WWI picture of the day- shamelessly stolen!

I saw a link to this picture on the CMP forum and decided we could "borrow" it over here. Note the three soldiers with Springfields in the front row, while the rest appear to have M1917s. One gentleman on the other forum said he noticed a mount for a W/S telescope on one of the M1903s.

Attachment 20567

Here's a closeup (stolen from the same source) of one of the soldiers in the front row with an '03 - note the "rail" on the left side of the receiver for the telescopic sight.

Attachment 20568

Hard to tell for sure, but from the shoulder patches, looks like the 7th Division. Most of them look like tough hombres!:mad:

The 7th Division relieved the Marines at Belleau Woods and got slaughtered. They had zero combat experience when Harbord threw them into a bee hive. Harbord's incompetance was rewarded with a promotion instead of a firing squad.

Those are some of the designated snipers of the Battalion. They are probably being shown with their respective Company. I have seen no pictures of any Intelligence Section, probably due to the fact that snipers were not so highly thought of in WWI. In all Muster Rolls, Intelligence Section men were carried on their respective Company rolls with no indication of their true jobs.

Jim

Where is the third Springfield?

Jim

You missed the one in the middle of the two '03s -- a special modification of the M1903 design to accept M1917 parts in the vicinity of the front sight! :madsmile:

Interesting that several have M1917"s.Would a unit have a mixed issue?

I believe Jim has confused the 7th Infantry Regiment with the 7th Division.

The 7th Division arrived in France in Aug-Sep 1918 and did not go on line until about 10 October when it relieved the 90th Division during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

The 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division was attached to the 2nd Division during the period 16-23 June 1918. During that time it relieved the front line battalions of the 4th Marine Brigade. It was the regiments first combat operation.

I THOUGHT something didn't sound right about the 7th! A later-comer, that's for sure.

Regarding the "mixed issue", the M1903s appear to be sniper rifles. Since the sniper detachment wouldn't have access to any M1917 sniper rifles (they existed only in prototype form), they would have had to use M1903s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bolo Badge

I believe Jim has confused the 7th Infantry Regiment with the 7th Division.

The 7th Division arrived in France in Aug-Sep 1918 and did not go on line until about 10 October when it relieved the 90th Division during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

The 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division was attached to the 2nd Division during the period 16-23 June 1918. During that time it relieved the front line battalions of the 4th Marine Brigade. It was the regiments first combat operation.

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It was indeed the 7th REGIMENT that relieved the Marines in the woods. I typed faster than I thought. It would have been a little difficult to get a Division into those woods, especially one that wasn't in France. :bash:

I still think the 7th Regiment took a lot of heat they did not deserve, from being called cowards to incompetent.:dunno: They were a green unit sent into one of the hottest places on the front overnight to do a job they Marines had not done up to that point (take the North part of the Woods). :madsmile:

Harbord accepted no responsibility whatsoever for any of his actions to my knowledge. Harbord held wise in low esteeem, but Wise was on the front lines. Harbord even ignored Feland. A lot of Marines died unnecessarily because of Harbord's obstinence and reluctance to use artillery.

Sorry about the misidentification. It was unintentional. Pass the bore cleaner.:cheers:

Jim:cool:

Guess we'd better both take a sip, since I seemed to be unable to tell the difference between two and three M1903s!! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick the Librarian

Guess we'd better both take a sip, since I seemed to be unable to tell the difference between two and three M1903s!! :)

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Take a drag, not a sip! :madsmile:

J.B. :wave:

SGT 115, PVT 117 and 123 all look like they are possibly brothers (at least related).

BEAR

Hey Bear,

Had the same thought. Might be more brothers. Soldiers 112 and 113, 107 and 111.

Soldiers 115 and 117 could very well be twins and could pass for the "Red Baron" himself.

Soldier 120 looks like he might be a man of color.

Soldier 116 has no kin in the photo for sure and it looks like he has his finger on the trigger. Certainly has his war face on, think his preferred weapons might have been bayonet and buttstock. If looks could kill.

Noticed something else, four soldiers have chains running from their left epaulets into their left blouse pocket...that about a whistle? Jim T. ? Three in front with the chains also have three stripes on their sleeves.

Is this possibly too many brothers in one outfit in WWI?

Thanks for the interesting photo Rick and your observation, Bear.

Come on 2010 and death to bad guys,

LB

Saw the chains (for a whistle). The three with whistles are Sergeants (and I suspect all three were snipers). The whistles themselves were cute little barrel affairs. When you have 350 men on line for advancement, voice commands just don't cut it, especially if you are being shelled/machinegunned unmercifully. The whistles just replaced the bugles, or better yet, supplemented them.

If I remember correctly, one of the AEF Field Training Manuals covered the whistle commands (Assemble, Advance, Fall Back, Dig In, etc.).

Jim

Hey Jim,

There's a fourth soldier with a chain but you can't see his sleeves or his rifle. Love this photo.

Robert

Hello Gents, Number 112 looks to be wearing a BAR cartridge belt (while holding a 1917 rifle) while #118 looks to be wearing a 2nd Assistant's belt.