Neat experience today

Sorry for the length, but this was a neat day.

Today was my shift at the county historical society. I had some duties to attend to, but could not get to most of them as a local guy brought in a donation of his grandfsther’s WWI uniform and items.

It was so cool to see and to have in my hand. It all came in the same box in which his grandfather had shipped the stuff home from France in 1919. Even the box was neat. It still has the postage stamps on it.

It included several items, including his jacket, pants, and cloth hat. There are a couple of pictures of him, including ones of him in the same uniform we received. In the picture, you can see a pin in his hat, and on the actual hat, there remains a “U.S.” pin.

The box includes a WWI victory medal, in its original box, and paperwork he had completed to get the medal.

A small wallet-like item held a few coins, probably French, the soldier’s medal dog tags, and a small item that I found out was probably a German 2nd Class Iron Cross, presumably a souvenir the soldier picked up.

Also in the box was a shaving case with a safety razor and mirror. IIRC, the safety razor was invented around 1904, so this was a very early example. Another bag held a shaving brush.

I also saw a really neat discharge certificate, which showed he was discharged st Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville (he had enlisted in Fort Thomas.)

He was an engineer in the American Expecitionary Force, and apparently hurt his arm in a sawmill. A few papers about his post-war payments were included ($10/month at one point) though he was not too seriously hurt as he had a long career as a teacher and principal. He lived to be 100 years old, dying in 1996.

Seeing these items and being able to hold them was so neat, especially knowing he was “over there” 100 years ago. I have held quite a few historical items, neat ones, but this entire collection felt extra special. For some reason, holding his hat, with the US pin still in it, really hit me. It seemed more personal than other uniform pieces.

Seeing all this stuff preserved is so, so cool. I’m so thankful for people like this soldier and his family, who cared for it.

Pics!

I took a few hurried ones

See if this sharing link works. ( The several I took of the same medal was to help get identification, which worked)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AO9wnfpuvY5XobPE2

My wife enjoys history, and I had to read her your post, and show her the pictures as well. She kept saying, "wow, how cool." Said to be sure and thank you for sharing that.

I enjoyed it, too. Great pics, and the story behind it was extra-cool.

That's tremendous! Thanks for sharing that.

42nd Company Engineers Forestry Batallion The Transport Abraham Lincoln dropped them off in Brest on 22 May and they unloaded the cargo.
The Abraham Lincoln was sank by an enemy sub in route home the next day.

A little of his unit story..

42nd Engineers – (14th Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment (Forestry)
Of all the Engineer troops incorporated in the 20th Engineer Regiment, perhaps the least heralded and least known was the second of our three original auxiliary Battalions, the 42nd Engineers. While their sister units, the 41st and 43rd, were retained as Battalions of the Twentieth, and continued as units, though widely scattered, the 42nd was not accorded this recognition. The 42nd drilled and trained and went to France as a unit, but their personnel came back as separate and orphaned companies. To their credit be it said that no members of the Forestry Regiment brought back better records or a higher morale.
Organization of the 42nd Engineers was commenced early in March 1918. Like the 41st and 43rd, the unit was primarily intended for road and bridge.
After a brief but intensive period of preparation, the unit left Camp American on 8 May 1918. The next morning they boarded the transport Abraham Lincoln and sailed the next afternoon in convoy with twelve other carriers and a cruiser. The trip was comparatively eventful. The Lincoln dropped anchor at Brest on 22 May. The next day, the 42nd landed on French soil, and marched to Camp Bougen. Their first overseas duty was the unloading of the boat, and when the cargo was cleared the anchor was already hoisted home and the screws revolving. The last man man ashore was LT Glass of Company D. An enemy sub sank the big vessel on the homeward trip.
Twenty – four hours after the outfit reached camp, the prevailing confidence in immediate service at the front received a knock out blow, when orders arrived for dispersal of the battalion and attachment of the companies to various units of the 20th Engineers for forestry duty.
The scattering was rapid and thorough. Headquarters, Company A, and half of Company D were sent south to the Landes. Companies B and C went to the advance zone in the northeast. The remainder of Company D also went to the Vosges for temporary duty.
From this time on, the story of the 42nd is simply that of its component parts. Headquarters arrived at Pontenx – les – Forges, Landes on 1June and was attached for duty to 1st Battalion, 10th Engineers. Shortly after, the detachment was transferred to Base Section No. 1, and ordered to St. Nazaire, where they severed connections with the Forestry Section.
Company A, after the reorganization known as the 42nd Company, were assigned a sawmill operation at Sabres, in the Pontenx District. Although recruited for road and bridge work, the company took their new mission in stride and within a month were cutting far more than the rated capacity of their mill. They stayed at Sabres all through the war and left the Landes only when the windup of the Burnt Area job released the bulk of remaining forestry troops. Early in May they joined the homeward bound troops at Pontenx, and sailed from Bassens aboard the ship K. I. Luckenbach on 17 May.
Company B, after the reorganization known as the 42nd Company, likewise were fortunate enough to be held together. Their assigned station was the village of Vagney, in the Vosges mountains, not far behind the Lorraine sector. From May 1918 until the middle of January 1919, they logged and operated a mill, under direction of the Epinal District. The Company turned over the camp to a cleanup detail and left on 17 January for Orville, Cote d’Or, where they were employed for four months on road repair, chiefly along the national highway between Dijon and Langres. Upon their release from duty on 16 May, they headed for the coast, and after the inevitable delays, for home.
Company C, later known as the 44th Company, was also assigned to the Epinal District. The northern detachment of the company was first ordered to the northeast. It spent a month cutting fuelwood in the vicinity of Bazoilles – sur- Meuse, six miles from Neufchateau. The detachment was then transferred to the Bauge district in Brittany, and built a sawmill at Rennes. As soon as the operation was producing, the outfit was ordered back to the Vosges, where various auxiliary duties held them until after the Armistice. They were then attached to the Burnt Area expeditionary force, and arrived in Pontenx in February 1919.
In the meantime the southern detachment, which reached the Landes early in June 1918, was attached to the 4th Battalion for service in the Mimizan District. The detachment was again divided, details joining the 11th Company at Lamanchs and the 12th at les Pleyres. A few weeks later, the units were assigned to operate a new 10,000 capacity mill at Bias, south of Mimizan.
After the Armistice, two of the Mimizan District mills were removed to the Burn, and the southern detachment accompanied the 12th Company. Early in March 1919 Company D was brought together but immediately redivided among the three operations.
Upon release on 9 May the company joined the remainder of the old 42nd and left for home. Arriving at Hoboken on 1 June 1919, the units were ferried to a landing eight miles from Camp Merritt, and despite the many railway facilities available, were hiked the distance under full equipment and a blazing sun. Upon dispersal, most of the outfit were sent to Camp Dodge for discharge. The northern central states had furnished by far the largest quota of the 42nd Engineers, though, like all the other Forestry battalions, all sections of the country were represented.

