia: Construction

In general, WW I era insignia were fabricated in mass on large pieces of olive drab woolen material. The individual shoulder patches or groups of them were then cut from the much larger piece. The insignia of the 35th Division were largely issued as they were cut, i.e. with a rough square or rectangular shaped backing cloth. Upon receipt, it was up to each individual soldier to trim his insignia to its required circular shape and then to either sew or have it sewn onto the appropriate military garments.

 

Photo No. 30: In general, each officer and enlisted man was issued, purchased or commissioned handmade shoulder patches in triplicate … one for each of his two service coats and a third for the overcoat. Army, regiment and regimental shoulder insignia were never authorized to be worn on the regulation flannel shirt. Insignia of the 128th and 130th FA Regiments have been sewn onto a 1917 Service Coat (left) and a 1918 Mackinaw Overcoat (right).

 

Photos courtesy of the Missouri Over There Collection

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It’s also important to bear in mind that AEF Divisional insignia were handmade or mass produced on both sides of the Atlantic. Whether they were handcrafted one at a time by a housewife, seamstress, tailor or artisan, or mass produced by the staff of a large textile firm, the quality and appearance of the finished product was largely governed by the skill level of its maker or makers. Thus the overall appearance of 35th Division insignia fluctuated wildly between rustic – run of the mill – and refined.

 

Photo No. 31: The range in quality and craftsmanship of applique and hand embroidered 35th Division SSI is aptly illustrated by the examples shown below. At left is a crudely constructed 130th FA Regiment SSI made from red felt and white cotton twill fabrics that were less than carefully machine sewn onto an inferior grade olive drab woolen cloth. Conversely, the high quality, hand embroidered 110th Ammunition Train insignia to the right, was neatly and meticulously stitched by a professional tailor or embroiderer using silk-like mercerized cotton embroidery thread.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Like most other AEF Army, Corps and Division shoulder insignia, a wide variety of methods were used to construct the 35th Division’s SSI. Although other fabrication techniques may have been employed, generally speaking, the most common methods of assembly involved one of the following six procedures:

  • Applique
  • Machine Embroidered
  • Hand Embroidered
  • Applique & Embroidered
  • Chain Stitched
  • Woven

Applique

Applique, which happens to be the French word for “applied”, is the process of sewing various shaped pieces of fabric onto a larger piece in order to create a picture or a pattern. In respect to 35th Division insignia, three variations of the applique technique have been seen.

 

Photo No. 32: The first technique is what I call “Window Pane”. It’s comprised of an outer-layer of olive drab wool, which after die cutting resembles a circular frame with openings shaped like a segmented outer-ring and four pie-slice” shaped “window panes”. After sewing the window pane section over a backing piece, typically made of felt, of the appropriate ring and quadrant color (or colors), the insignia takes on the appearance of a Santa Fe Cross.

 

Depending on the color combinations window pane insignia were composed of anywhere from two to six separate pieces of fabric. The examples shown here are from left to right, 60th Field Artillery Brigade HQ, 70th Infantry Brigade HQ, 35th Division HQ, and 110th Ammunition Train. The three left hand SSI are all of two piece construction, while the far right insignia is composed of four separate pieces.

 

Left, center left & center right photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

Right hand photo courtesy of the Mccooper collection

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Photo No. 33: The second applique technique is a simplified variation of the window pane, which I have dubbed “Circle and Cross”. It’s comprised of a top piece die cut in the shape of a circle and cross. In most instances, the circle and cross shape was cut from olive drab woolen material and then machine sewn over the appropriate ring and quadrant color or colors (left & right).

 

The center circle and cross shape was die cut from felt in the outer-ring color and then overlaid on top of the appropriate quadrant color or colors. The top piece, with quadrants, was then machine sewn onto a backing cloth made from olive drab wool.

 

From left to right is the insignia of the 130th Field Artillery Regiment, the 129th MG Battalion made up of an unauthorized color combination. Its four inner quadrants have been cut from red and purple felt instead of the prescribed colors of red and yellow. This shoulder patch was sewn onto a tailor made service coat and is likely one-of-a-kind. The right hand example is comprised of the colors of the 128th MG Battalion.

