Returned From French Captivity

[Guest Rick Research]

No names or a date on this, alas. The uniforms look fairly early war, and have not been stencilled "PG," so I don't know whether that means anything date-able.

These are NOT, however, fresh clothes issued out to re-kit former prisoners. In the sort of "Robert Noss detail" which makes collecting photographs so interesting-- have a closer look at the man who is standing

He is missing a number of tunic buttons, and those which remain are actually a variety of civilian buttons. Did he trade his army ones away for the odd cigarette or an extra ladle of soup?

Notice, particularly, that the Reichskokarde on his cap has gone missing. It too is a civilian button.

From the late Tony Colson's collection.

[Chip]

Definitely some make-shift alterations going on there. I don't see anything that would indicate a date after the fall of 1915. I do think that I see a "P" on the lower chest of the soldier who is seated.

Chip

[Guest Rick Research]

Could be. You're on a roll tonight, Eagle Eyes.

Here's one from my collection of the P risoner of W ar stencils, "P risonnier de G uerre"--

Mailed from a camp at orleans 23 June 1918.

[Chip]

I wonder why they bothered to paint that on. They were wearing German uniforms after all. I have seen a few uniforms with this stencil painted on, but they don't garner a lot of interest. Most collectors aren't interested in doing prisoner of war displays.

Chip

[Guest Rick Research]

In the days before sudden paratrooper assaults it probably had less to do with identifying them as enemy as some sort of legalistic Geneva Convention indicator that they were disarmed no-longer-hostiles, not to be shot on sight by panicky domestic soldiery 100 miles from the front lines. Or something.

Around here, where we had a P.O.W. Camp that functioned in BOTH world wars, in WW2 either for fatigue duties or as replacements for lost or worn out Axis uniforms, the German and Italian prisoners were issued U.S. WWI doughboy uniforms painted "PW." I doubt anybody thought a non-English speaking 25 year old was a Yankee Division veteran of the Meuse-Argonne, but it must have filled some technical requirement, like Red Cross armbands did for the status of the wearer.

I can remember thrifty old farmers into the 1960s themselves still wearing the cast-off PW gear when I was a kid. Hey, it was durable, free, and the animals didn't care how goofy it looked!