Shoulder Board "CR" on field-grey

[Tinto]

Hi Everybody,

I would be grateful for identification of this shoulder board.

Thanks,

Tinto

[centurion]

Possibly one of the volunteer rifle units pre WW1?

[Tinto]

Thanks for that suggestion. Are you referring to any particular country? The epaulette had been stored with WW1 German items.

Thanks, Tinto

[eparges]

The shape, stitching, buttonhole and color make me think of italian. The letters 'CR' could be for the Croce Rosse (Corpo Militara- Military 'brach').

[Tinto]

The shape, stitching, buttonhole and color make me think of italian. The letters 'CR' could be for the Croce Rosse (Corpo Militara- Military 'brach').

Thankyou for that, eparges. I presume that "Croce Rosse" is the Red Cross (Military branch)?

Cheers, Tinto

[jwsleser]

I agree that that this is possibly Italian. The color and stitching match Italian uniforms. C.R. would stand for Carbinieri Reale, not Croce Rosse Italiana (C.R.I.). This is supported by the fact that the C.R.I. wore the standard Italian M1909 dismounted uniform which had shoulder rolls. The C.R. had both mounted and dismounted units, and epaulets were part of the mounted Italian M1909 uniform.

Viotti L'uniforme grigio-verde (1909-1918) doesn't list the Carbinieri Reale receiving this type of insignia (initially authorized on 21 Jan 1915 cirolari n. 51 del G.M.). However, the carbinieri weren't organized for front line service until 2 May 1915 and weren't authorized the g-v M1909 uniform until 27 June 1915. it is possible that the corps made their own insignia to match the rest of the army.

Normally these insignia were white letters on a black background. I would need to check to see if there was a change to this color scheme during the war.

Jeff

[Tinto]

Hello Jeff,

Thanks for your comments. Sorry for not replying until now. Hope you can confirm further.

Kind Regards,

Tinto