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Show your WWI Studio Photographs


Jeffrey Magut
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Fascinating images, Eric! I really love the Army of Occupation Marine photos. What an interesting chapter of the "Marines in Europe" story.

 

And an ARMY doctor assigned to the 5th Marines? WOW. Glad there is a photo to support it, cuz I probably would have never believed--that's why I love old photos so much--hard to fake the history in a period image!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post these. I really enjoyed looking at these.

 

HEY, Patches! Some fine additions. I thought you did a nice job putting the history on the sailor. USN images is an "under collected" area of WWI photography, and I am not sure why. There are lots of research possibilities (sailors lists and ship / station histories) that should make it a satisfying area to collect. Your bio of William Sheehan is a good example of that.

 

JAG

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John Ellsworth Double of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, went to France as a member of Co. C, 56th Pioneer Infantry. When he left France in June 1919, he was part of the HQ Company of the 56th, probably around the time this photo was taken in Germany showing him wearing a Army of Occupation patch and MP brassard.

 

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A rather rough condition French studio photo of two soldiers, one of whom is Lot Hudkins of Spencer, West Virginia.

 

Lot was a member of Company M, 5th Marine Regiment, 2nd Division.

 

 

 

If you look close, he has a British pattern gas mask bag and a canteen cover with eagle snaps.

 

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Man, you guys are killing it! Great photos!!!

 

Here's one I've posted years ago in a different thread:

 

An American aviator posing in a Foggia, Italy studio. Note he wears Italian aviation wings instead...

 

He's also wearing the early collar insignia configuration (USR/Signal Corps). Aviators would soon replace the USR/SC collar devices with a standard "US" + a winged prop in place of the crossed signal flags.

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Man, you guys are killing it! Great photos!!!

 

Here's one I've posted years ago in a different thread:

 

An American aviator posing in a Foggia, Italy studio. Note he wears Italian aviation wings instead...

 

He's also wearing the early collar insignia configuration (USR/Signal Corps). Aviators would soon replace the USR/SC collar devices with a standard "US" + a winged prop in place of the crossed signal flags.

To everyone who has posted, I agree with Chuck, these are excellent images!

 

 

Chuck, you know I love those Foggia photos! Very unusual that he is still wearing his campaign hat.

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Between the incredible portrait photos posted by John, Chuck, Eric and Brennan, I'm surprised there are any cool shots left out there for the rest of us to find---I don't recall if I have shared this here before---a medic from the Italian campaign....

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Between the incredible portrait photos posted by John, Chuck, Eric and Brennan, I'm surprised there are any cool shots left out there for the rest of us to find---I don't recall if I have shared this here before---a medic from the Italian campaign....

Hi Al, That's a great photo! Do you have any info on the soldier? My university sent a medical section (USAAS 559) to Italy.

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Unnamed member of US Lifesaving Service. The USSLS existed until January 28, 1915, when President Wilson signed the "Act to Create the Coast Guard" which merged merging the Life-Saving Service with the Revenue Cutter Service to create the USCG.

 

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Damn, John, you're wowing me with some insanely rare photos...

 

Like Eric, I've never seen any USSLS portrait before. The 82nd Chaplain is a given as that's my alma mater ;)

 

Here's another unusual one. This combination of collar insignia is not often seen, if ever. Note the use of both EM & officer aviation insignia. That pattern collar device with the superimposed wings is an early Aviation design which was short lived (ca.1917/18). He also wears an officer variant cap insignia.

 

-Chuck

 

Al - Your Italian Front medic was equally impressive...thanks!

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Damn, John, you're wowing me with some insanely rare photos...

 

Like Eric, I've never seen any USSLS portrait before. The 82nd Chaplain is a given as that's my alma mater ;)

 

Here's another unusual one. This combination of collar insignia is not often seen, if ever. Note the use of both EM & officer aviation insignia. That pattern collar device with the superimposed wings is an early Aviation design which was short lived (ca.1917/18). He also wears an officer variant cap insignia.

 

-Chuck

 

Al - Your Italian Front medic was equally impressive...thanks!

Enlisted men wore cut-out style branch insignia on their service caps until the introduction of the round universal EM cap badge in 1918. Do you think that it's an officer's style pin-back collar badge instead of an enlisted screw-back cap badge?

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Enlisted men wore cut-out style branch insignia on their service caps until the introduction of the round universal EM cap badge in 1918. Do you think that it's an officer's style pin-back collar badge instead of an enlisted screw-back cap badge?

 

Yes, I believe it's the typical officer pin-back insignia.

 

This seems standard for the pre-war/early war period. I have at least one other image that I date to the same time period as the one above...and both EMs have that same cut out insignia on the cap & collar. Sometime during the war & thereafter, they went to the EM screw post insignia that we're all familiar with.

