US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Share #1 Posted November 24, 2020 I present to you collectors of WWI uniform militaria a scarce article of clothing. This post is to document the Trousers, Kersy Lined conforming to Spec. 1349. It is an item of extreme cold weather clothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #2 Posted November 24, 2020 he term rare is often an abused term; however, in this particular case, the clothing is rare because it was not the property of the individual soldier, so the Army continued to use this type of clothing until it was threadbare and no longer serviceable, at which point it was disposed of. Those articles of cold weather clothing that survived the Great War were pressed into service with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. What may have been produced in moderate numbers now only exist in very small numbers due to attrition frequently called 'consumptive use of the artifact.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #3 Posted November 24, 2020 The outer shell of the garment is identical to the shell material of the Mackinaw Coat (Spec. 1343). One may notice immediately the proximity of their specification numbers to each other (only six digits apart). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #4 Posted November 24, 2020 First, these are trousers, not wool breeches like those parts of the US Army winter uniform. Moreover, these trousers pre-existed the woolen trousers (Spec. 1372 1918-Sep-04 ) that were to be a part of the new Pershing style uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted November 24, 2020 My Mackinaw, as well as the few others I have seen, have late war contract labels. Whether any made it to Europe with the AEF before the end of the war is speculative; however, they appear in photographs of occupying troops in early 1919. It is also possible that they could have also been used in the occupation of Russia until American troops were removed in Oct. 1919. It is a little known fact that American troops were occupying key ports: Archangel (Архангел), Murmansk (Мурманск), and Vladivostok (Владивосток) well after WWI had ended. Identifying these trousers in photographs is made difficult because the identifying features will be obscured by the skirt of coats, or puttees that cover the trouser leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted November 24, 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted November 24, 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #8 Posted November 24, 2020 For reference, additional information on the Mackinaw coat may be found in the post linked here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #9 Posted November 24, 2020 END OF POST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted November 24, 2020 One quick follow up that I omitted: These trousers are sized quite large. They have a size 44 waist. Like the Mackinaw coat, they are intended to be worn over the regular uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted November 24, 2020 Share #11 Posted November 24, 2020 Maybe they survived due to their size. Thank you for showing them, I knew nothing about these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max0073 Posted November 24, 2020 Share #12 Posted November 24, 2020 Thank you for sharing this item, very interesting. What's interesting in my opinion is that they don't have a buckle back to adjust the wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyatt265 Posted November 25, 2020 Share #13 Posted November 25, 2020 Thank you learned something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pointedcuffs Posted November 25, 2020 Share #14 Posted November 25, 2020 WOW, great find and post. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMI88 Posted November 25, 2020 Share #15 Posted November 25, 2020 Very interesting - I've never seen these before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share #16 Posted December 7, 2020 Update After doing a deep dive through the internet, as well as a number of my "go-to" web sites that I use for research and reference, I found a second set that had been sold by AGM (Advance Guard Militaria) in 2006. This attached photo is a composit of two images in their reference archive. I watermarked it to preserve their ownership, but am using it under fair use exceptions under American copyright laws. Shamelessly stolen from AGM: The below listed link will only work for those who are signed into their account(s) at AGM. https://www.advanceguardmilitaria.com/ItemDetailRD/V30519/WWI_AEF_Cold_Weather_Work_Trousers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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