 

Center photo courtesy of Bay State Militaria.com

Right hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Photo No. 34: The third and last applique technique is also the most basic. Patches of this type are composed of a die cut ring (with or without the stencil breaks) and four separate quadrants. After cutting, each piece was machine sewn onto an olive drab woolen backing. From left to right, 35th Division HQ, an unidentified unit with a blue or red outer-ring, 110th Field Signals Battalion, and another Division HQ. Note that the outer-ring on the far left SSI was cut without stencil breaks.

 

Left, center-right & right hand photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

Center left photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Machine Embroidery

Surprisingly, the world’s first “Hand Embroidery Machine” was devised nearly 200 years ago in 1828, by a Frenchman named Josue Heilman. His machine was conceived some twenty years before the advent of the first sewing machine, which was patented by Joseph Singer in 1846!

 

Heilman’s machine embroidered at a much faster pace. It was capable of doing the work of up to four embroiderers simultaneously. However, because his invention was perceived as a threat to the then thriving hand embroidery industry, he was only able to sell two of his hand embroidery machines.

 

An improved embroidery machine was created in 1863, by Swiss inventor Joseph Groebli. The second generation mechanized embroidery apparatus was known as the “Schiffli Machine”. Unfortunately the Schiffli Machine never really caught on because it was only capable of stitching in one direction. Groeblie’s son however, perfected the shortcomings of his father’s invention and renamed it the “Automatic Schiffli Machine”. When the Automatic Schiffli Machine was used by textile manufacturers the quality of the embroidered work it produced was such that they were often mistaken for hand embroidery.

 

Then in 1911, the Singer Sewing Company developed the first multi-head embroidery sewing machine. It was equipped with six heads and a pantograph attachment.

 

Photo No. 35: The majority of mass produced AEF embroidered insignia manufactured in Europe were likely fabricated using an Automatic Schiffli Machine similar to the one depicted in this French picture postcard circa 1906.

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Photo No. 36: It required a great deal of manual dexterity to successfully operate early machine embroidery equipment. The operator used his left hand to navigate the “scribe” over a larger pattern that was made six times the size of the original design. Each movement made by the scribe caused the backing cloth, behind the machines multiple embroidery needles, to mirror the movement made by the scribe. As the operator guided the scribe with his left hand, his right hand manipulated a wheel that initiated the embroidery needles to pass in and out of the fabric as needed, thus duplicating the pattern many times over in miniature. While performing the above tasks, the operator’s feet were utilized to operate the clamps which gripped the automated embroidery needles.

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Photo No. 37: The obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) of a pair of untrimmed and unused, machine embroidered 70th Infantry Brigade HQ insignia.

 

Photos courtesy of the RC collection

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Photo No. 38: These examples of machine embroidered insignia are, from left to right: 110th Engineer Train, 140th Infantry Regiment, 138th Infantry Regiment, and Division Headquarters Troop.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

Center left, center right & right hand photos courtesy of Griffin Miulitaria.com

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Hand Embroidered

Embroidery or more specifically, hand embroidery is the art of decorating fabric by means of colored thread and a needle. The origin of hand embroidery has been traced back to the fossilized remains of heavily hand-stitched and decorated boots, clothing and a hat utilized by Cro-Magnon man in approximately 30,000BC! Embroidery and most needlework arts are believed to have originated in eastern Asia. In ancient cultures hand embroidered objects indicated the wearer to be a person of wealth and status. Traditional folk methods were passed down from one generation to the next. When workshops and guilds were established in medieval Europe the ancient handicraft was officially transformed into a profession. The art of freehand stitch embroidery flourished from the end of the European Dark Age in the 5th century AD, through to the “machine age”, which began in the early 1800’s. The introduction of fully mechanized embroidery equipment in the latter half of the 19th century was largely responsible for the demise of hand embroidery as an industry.

 

The fabrics and thread used to make WW I era 35th Division insignia vary wildly from maker to maker, but the majority of hand embroidered SSI utilized thread made from wool, linen, cotton, silk, artificial silk and metallic bullion.

