Tracing a French officer’s tunic - help appreciated!
Article about: Good day, gentlemen. I acquired a lovely French Officers Mle.1913 Vareuse, and would very much appreciate any and all help with tracing the service of its owner. It came to me with the insig
Tracing a French officer’s tunic - help appreciated!
Good day, gentlemen.
I acquired a lovely French Officers Mle.1913 Vareuse, and would very much appreciate any and all help with tracing the service of its owner.
It came to me with the insignia shown, though I doubt the originality of these items; due to the poor standard of sewing, and un-likeliness of 1884 pattern infantry collar patches being fitted at such a date, when Horizon Blue backing was an established regulation.
The tunic itself was completed on the 18th May 1915, and is a beautifully tailored example of the Mle.1913, distinguishable by its concealed buttons and lack of the shoulder straps that would appear on the ‘new’ pattern soon afterward.
However, it already shows some of the features that quickly influenced the French Officers Vareuse - notably the longer skirts with large lower pockets - inspired by those of their British colleagues; a style that was to become evermore exaggerated, sometimes to outrageous levels!
The accompanying fabric waist belt that was the most distinctive feature of the Mle.1913 is, sadly, long gone from this example, and was likely discarded in favour of another British inspiration, the broad Sam Browne belt.
I think one of the best details of this fine tailor’s work (actually an amalgamation of three outstanding tailoring houses), is the fabulously narrow, spear pointed belt loops.. flippin’ gorgeous! Anyway, back to the business in hand..
The name of the owner can be interpreted in two ways, both of which are very rare in France, and have each yielded two possible returns: The Officer’s name appears to be HARTY, with the R struck out to, perhaps, correct it to HATY.
Both Hartys can (possibly) be dismissed; one was enlisted too late (1917), the other a PoW (though admittedly that is all I have on him!).
Of the Hatys, one was another late enlistment. The last and seemingly most promising is ALOISE HATY: born 07/08/1875, recruited in Haut-Rhin region (65) in 1895..
Aloise was thus 40 when the tunic was made, and was perhaps a Reservist Officer, recalled to the colours, or a long serving regular.
And that is as far as I can get..
It is easy to become distracted and mislead by the currently fitted insignia, including the rank bars, but I do not believe any of it can be trusted until confirmed.
I would dearly love to find out exactly which Regiment or branch he served in and, perhaps, even the two medals he received, to enable me to restore the correct insignia to this splendid tunic.
Also of note is the ghost of an armband visible to the left sleeve; perhaps a staff appointment, or may even have been a ‘mourning band’, worn by any man who lost a close relative due to the war. These bands featured a small pair of embroidered crossed flags if the relative was in service.
My apologies for the long ramble, and I look forward to any assistance you can furnish. My sincerest thanks, as always,
Bob
I wasn’t sure it was an M.. it seems to start too high of the line.
I confess, I didn’t try it, but will see what I get.
Cheers,
Bob
Just tried it (I remember now, it was the first thing I tried, followed by Maty), and recognised the first of 7,018 names! Though I quickly disregarded it as an M.
Having spent far too many hours comparing it to the handwritten entries in period recruitment lists, I am in no doubt that the letter is H. As stated originally, the first stroke starts too high above the line, actually about half way up the letter, and is a flourish leading into the first vertical stroke of the letter proper, coming down onto the pre-printed text line of the label.
An M would rarely, if ever, be started in midair, and the shape and incline of the whole letter are incorrect, when compared against all examples in the recruitment list documents (these are, of course, entered by many different hands and none show this high start), though many of the entries for H feature a high flourishing start.
Many thanks, Bruno.. I did compare it to the M of Mai, but felt there was a greater ‘sweep’ on that of the name - though I have since changed my mind on this and am sure you are absolutely right.
Regarding the dragons, wouldn’t the numeral have to be in silver (as a Cavalry unit), rather than gold? Granted, the numeral on this example certainly appears to be silver, even in hand, but on very close inspection, it seems to have started life as gold.. though, perhaps that is due to the tarnishing. These things tend to tarnish to their opposite colour, for some reason (very annoying!).
You are right. Cavalry is silver but in that case the ranks would also be silver wish is not the case. I was confused by the colar without looking at the rank. On this nice infanterie set it wasn't possible to check with the button color as you have a fine battle example.
Cheers, Bruno.
This thing has been confusing me from the day I bought it!
As you say, a lovely tunic, and I honestly don’t mind what it turns out to be..
Yes indeed, Bruno.
There is a very clear shadow of an armband..
Do you know how long a serviceman would wear the mourning band?
I know a plain black band was worn for a close family member only, and a small crossed flag emblem embroidered on if the family member was in military service, but I have been unable to find the official ‘mourning period’.
This was documented on the régulation of 1892 and 1906.
I guess for a limited period of time linked to the mourning period.
During WW1 thay may have worn it longer.
That said, I feel it might have been Something worn mostly on 2d line and less on the front line even if I think I remember some photos showing this configuration.
I am not aware of crossed flag on these armbands. Some people noticed that their might have been some stripes that may have been for the number of dead in the same family.
Here are my finding of the day
Interesting search
It seems officiers were also authorised to wear this black ribon on their saber
Tracing a French officer’s tunic - help appreciated!
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