In order to keep their positions a secret, American soldiers writing home put on their envelopes for a return address, "Somewhere in France."
The Marines of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments entered the war under the command of the U.S. Army Allied Expeditionary Force, 2nd Infantry Division. The 2nd Infantry Division insignia was designed by a divisional truck unit as identification for use on vehicles. The division commander had tentatively allowed its use as a patch on the left soldier. At this time unit markings were not officially authorized on uniforms resulting in patches being home made from various materials or applied to the uniform, gas mask bags and on some helmets in ink or paint. There were over 40 variations of the 2nd Infantry Division white star and Indianhead insignia identified on Army and Marine uniforms. Embroidered unit patches arrived after the war had ended.
This soldier is armed with the Winchester M97 12-guage pump action shotgun. It was altered to accept the M1917 bayonet and was ready for service in 1917. The Marines carried the shotgun shells in their pockets or stuffed them into their M1910 cartridge belts. On his belt he is wearing one of the few available M1918 32-round canvas pouches. Civilian shotgun belts may have also been used on the front. The shotgun had a limited range, but excelled in night operations, trench clearing and as a weapon for guarding prisoners. The Germans hated it, and made formal protests to the Geneva Convention over its use. Interestingly, one of the original purposes for using these weapons was for shooting down German grenades out of the air. |