 

Could this be an indication this guy was a would-be officer? I know they usually wore a thick white cap band at the crown to show they were an aviation cadet.

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Since all EM wore what essentially looked like officer badges (with a screw-back) on their service caps, I suspect older, pre-collar disc, cut-out style, pin-back collar badges and officer collar badges were worn by EM, too.

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Another aviation portrait for this excellent thread...and further illustration of what I was talking about above.

 

Here's cadet Robert J. Barron. He died in 1917 while trying to rescue two other cadets that went into the water. Barron Field was named in his honor...

 

Note the collar insignia. Same configuration as my last example: both EM collar disc & that early pattern officer's aviation collar pin. Unfortunately, the cap is turned just enough that we can't see the insignia, if any at all.

 

I supposed I need to research further when the Air Service came out with that white cap band for cadets, as we now have two examples of known cadets not wearing them.

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Hi Al, That's a great photo! Do you have any info on the soldier? My university sent a medical section (USAAS 559) to Italy.

Erick---sorry, no luck---I even included it in "To Hell with the Kaiser" hoping that someone might recognize him and send me a note....

Al

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  • 2 weeks later...
gauthieb3sxz

I hope Brennan doesn't mind me posting this image from his collection. These guys, posed in the same improvised studio (same MG?), I believe, were in the 88th Division

 

 

 

Just weighing in after not checking this thread for awhile. All of the shots of MG dudes in this studio that I've see have been attributed to the 339th MG/88th Division. I wonder if this fellows grandpa was in that unit?

 

 

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gauthieb3sxz

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Identified to an Lt. Carl Wehner - KIA

 

And I was able to find a fascinating account of his death while commanding Company K following the death of his Captain (Source – Entry by RavenHawk)

 

 

…It was near St. Etienne, as his captain layed dead, Wehner led his unit forward, until he himself was struck in the head, by enemy gunfire, and killed. One account of the battle (perhaps a little exagerated), said: “Lieutenat Wehner died with three machine gun bullets in his forehead and a smile on his lips as he led Company K of the 141st Infantry over the top after his captain was killed by the fire of the enemy.”….In a letter signed by the Marshall Of France, Commander in Chief of the French Armies of the East, Petain, it was written: “Lt. Wehner displayed audacity and disregard of danger during the operations near St. Etienne. At the head of his men, encouraging them with his skill, he largely contributed to the success of the operations which made it possible to capture all objectives. He was killed at his post of combat.” For his bravery, Wehner was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm for bravery….As for Wehner’s family, they didn’t find out until after Christmas, that Wehner had been killed, in battle…Wehner’s body was returned to Madison in 1921, and reburied at Forest Hill on 10/21/1921.

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gauthieb3sxz

Man, you guys are killing it! Great photos!!!

 

Here's one I've posted years ago in a different thread:

 

An American aviator posing in a Foggia, Italy studio. Note he wears Italian aviation wings instead...

 

He's also wearing the early collar insignia configuration (USR/Signal Corps). Aviators would soon replace the USR/SC collar devices with a standard "US" + a winged prop in place of the crossed signal flags.

 

Chuck,

 

Great shot! Not sure if I've seen that one before. Here's a related shot from my collection. Chuck, you were instrumental in the ID of this guy, remember? Paraphrasing my my website:

 

 

After successfully winning the photo I began the laborious process of identifying the photo. Here’s the info I was basing my research on:

1. The photo depicted a US pilot who had served at least 6 months overseas at the time the photo was taken.

2. The pilot was named Harry and had a brother named Robert.

3. The pilot had a distinctive signature and handwriting style with large crossed H’s and a penchant for flourishes.

4. The pilot was in Italy at some point during the war.

 

I started by tracking down a copy of the roster of the pilots who trained with the “Fogianni” during the war. A good friend, Chuck, was extremely gracious enough to take photos of all the pages and send them to me. I finally had the whole roster to reference. With this in hand, I identified all the Harold’s and Harry’s in the roster. This helped narrow it down to less than 30 candidates! From there I looked at the 1900 and 1910 census for each of the men in hopes of finding a brother named Robert. A small handful of candidates trickled through.

 

My first cross reference for the Harry’s with brothers named Robert brought me to Harry S. Manchester from Canfield, Ohio. The signature on his WWI draft card almost knocked me over! A perfect match. Note the intense cross on the H and the overly dramatic crosses on his T’s. With further research I was able to find a TON of information on Harry. He was indeed a pilot in Italy during the war and also served in France as a test pilot, testing new US planes as they were unloaded in France. His brother was Robert Manchester Jr. I was able to find Robert’s son (Robert Manchester III) and grandson (Robert Manchester IV) online, both prominent lawyers in the midwest.

 

harrywatermarked.jpg

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