WW1 US Tunic - Ambulance Corp/AFS
Picked this up yesterday. It was snowing so waited till today for photos.
A nice wool WW1 US enlisted Service Tunic. It does have some moth nips on collar as well as a few other places but overall in very good condition.
But....This is not your typical combatant tunic.
The bullion sleeve patch (which I think is French "in theater" made) was the "unit" patch for US Ambulance drivers that were assigned to work with the French. It's a Gallic Rooster. But given that he is wearing it on a US uniform it probably is in line with the below information which I found on the US military forum (credit to Croix De Guerre - US Militaria Forum)
"....the men of the A.E.F. who adopted the Gallic rooster as their insignia were the ambulance drivers assigned to operate with the French army. Prior to the US declaration of war several volunteer organizations were formed to assist the french in their fight against Germany. These volunteer groups, most notably the American Field Service and the Norton-Harjes Formation were so successful that when the US finally declared war with Germany and the US Army began absorbing these organizations into their ranks; the French government insisted that they be replaced with US Army ambulance companies. In many cases, AFS and to some extent the NH Formations were simply mustered into the US Army and continued serving the same French divisions they were already attached to. Not all of these pre-war volunteers agreed to enlist in the US Army so the ranks were filled out and increased to regulation numbers with regular US Army soldiers...."
Tunic also has the red "felt on wool" Honorable Discharge Stripe, and two "Gold" theater bullion Overseas / War Service chevrons. (Silver was for stateside service and then there is a Blue version which signified something else). Still 12 months of front line service (6 months for each chevron) is pretty impressive in a dangerous role.
The "medical" collar tab is not one that I've seen before appearing to be pot metal but it has been on a very long time. I can not remove it without the use of pliers so I will leave it as is for now.
So maybe a AFS vet or a newly recruited American Ambulance Corp grunt. I lean towards an AFS vet given the two war service chevrons. Either way, it a fantastic patch and tunic that I am looking forward to researching some more. It will go well with my WW1 Adrian AFS helmet
Click photos to enlarge!
Enjoy
Michael
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by Chopperman
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