Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. It’s not often that you find an original fragment of German airplane fabric from World War I, but it’s even less often that you find fabric from an observation balloon, let alone with as amazing of provenance as this! This is a colorful 5¾ x 10½” piece of balloon fabric taken on May 29th, 1918 by Sergeant First Class John T. Redmon, Company C, 30th Engineers, later becoming the 1st Gas & Flame Regiment. The 1st G&F were the only unit in the American Expeditionary Forces to see combat, and they saw some of the most brutal fighting in the AEF. 

Redmon was awarded the French Croix de Guerre on November 9th, 1918 with the following citation:

He displayed great intelligence and exceptional initiative in the interpretation of the orders he received and largely contributed to the success of a difficult operation.

During their time stateside, the 30th Engineers would become known as the Hell Fire Battalion, and its soldiers the Hell Fire Boys. This name came from their purpose, launching liquid fire and gas at deeply settled German positions.

The fabric, primarily green with streaks of yellow and red, is inscribed May-29-’18 / “Boche”. With it are parts of a newspaper article written when Redmon sent the fabric back to his family. The article reads:

The piece of rubber sent to Mrs. Redmon is about 4 by 8 inches, and is brightly colored. Green is the predominant color, while the rubber is streaked fantastically with yellow and red. The science of camouflage has been carried so far that it is said to be difficult to distinguish a balloon from the clouds as it floats by in the air.

This provides the piece with 100% air-tight provenance. This is one of the most tremendous captured German souvenirs we have offered, with a great connection to what has become one of the most sought after Regiments of the AEF to collect from. Comes ready for further research and display!