China service soldiers

[Sargavius]

Good day everyone, 

 

Recently I was thinking about those who served in China during the interwar years, for example in the Shanghai intervention of 32 and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, does anyone have any US piece related to those events?

And uniforms speaking would've the Americans stationed there had any kind of overseas stripes or perhaps even chevrons?

[Dirk]

There are plenty of US and Italian servicemen who severed through those times. The US Marines and sailors even created an unofficial medal to “honor” their service….look up the Soochow creek medal on this site. The Officially issued  Yangtze Service Medal covered the 32 fighting as well of the 1927 incident. While over there, many local publications covered the fighting and a number of those books ended up in sea bags brought home. If you want to see uniforms go to China marine.org……btw Italy had a large contingent of forces in Shanghai, Tientsin and Peking during those years. 

[Sargavius]

Thanks a lot for the response, I'll check also us Italians as well, thanks! 

[Sargavius]

I checked the website and pretty much internet, it was really interesting, I know that our Italians in China had troubles with Japan after the 43 armistice and some joined Japan and were given a Submarine, this Submarine was the last to score a sinking of an enemy ship if I recall correctly, anyway, I would be curious to see if someone has some material such as uniforms or helmets to share on this forum, that said really interesting period, the 31st regiment was in the defense of Shanghai and also in Siberia during the Red revolution, therefore some people in that regiment must have done both of those campaigns, definitely something rare

[Dirk]

What type of uniforms are you looking for? Apart from some having Chinese made or modified uniforms, the Marines uniforms did not differ from what they wore elsewhere. The only difference in helmets was the 4th Marines in Shanghai and the 6Th Marines in Tientsin added EGAs to their helmets and stripped the helmets rough finish and made it smooth. The Peking Marines had a distinctive Chinese made winter cap. I have some photos of the 31st in Shanghai and in Siberia  but no uniforms from the Army at that time. 

[Sargavius]

I understand, well I was just curious if someone had any uniform with the specific commemorative ribbon or other pieces from this historical event, as they would be interesting sets to see in my opinion, if you got any period pictures I'd like if you could share them...ironically, I also made a post recently about the soldiers (Veterinarians) in Siberia, if you got any pictures I would definitely be curious to see them 😉.

[Dirk]

Here is a thread I did earlier on a Chinese made US Marines uniform from that period.

 

 

[Wailuna]

On 8/9/2025 at 12:18 PM, Sargavius said:

Good day everyone, 

 

Recently I was thinking about those who served in China during the interwar years, for example in the Shanghai intervention of 32 and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, does anyone have any US piece related to those events?

And uniforms speaking would've the Americans stationed there had any kind of overseas stripes or perhaps even chevrons?

You should contact Forum member Kiaiokokalewa he specializes in interwar subjects such as the questions you are raising here.

[Wailuna]

Good luck.

[Sargavius]

Thank you both for your answers 

[Scarecrow]

This grouping belonged to my Great Uncle Antone L. "Tony" Braga. This grouping (in his footlocker) was given to me by my grandmother (his sister) after he passed away in 1979. The only information I have at the present was acquired from the Navy muster roles available on Ancestry.com.  For right now I think he more than likely enlisted in 1927 or 1920. My grandmother told me one of the things she knew was he was stationed in China before WWII. This is born out by his signet ring included which on the face has his initials and the sides bear Chinese Dragons and a motif. Included in his medal grouping is a Purple Heart. My grandmother knew was he had been wounded on board ship during the war. This occurred on board the USS Nicholas (DD-449) on 2/1/43 when in company with the USS DeHaven (DD-469) they were attacked by 14 Japanese "Val" bombers in "Iron Bottom Sound" The De Haven was sunk after being holed by a near miss and the Nicholas sustained two killed and several wounded (one of which was my Uncle) by a couple of near misses. As happened with many WWII vets, my grandmother said her brother spoke very little of his experiences during the war. As a quick sideline his brother George was a Bataan Death March survivor and earned TWO DSC's one on 1/3/42 and the other 17 days later on 1/20/42. Hope you enjoy the the photos.

[Dirk]

So nice to see pieces of Chinese silver marketed for our servicemen…..is there any markings on the inside of the ring? 

[kiaiokalewa]

Aloha Sargavius,

 

31st Infantry ended up in the Philippines after WWI.  The 15th Infantry,  1st Battalion, was sent to Tientsin, China, under the Philippine Department jurisdictions.   Later  it fell under a separate command and designated as American  Force in China.  U.S. Army Forces in China (USAFC)  became its last title change when WD G.O. 16, established this in June 1923.  Its commanded lasted until March 1938, when the troops returned back to the CONUS.  

 

Check out the embedded link to see stuff that you are asking about but from the troops of the 15th Infantry. 

 

Mahalo,  John

[Scarecrow]

On 8/11/2025 at 8:26 AM, Dirk said:

So nice to see pieces of Chinese silver marketed for our servicemen…..is there any markings on the inside of the ring? 

Hi Dirk,

There are no markings on the inside of the ring.

[Dirk]

Thank you for checking! 

[pop401k]

There's a great pictorial article about the China Marines in the US Naval Institute's PROCEEDINGS issue of Nov 1975?  IIRC.