 

Photo No. 39: This selection of hand embroidered 35th Division insignia include, from left to right: 129th FA Regiment, a Motor Transport Corp unit – possibly the 110th Motor Supply Company, 60th FA Brigade HQ, and the 138th Infantry Regiment.

 

Left Hand & center right photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

Center left & right hand photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Combination Applique & Embroidered

Although they are relatively uncommon, it’s not unusual to see two different construction techniques employed on WW I era shoulder insignia. The most common pairing is that of hand embroidered and applique.

 

Photo No. 40: The addition of a fourth quadrant embroidered in gold bullion thread on this otherwise all applique SSI made up of green and maroon felt, transforms it into the insignia of the 110th Supply Train.

 

Photo courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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Chain Stitched

Chain stitching is an embroidery technique comprised of a series of looped stitches that formed a chain. The earliest example of chain stitch embroidery was found in ancient China. The estimated date of the find was somewhere between the 5th and 3rd century BC. Most scholars believe that the art of chain stitching originated in eastern Asia and spread via the “Silk Road” first to the Middle East, and then to Europe.

 

By 1918, chain stitch embroidery could be accomplished both by hand and by early sewing machines. The chain stitch technique was often favored by manufacturers, especially when an expensive thread was called for. This was largely because the chain stitch method used less thread than other embroidery techniques to complete a design. Thus its use was considered to be much more economical.

 

Photo No. 41: These chain stitched insignia bear the red and white color of the 130th FA Regiment (left & center) and the red and yellow color of the 129th FA Regiment (right).

 

Left hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

Center & right photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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Liberty Loan Insignia

The so called “Liberty Loan” shoulder insignia was created by the U.S. Treasury Department to help fund the War Loan Program. The precise date on which that style of insignia first became available is uncertain. However, it is thought that that event took place either in late 1918 or early 1919.

It is said that Liberty Loan patches were sold or given out in response to a cash contribution donated during one or more of the Liberty Loan Campaigns. Displays of insignia were set up, and donations accepted, at various banks, shops and emporiums across the nation. Although this fact remains unconfirmed, it is said that Liberty Loan insignia were also made available to U.S. servicemen at the U.S. Ports of Debarkation, and possibly overseas at the French Ports of Embarkation.

 

Liberty Loan insignia were entirely machine woven using thin cotton, silk or artificial silk by the U.S. Army, the Kluge Weaving Company and the A.E.F. Divisional Insignia Company.

 

Photo No. 42: To date, two different designs of the 35th Division, Liberty Loan insignia, both made in the same colors, have been found. The center example is of the Santa Fe Cross, while its left and right hand neighbors are a variation that is commonly referred to by the collecting community as the “Fireman’s Badge”. In reality, the Fireman’s Badge style is in fact, just a representation of the Santa Fe Cross design incorrectly positioned so that the stencil breaks were in the vertical and horizontal positions.

 

Despite the fact that the two designs of these Liberty Loan designs were comprised of the colors blue and yellow, neither design is an exact match for the three authorized blue-ringed Division HQ emblems that were prescribed in the March 1918 division memo (Division HQ – all-blue – HQ Troop all blue with one yellow quadrant & 317th Bakery Company, blue outer ring with red, white, blue & green quadrants). At the time of posting, it is not known if the yellow and two blue quadrants within a blue outer-ring Liberty Loan design was intended to represent a specific unit within the 35th Division or if those two colors were selected merely because they were pleasing to the eye when placed against the olive green background color.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

Center & right hand photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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35th Division Insignia: Alternate Designs

Photo No. 43: As soon as the news that AEF Armies, Corps and Divisions adopted a unique insignia of its own reached the United States, illustrations of varying quality depicting the approved and in some cases unapproved designs promptly appeared in print on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

Four interpretations of the 35th Infantry Division’s insignia are shown as they appeared in printed media. From left to right the illustrations appeared in the: January 17, 1919 edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper – March 9, 1919 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday Magazine – and the May 4, 1919 edition of the New York Tribune newspaper (center right & right).

