Arm band

[Betsy]

This is my grandpa George Maras...

   I’m trying to figure out what the dark arm band above his left elbow may signify... I was told that he fought on horseback...

   any information would help... He passed away when I was a small child, and I remember that my mother was handed a folded flag... Childhood memories are vague, but I seem to remember guns being fired, although I’m not sure about that... He lived well into his nineties...

   

Betsy

   

[FROGSMILE]

I can just make out the letters MP on the arm band.  It refers to military police as you probably know.  The AEF was initially influenced by the British and French Armies when they became allies during WW1 and they adopted the policies, procedures and routines that they felt appropriate.  The British Army had used the MP arm band since Victoria’s reign and it was a convenient and effective way of distinguishing military policemen on the battlefront.  There were both mounted and dismounted military policemen.

Edited 26 April , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[Betsy]

Yes Frogsmile, I do see this now, and thank you!!! Makes so much sense!!!

   Also, my grandfather came from Greece, but emigrated to the U.S.... Does this appear to be a U.S. uniform???

[Ron Clifton]

The hat certainly looks like US Army issue.

 

Ron

[FROGSMILE]

53 minutes ago, Betsy said:

Yes Frogsmile, I do see this now, and thank you!!! Makes so much sense!!!

   Also, my grandfather came from Greece, but emigrated to the U.S.... Does this appear to be a U.S. uniform???

Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t realise you weren’t aware of that.  It is the US Army uniform of WW1. 
I forgot to mention that a pistol in a holster was the standard side arm for British and US military policemen.

 

The following is from Wikipedia:

 
“The complexity of warfare during WW1 required a corps of specially-trained soldiers to handle massive numbers of prisoners of war and control the movement of troops and supplies in the zones of operation. The Military Police Training Department was established 9 September 1918 at Caserne Changarnier in Autun, France.

 

 Following the war, Brigadier General Harry Hill Bandholtz, who had served as Provost Marshal of the American Expeditionary Forces, proposed the establishment of a permanent Military Police Corps. Although Congress failed to act upon this recommendation, it allowed for the permanent organization of Army military police units in the National Defense Act Amendment of 1920.”

 

Edited 26 April , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[OLD ROBIN HOOD]

Greetings from Sherwood Forest

 

The pistol that  George is carrying would have been the Colt 1911 Automatic . Calibre .45 ACP. This pistol was carried by U.S . troops in both

world wars.

 

                                                                          Old Robin Hood

 

 

[Betsy]

On 26/04/2020 at 10:06, FROGSMILE said:

I can just make out the letters MP on the arm band.  It refers to military police as you probably know.  The AEF was initially influenced by the British and French Armies when they became allies during WW1 and they adopted the policies, procedures and routines that they felt appropriate.  The British Army had used the MP arm band since Victoria’s reign and it was a convenient and effective way of distinguishing military policemen on the battlefront.  There were both mounted and dismounted military policemen.

Thank you!!! I really had no idea about the arm band...

On 26/04/2020 at 11:11, Ron Clifton said:

The hat certainly looks like US Army issue.

 

Ron

Thank you!!!

[Betsy]

Thank you for this information!!!