WWI picture of the day- shamelessly stolen!

[Rick the Librarian]

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!

Information

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[Jim Tarleton]

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

[Jim Tarleton]

Where is the third Springfield?

Jim

[Rick the Librarian]

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!

[irishsteve]

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

[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.

[Rick the Librarian]

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.

[Jim Tarleton]

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.

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.

I still think the 7th Regiment took a lot of heat they did not deserve, from being called cowards to incompetent. 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).

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.

Jim

[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!!

[John Beard]

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

Take a drag, not a sip!

J.B.