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Photo No. 44: Over the years, other unusual design variations that have been attributed to the 35th Infantry Division have surfaced. Of the five types shown, only the “Circle & Cross”, “Ship’s Wheel, and “Fireman’s Badge” designs, in the bottom row, are considered to date to the 1918-1919 period. The lower right hand insignia is composed of an unidentified color combination consisting of blue and orange. This SSI also looks to have been fabricated at a much later date.

 

In regard to the upper two designs, which I’ve dubbed “The Maze” (left) and “Rubik’s Cube” (right), I know nothing about, nor can I state with any certainty why these two designs were conceived or in what year they were fabricated. The Rubik’s Cube design, which is thought to represent the 128th FA Regiment, is an anomaly that at present cannot be explained. The Maze design has completely done away with the quadrants and is composed entirely of concentric circles with strategically placed breaks. It is presumed to be the insignia of the 70th Infantry Brigade HQ on a very yellow shade of olive drab cloth. Both of these designs have been attributed to the 35th Division, but it’s within the realm of possibility that either insignia represented a completely different military or non-military organization or dates to a much more recent time period.

 

Top left, top right & lower left photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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35th Division Insignia: Authorized Color Combinations

When the division’s basic training, which took place at Camp Doniphan, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, was nearing completion, General Orders No. 25, issued on March 27, 1918 by Division Headquarters (HQ), spelled out the twenty-four official color combinations and described how the colors were to be dispersed within each organization’s color-coded outer-ring. Those colors are as follows:

 

General Orders

No. 25

  1. A symbol has been adopted for the 35th Division and will be placed on all property, both freight and baggage, before shipment.
  2. The Division Quartermaster will furnish each unit with stencils for placing same. Necessary paint will be furnished by the Camp Quartermaster.
  3. The symbol is round, divided into four quarters by a “Santa Fe” cross and is circumscribed by a circle. The following colors will be used in the quarters and circles to designate the organization to which the property belongs:

Division Headquarters 4/4 blue Circle blue

Headquarters Troop 3/4 blue, 1/4 yellow “ blue

69th Infantry Brig. Hq. 4/4 yellow, “ yellow

137th Reg. Inf. 3/4 yellow, 1/4 blue “ yellow

138th Reg. Inf. 2/4 yellow, 2/4 blue “ yellow

70th Inf. Brig. Hq. 4/4 black “ black

139th Reg. Inf. 3/4 black, 1/4 yellow “ black

140th Reg. Inf. 2/4 black, 2/4 yellow “ black

110th Engrs. Reg. 4/4 white “ white

110th Engrs. Train 3/4 white,1/4 red “ white

110th Field Sign. Bn. 4/4 green “ green

60th F.A. Brig. Hq. 4/4 red “ red

128th Reg. F.A. 3/4 red, 1/4 blue “ red

129th Reg. F.A. 3/4 red, 1/4 yellow “ red

130th Reg. F.A. 3/4 red 1/4 white “ red

110th Hq. Trn. & M.P. 4/4 maroon “ green

110th San. Train 3/4 maroon, 1/4 green “ green

110th Sup. Train 3/4 maroon, 1/4 yellow “ green

110th Ammunition Train 3/4 maroon, 1/4 white “ green

128th Mach. Gun Bn. 3/4 blue, 1/4 green “ blue

129th Mach. Gun Bn. 2/4 red, 2/4 yellow, “ yellow

alternate

130th Mach. Gun Bn. 2/4 black, 2/4 yellow, “ black

alternate

110th Trench Mortar Bn. 3/4 red, 1/4 green “ red

Bakery Co. No. 317 1/4 red, 1/4 white “ blue

1/4 blue, 1/4 green

 

By command of Major General Wright

 

35th Division Insignia: Outer-Ring Colors

To further identify the insignia of each major organization within the 35th Division, each was assigned an outer-ring color of its own. The insignia worn by each smaller unit within that organization also featured the same color outer-ring. Thus, the insignia of the 35th Division were to some extent, color-coded by the following six outer-ring colors:

  • Blue – Division HQ
  • Green – Division Trains & Field Signals Battalion
  • White – Engineer Regiment & Train
  • Yellow – 69th Infantry Brigade
  • Black – 70th Infantry Brigade
  • Red – 60th Field Artillery Brigade

Therefore, if an unidentified or unauthorized inner quadrant color combination is found, in theory, it can be partially identified as belonging to one of the above organizations based on its outer-ring color. It should also be mentioned that at the time of posting, two additional outer-ring colors (purple & buff) may have also been used by the 35th Division*. At present, the two new outer-ring have not been positively identified.

