what would WW1 Army 23 engineers uniform look like?

[23engineers]

My grandfather fought with the 23rd Engineers as a private. I would REALLY like to know what all was on his uniform.

I have a few pics of him in uniform but I can not tell or see anything.

 

Thanks,

Joe

[cwnorma]

My grandfather fought with the 23rd Engineers as a private. I would REALLY like to know what all was on his uniform.

I have a few pics of him in uniform but I can not tell or see anything.

 

Thanks,

Joe

 

Joe,

 

Its a little hard to say for sure. The 23d Engineers was a highway regiment, and I can't recall if they had a distinctive Shoulder sleeve insignia of their own. The 23d Engineers was a component of the Second Army.

 

So it is possible your Grandfather wore the Second Army insignia (a red and white gothic number 2) but it is equally possible he wore no shoulder insignia at all.

 

On his collar he would have most likely worn US on the right side, and Engineer on the left. It is possible that he wore a US disk with the number 23 below (for his regiment), and/or an Engineer disk with a company letter above. If he was a draftee, he may have worn one of the variations of US National Army disk in place of the US or US/23 disk. Although US National Army disks were officially replaced by plain "US" disks before the end of the war, they continued to be worn in practice right through the armistice and demobilization. Likewise, if he was a mobilized National Guardsman, he could have worn one of the US National Guard disks. These too officially were replaced before the end of the war, but in practice continued to be worn by the men issued them.

 

If he was a private, he would have worn no rank insignia at all on his right sleeve. If he was a private first class, his "chevron" would have been an olive (often brown) Engineer castle in a circle worn on the right sleeve. This would have been worn midway between the shoulder and the elbow.

 

The 23d Engineers Left Hoboken for France in March, 1918 and returned from France in May, 1919. This means that near the cuff on his left sleeve he would have worn two gold overseas chevrons (assuming he went over with the unit and returned with them.

 

If he was wounded or gassed, he would have worn similar "Wound Chevrons" on the right sleeve, near the cuff. One stripe for each wound received.

 

Also on his left sleeve, he would have most likely worn a single red "Honorable Discharge" chevron midway between the shoulder and elbow.

 

He would have been awarded the World War Victory Medal, with at least the "Defensive Sector" bar. It is possible that he could have earned other bars; but it would take some research to determine that.

 

If you have pictures of him, please post them. Its possible that we may be able to help with some of the insignia questions--or maybe even see a clue you may have missed.

 

Chris

[23engineers]

thanks for the great information Chris. I think that I have about 4 or 5 different pics of him in uniform. I will post them ASAP.

 

thanks again

[dpt10nl]

Can you explain the caption on a unit picture of "23rd and 24th Co U? ARD" taken Nov 1918 at Camp AA Humphreys? Just bought the picture on ebay hoping to find my grandfather but caption was not clear from ebay picture. My grandfather was with 5th engr trng regt Co D, 7th engr trng regt, and 2nd engr trng regt, Co K. I believe he was stationed at Camp Humphreys for all assignments. Is that true?

[dpt10nl]

In the only reply to my own post, the picture captioned "23rd and 24th CO U ARD" was taken at Camp Humphreys Nov. 1918. ARD per the quartermaster general report is an abbreviation for Army Reserve Depot. It refers to supplies or reserves to be distributed to the multiple cantonment camps, forts and overseas camps. The head of the Corps of Engineers decided in 1918 that he wanted all engineer units regardless of their division to receive reserves/supplies from one central location. By centralizing the distribution, the Eng Corps could keep better track of what supplies and expenditures were distributed for engineer units. Units were rotated into Camp Humphreys to train in the use of warehouse and transport equipment and therefore unify the procedures and record keeping. The engineer reserve depot was in another fort in DC while Humphreys was the training area. The Navy had their own reserve depots and training centers.