Very neat story--thanks for sharing.

Wow.

Thanks Kingcat. I had not thought to look into the regiment history yet.

Also in the box was a book showing the region they were in and a magazine about the Foredtry service. I’ll need to look through those too.

And one thing I forgot, but on some enlistment form he simp,eyed to get the medal, one of the pieces of information requested was “horsemanship,” which I thought was a neat reminder of how long ago this was

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UKFlounder

Sorry for the length, but this was a neat day.

Today was my shift at the county historical society. I had some duties to attend to, but could not get to most of them as a local guy brought in a donation of his grandfsther’s WWI uniform and items.

It was so cool to see and to have in my hand. It all came in the same box in which his grandfather had shipped the stuff home from France in 1919. Even the box was neat. It still has the postage stamps on it.

It included several items, including his jacket, pants, and cloth hat. There are a couple of pictures of him, including ones of him in the same uniform we received. In the picture, you can see a pin in his hat, and on the actual hat, there remains a “U.S.” pin.

The box includes a WWI victory medal, in its original box, and paperwork he had completed to get the medal.

A small wallet-like item held a few coins, probably French, the soldier’s medal dog tags, and a small item that I found out was probably a German 2nd Class Iron Cross, presumably a souvenir the soldier picked up.

Also in the box was a shaving case with a safety razor and mirror. IIRC, the safety razor was invented around 1904, so this was a very early example. Another bag held a shaving brush.

I also saw a really neat discharge certificate, which showed he was discharged st Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville (he had enlisted in Fort Thomas.)

He was an engineer in the American Expecitionary Force, and apparently hurt his arm in a sawmill. A few papers about his post-war payments were included ($10/month at one point) though he was not too seriously hurt as he had a long career as a teacher and principal. He lived to be 100 years old, dying in 1996.

Seeing these items and being able to hold them was so neat, especially knowing he was “over there” 100 years ago. I have held quite a few historical items, neat ones, but this entire collection felt extra special. For some reason, holding his hat, with the US pin still in it, really hit me. It seemed more personal than other uniform pieces.

Seeing all this stuff preserved is so, so cool. I’m so thankful for people like this soldier and his family, who cared for it.

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I have all my grandfathers from WWI, and my fathers from WWII. I have a journal my grandfathers best friend wrote while they where in Europe including when they were under attack. Fascinating reading.

Flounder, send me your address and I will send a copy of the letter

You’ve got a PM

Wow! Thanks to you and the family for sharing. Ironic that the last building at Camp Taylor was just removed last month.

Flounder you should become an auctioneer. :) You'd be amazed all the stuff like this we find in estates. I will say that's about the most completely preserved group of militaria I've seen, but we do get a number of uniforms and medals and letters, etc. that were long ago put away.

Also amazing how many families don't want the items these days too. Used to be that stuff was all kept by family, and now we get more and more of it to sell.

that's a great story Flounder, really nice to see it so well preserved. That is unusual.