Item Description
Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Group. This is a lovely uniform grouping belonging to a Corporal serving in the U.S. Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces. The grouping includes the soldier’s patched uniform jacket & overcoat as well as some great field gear. WWI Tank Corps material is very difficult to source.
The grouping includes:
- WWI Enlisted Uniform jacket with rare vegetable ivory buttons, likely a private purchase jacket. The jacket bears U.S. & Tank Corps collar discs, a tri-color Tank Corps patch on the left shoulder, an overseas chevron for 6-11 months overseas on the left cuff, and Corporal chevrons on the right sleeve. The interior is in fair condition with some sweat staining with tearing of the interior right shoulder. There is light mothing across.
- WWI Enlisted Overcoat with a Tanks Corps patch on the left shoulder and an overseas chevron for 6-11 months overseas on the left cuff. The interior shows a Philadelphia Depot tag with a contract date of August 24th, 1917. A nice early overcoat. Mothing across.
- M1910 Mess Kit by L.F.&C Dated 1918, the pull ring is gone and there are no utensils.
- M1910 Canteen, cup, and cover by L.C.C. & Co dated 12-18. Canteen is dated 1918 by L.F.&C with the name TINSLEY scratched in, possible research project. Cup couldn’t be removed.
- M1910 Condiment Can, rough service-used condition.
- Model of 1916 Bacon tin, heavy heavy service wear with denting, dated 1918.
This is a great WWI Tank Corps uniform grouping, ready for further research and display. Don’t miss out!
The Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces was the mechanized unit that engaged in tank warfare for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front during World War I.
Brigadier General Samuel D. Rockenbach, as the Chief of Tank Corps for the American Expeditionary Forces under Pershing, organized, trained, equipped and then deployed the first American tank units to the Western Front of 1918 Europe. An initial plan for 2,000 light Renault FT tanks and 200 heavy British Mark VI tanks was changed to 20 battalions of 77 light tanks each and 10 battalions of 45 heavy tanks each. A total of eight heavy battalions (the 301st to 308th) and 21 light battalions (the 326th to 346th) were raised, but only four (the 301st, 331st, 344th and 345th) saw combat.
Captain George S. Patton, the first officer assigned to the unit, set up a light tank school at Bourg, France, starting on November 10, 1917. In the first half of 1918, the 326th and 327th Tank Battalions were organized at Patton's school, while the 301st Heavy Tank Battalion was raised at Camp Meade, Maryland, USA and transported to the British Tank Schools at Bovington Camp in southern England, for training.
The 326th (under the command of Sereno E. Brett) and 327th Tank Battalions (later renamed the 344th and 345th and organized into the 304th Tank Brigade, commanded by Patton), were the first into combat, beginning with the Battle of St. Mihiel (as part of the US IV Corps) on 12 September 1918, followed by the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (as part of the US V Corps) on 26 September. Major Brett assumed command of the 304th after Patton was injured during the St. Mihiel Offensive. The small French Renault FT tanks they were equipped with found the going hard and many were lost or ran out of fuel crossing the battlefield the Germans, forewarned, had largely retreated from the salient.
The 301st, equipped with British Mark Vs, suffered large casualties in the Battle of St. Quentin Canal on 29 September as part of the British 4th Tank Brigade, under the control of the Australian Corps. Some tanks were hit by shelling before the start line, while others were lost crossing an unreported British minefield. Of the 34 participating tanks, only 10 made rallying. The 301st then seized the village of Brancourt on 8 October, fought in the Battle of the Selle on 18 October, and participated in a night attack on 22-23 October in the vicinity of the Sambre Canal.
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