Help ID This 5-bar WWI Vic Please

[usmedalman]

I think this might be to a 6th Eng Regt soldier. I think the only US forces at Cambrai were a couple engineer Regts, but not sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

[collectsmedals]

The 6th Engineering Regiment was part of the Third Division in World Was 1. 

 

The U.S. Army Lineage and Honors webpage for the 6th Engineer Battalion https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/eng/0006enbn.htm lists the following campaigns for World Was 1:

 

Somme Defensive

Champagne-Marne

Aisne-Marne

St. Mihiel

Meuse-Argonne

Champagne 1918

 

This list matches what is shown for the (6th Engineers) 3rd Division on The American Expeditionary Force Clasps Matrix in the book World Was I Victory Medals with the History of the United States Victory Medal by James P. Michels Jr.

 

Per this same matrix the only American Expeditionary Force Units to receive the Cambrai clasp were the 11th Engineers (Standard Guage Railroad), 12th Engineers (Light Guage Railroad), and the 3rd Pursuit Group, 1st Army, 28th Squadron (Air Service).

[usmedalman]

Thanks for the information. It appears that I have some more investigating to do.

[mikes militaria]

After doing a little research, I’ve come to the conclusion that this medal belonged to a railroad engineer probably in multiple units. This medal is missing the Champagne-Marne and St. Mihiel bars if it were from the 6th Eng. Also the 6th Eng. were not at Cambrai. Missing bars can be expected, extra bars usually means multiple units. The 12th Eng. is close but doesn’t have an A-M bar and has an S-M bar. 

 This exact combination of bars is not attributed to a specific unit.  If I had to speculate, I would guess he started in the 12th Eng. and was transferred to the 6th to get the AM bar. The SM campaign only lasted 4 days. Easier to miss a 4 day campaign than the 3 month campaign of O-A of the 14th Eng., although not impossible. The 11th and 12th Eng. we’re the only units in the AEF to get the Cambrai bar so he started with one of those. The 6th and the 14th were the only RR Eng.Rgts. to get the A-M bar. There were also units that showed up later in the war that he could have been transferred to. I could guess like this forever. 
 I hate to say it but it could also be a made up medal, we won’t assume that. 
 Regardless of what unit it may be from, behind the Lys bar, the Somme Defensive and Cambrai bars are the next two rarest campaign bars issued in France, so it’s a nice rare example of the US WW1 Victory medal.
 
 I found that only engineers were involved at Cambrai. My information and a quick on line search shows that the 28th Aero Squadron didn’t arrive in France until mid March 1918. They arrived just in time for the Somme Defensive which is what my resources say is their first campaign. Cambrai was in 1917 before the 28th got to France. The 28th AS also received the Lys bar and a St. Mihiel bar that are not on this medal. Again missing bars can be explained, extra bars that a unit didn’t receive means a probable transfer, etc. I am speculating that a Railroad Engineer would be not transferred to an Aero Squadron, it is the Army however and it could have happened. He could have been a typist. We could do this all day. The real answer is lost to history unless you have a name. Sometimes that doesn’t help.
 
Medal in question C-SD-AM-MA-DS
 6th Eng. SD-CM-AM-SM-MA-DS

11th Eng. C-L-SM-MA-DS

12th Eng. C-SD-SM-MA-DS

14th Eng. SD-AM-OA-MA-DS

28th Aero Squadron SD-L-SM-MA-DS

My information has general info on what campaigns specific units participated in. Individual soldiers could have multiple combinations of campaign bars depending on what units they were with. They could have been killed, wounded, sick, transferred, on leave, later enlistment  or for whatever reason, there could be many combination of bars for many reasons.