This little group just arrived todasy. It consists on a WW-I (I think) French Croix d'Guerre fourragère, what I think is a French-made WW-I Victoty medal ribbon, and a Marine Marksman badge. First two pix are below.

 

 

Here are the last two...close-ups.

 

 

Looks Like A Sharp Little Group and All Period Pieces. Congratulations :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Regards,

John

To me, your fourragere screams World War II vintage. Normally, the WWI vintage cords do not have a sheen to them as they were typically made of wool material. The later awards are made of silk and later made of synthetic material. Additionally, of the WWI vintage fourragers that I have encountered, the brass tips are plain. I have only ever encountered these "fancy" tips on WWII vintage awards. Finally, The World War I vintage cords that I have seen have been a length of cord with two spots for affixing the cord to the uniform- not as a single loop. The end of the cord will usually secure with a brown wool square with a button hole sewn into the material with a second loop sewn just above the knot near the tip of the award. The WWI pieces also do not tend to have the two additional "plain" ropes that were worn on the top side of the sleeve rather than under the armpit where the braided cord is worn.

 

I have a sort of collected variations of these awards for a number of years, and to me, this does not look at all like a WWI vintage fourragere.

 

my two cents,

Allan

To me, your fourragere screams World War II vintage. Normally, the WWI vintage cords do not have a sheen to them as they were typically made of wool material. The later awards are made of silk and later made of synthetic material. Additionally, of the WWI vintage fourragers that I have encountered, the brass tips are plain. I have only ever encountered these "fancy" tips on WWII vintage awards. Finally, The World War I vintage cords that I have seen have been a length of cord with two spots for affixing the cord to the uniform- not as a single loop. The end of the cord will usually secure with a brown wool square with a button hole sewn into the material with a second loop sewn just above the knot near the tip of the award. The WWI pieces also do not tend to have the two additional "plain" ropes that were worn on the top side of the sleeve rather than under the armpit where the braided cord is worn.

 

I have a sort of collected variations of these awards for a number of years, and to me, this does not look at all like a WWI vintage fourragere.

 

my two cents,

Allan

A quick look at my photos of some of my WWI Uniforms and I have to agree with Allan it could be WWII :think: . I have another WWI and Several WWII French Croix d'Guerre fourragère I will have to check. MHA for my over site in the details :pinch: . I have posted pictures of the two uniforms that came with the French Croix d'Guerre fourragère; the fist is a 2nd Bn 23rd Infantry, 2nd Division uniform and the 2nd from a Engineer from the 90th Division uniform both attributed to individual soldiers.

Regards,

John

I'm not an expert on these and I'n sure you're right. The flash makes the fourragère look more glossy than it it is but I just went down and looked at it again. I think it is silk.

 

The pictures below are close-ups of a fourragère that came with a WW-I Marine grouping. It has a plain "nail" and the covering of the "rope" is definitely wool.

 

 

Here are the last two...close-ups.

 

 

 

Your fourragere is silk and typical for French officer quality. I have several that are with some of my officer's groups.

One does not typically see the ornate fineals for WW2 production.

My 2 cents

 

Dennis

... One does not typically see the ornate fineals for WW2 production. Dennis

Agree, here's one from the collection of "teamski" from a WW1 Marine.

Agree, here's one from the collection of "teamski" from a WW1 Marine.

 

Well now I'm confused. This one looks almost identical to the first one I posted with the rest of the grouping.

That is an original French made Croix d'Guerre fourragère as issued by the French. The two extra "ropes" and the "triple knot" seen at the end are obvious giveaways.

 

The ones we see with the little wool pad with a button hole and no extra "ropes" are the US made version for our troops. The saying was "the ones who walked those planks" that is, the ones who were in France to help win it, were entitled to wear the fancy ones, and most did even in World War 2. The others who were entitled to were them wore the US made ones.