WW1 Medic Armbands/Brassards

[RelicHunter99]

I've been doing some research on WW1 medic armbands and have been unable to come to any real solid conclusions on detecting which era a band is from, especially WW1.

If it appears to be old wool stitched onto a band with no Geneva Convention markings, is there a way to tell if it is from WW1 or not? Anyone know if there are any tell tale signs in the manufacturing?

Let's take these four bands for example. Clearly the top and bottom are out because of the 1929 Geneva stamp, and the metal buttons on the bottom one, but what about the middle two? The second, with the belt attachment, I have seen declared as both WW1 and WW2 by various sources. It's also similar to French model WW1 armbands. And what about the third band? Very little to go on there, only the zig zag stitching.

I've seen some claim that thin bands (2.5" as opposed to 4") were WW1 era, so the cross goes all the way to the edge, but not all photos I've seen from WW1 soldiers solidify this point (although the majority I've seen do show a thinner armband).

Anyone out there with more specific knowledge on this issue?

[wainfleet]

It's very hard to tell an RAMC armband's age unless it is either dated or well-provenanced, tho' I agree that the press-stud versions can be ruled out as later. The third one down might perhaps be WW1, tho' personally I haven't seen one with a safety pin before. [Add: I've just noticed the zigzag stitching, so maybe not.] The ones I tend to believe are the linen ones with small pearl buttons, which sometimes have an Army Medical Service stamp with or without a date. However these are sometimes WW2 dated so that's no proof, plus I think the WW1 dated ones may have been worn by nurses as well as RAMC medics.

The WW1 stretcher bearer's armband (subject of a previous thread here) is narrower, but I haven't heard that said about the RAMC version. I will be interested to see what's said on this thread, as I've never seen a red cross armband that I knew for certain to be a WW1 RAMC medic's.

[RelicHunter99]

I guess I should mention that the bands in the photos are all alleged to be United States armbands. I've seen photos similar to the second and third both claiming to be WW1 period.

I fear you're right about American armbands, in that unless there is some wonderful history behind a specific piece, it may be impossible to ever date one accurately.

At least with the French bands they had plenty of stamps and markings (although depending on the marking, that doesn't always help).

[Jerry B]

A n old thread, but I picked up this example yesterday, a British version marked Army Medical Services with small metal buttons rather than pearl or horn but not the poppers/press studs.  It came out of a skip with some letters from the 1890's.

[Tony N]

That's a nice example Jerry. I bought one years ago with the pearl buttons and have always thought it would've belonged to a nurse.

 

Tony

[FROGSMILE]

 The metal buttons are zinc and typical of the WW1 (and before) period.  Army Medical Service was and still is reflective of all the medical corps and departments collectively.  Nice to have such provenance.

[Sepoy]

Here is a 1915 dated British Red Cross and Order of St John of Jerusalem Red Cross armband, also marked Army Medical Services.

Sepoy

 

 

 

Edited 5 March , 2017 by Sepoy

[FROGSMILE]

2 hours ago, Sepoy said:

Here is a 1915 dated British Red Cross and Order of St John of Jerusalem Red Cross armband, also marked Army Medical Services.

Sepoy

 

 

 

 

That's interesting Sepoy and makes sense I think given that the British Red Cross and Voluntary Aid Detachment became part of the auxiliary elements of the army medical service during the war.

[Jerry B]

1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

 

That's interesting Sepoy and makes sense I think given that the British Red Cross and Voluntary Aid Detachment became part of the auxiliary elements of the army medical service during the war.

 

I have seen a VAD marked example for sale currently on ebay, it also another unclear inkstamp as well as the VAD markings.  It comes with another VAD armband, though the seller wants way too much money for them I think.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WWI-BRITISH-RED-CROSS-VAD-ARMBAND-NORFLOK-/191318887586

Edited 5 March , 2017 by Jerry B

[FROGSMILE]

20 minutes ago, Jerry B said:

 

I have seen a VAD marked example for sale currently on ebay, it also another unclear inkstamp as well as the VAD markings.  It comes with another VAD armband, though the seller wants way too much money for them I think.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WWI-BRITISH-RED-CROSS-VAD-ARMBAND-NORFLOK-/191318887586

 

Yes, that does seem ridiculously expensive.