 

*For more information on the insignia bearing purple and buff outer-rings, please refer to photos number 119 through 123.

 

Photo No. 45: Clockwise from upper left, examples of the six prescribed outer-ring colors as used on the following insignia – Division HQ (blue), 110th Ammunition Train (green), 110th Engineer Regiment (white), 138th Infantry Regiment (yellow), 79th Infantry Brigade HQ (Black), and 130th FA Regiment (red).

 

Top left, top center & bottom center photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

Bottom left & right photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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35th Division Insignia: Authorized Color Combinations

By November of 1918, the tables of organization for an AEF Infantry Division specified that when at maximum strength it was to be comprised of 28,105 officers and enlisted men. Each AEF Division was divided into:

 

  • Division HQ (164 officers & enlisted men (EM*)
  • HQ Troop (109 officers & EM)
  • One Division MG Battalion made up of four companies (768 officers & EM)
  • One Division Quartermaster Detachment (number of personnel unknown)
  • Two Infantry Brigades (16,420 officers & EM) – Each Infantry Brigade was composed of two Infantry Regiments & one MG Battalion made up of three companies (from companies). Each Infantry Regiment was further divided into one HQ Company, three Rifle Companies and one Supply Company
  • One Field Artillery Brigade comprised of three, two light (77mm field guns) and one heavy (155mm howitzers) Artillery Regiments, plus a Trench Mortar Battery (5,068 officers & EM)
  • One Field Signals Battalion, made up of three companies (262 officers & EM)
  • One Engineer Regiment made up of two battalions (472 officers & EM)
  • One Engineer Train (84 officers & EM)
  • One HQ Train & Military Police (337 officers & EM)
  • One Ammunition Train (962 officers & EM)
  • One Supply Train (472 officers & EM)
  • One Sanitary Train split into a Field Hospital Section and a Field Ambulance Section, each composed of four companies (942 officers & EM)

*Between April of 1917 and November of 1918, the tables of organization for an AEF Infantry Division were revised several times. Therefore, depending on the date the table of organization was drafted, the personnel figures shown, will very likely differ from the figures specified in an earlier or later version of that document. With the exception of the total strength of a division, which date to November of 1918, all of the above figures date to May of 1918, as they were the only complete list of personnel figures that were available to me at the time of posting.

 

Blue Outer-Circle

35th Division Headquarters & Detachments

 

The four organizations affiliated with 35th Division, Division HQ that were authorized an insignia with a blue outer-ring were:

  • Division HQ
  • HQ Troop
  • 128th MG Battalion
  • 317th Bakery Company

Photo No. 46: Major General Peter E. Traube, the commanding general of the 35th Division at the time the War to End All Wars came to an end, is wearing a service coat on which an all blue machine embroidered Division HQ insignia has been sewn.

 

Inset courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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Photo No. 47: This group of 35th Division Headquarters insignia is comprised of three machine embroidered (top row) and three completely different styles of applique construction (bottom row).

 

Top right & bottom center photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

Top center photo courtesy of the smwinter207 collection

Bottom left & right hand photos courtesy of Griffin Militaria.com

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Photo No. 48: This steel helmet, whose front has been painted with an oversized 35th Division, Division HQ insignia bearing the numeral “51”, also appears to have been painted white. At present, the significance in regard to white paint is that some 35th Division helmets were painted in that color or otherwise marked for easy recognition during a trench raid in July of 1918. The significance of the numeral ‘51’ and why this particular helmet has been painted white are not know.

 

Photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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Photo No. 49: The insignia prescribed for HQ Troop was consisted of one yellow and three blue quadrants within a blue outer-ring. The machine embroidered HQ Troop SSI shown as an inset was among the personal effects belonging to Nathan Johnson whose visage appears in the background portrait along with a similar or possibly the same HQ Troop shoulder patch.

 

Photos courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

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