Flags & Uniforms - First World War

Category: Flags & Uniforms --- See Latest World War I news here.

Bob Heft, who redesigned U.S. flag, honors last WW1 vet Frank W. Buckles freep.com :: 2009-01-30
Two proud Americans with a love of Old Glory are about to unveil their true colors for all to see. Robert "Bob" Heft, who designed America's 50-star flag as a high school class project, discovered that Frank W. Buckles, 107, America's last known surviving World War I veteran, has received hundreds of honorary flags over the years. Yet Buckles has no flagpole at his farm to fly them. So Heft and a group of Lest We Forget veterans are traveling 600 miles to West Virginia with plans to set up a 25-foot flagpole at Buckles' home. "I couldn't believe it when I heard that this man, who's been presented flags by presidents and generals, didn't have a flagpole." [Flags & Uniforms]

First World War uniform displayed in Carmi, IL carmitimes.com :: 2009-01-10
Carmi VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 3851 was set up on April 4, 1943, and the World War I uniform of one of those founding 56 men has been donated to the post by the man's family for display. The 90-year-old U.S. Army uniform of the late Wailin D. Chapman is in unusually good shape, saved by his grandson Richard Chapman. The uniform is complete, with jacket, trousers and garrison cap. The jacket still has all its buttons and an artillery insignia on the right sleeve and a unit insignia and private first class rank insignia on the left sleeve, all hand-sewn to the green jacket. [Flags & Uniforms]

Rare WWI memorabilia for sale - Kiwi Gallipoli Diary, Nurse Uniform scoop.co.nz :: 2008-11-11
Lawson's November auction is filled with rare memorabilia. Highlights include Kiwi diary from Gallipoli, with complete daily records from the first day of landing on April 25 1915 to retreat in September. An intimate account, the soldier records shooting the Turks in the morning, then swimming in the sea in the afternoon. --- A set of Gallipoli photos from Australia's best war photographer Frank Hurley is a unique opportunity for collectors. With 50 items, it's the largest portfolio of Frank Hurley's work to be presented in one auction in recent times. --- The full apparel for a World War I nurses uniform will also be up for grabs. [Memorabilia & Collectibles]

History Detectives: Flag's authenticity and South Carolina black regiment thestate :: 2008-02-19
Article no longer available from the original source.
As the Great War raged in 1917, a group of African-American draftees and their white officers (all from South Carolina) gathered into the newly built Camp Jackson to train for the trenches. But before they could be sent to fight in the First World War, racism kicked in. They would not be allowed to serve alongside all-white American units. The solution? They would fight for France. Anne Clarkson has studied the regiment and its most famous member, Medal of Honor winner Freddie Stowers. The entire regiment was awarded the Croix de Guerre - the French medal for heroism. History Detectives will ponder whether a flag discovered by Clarkson was carried by the regiment in battle. [Flags & Uniforms]

Massive flag to commemorate Turkish fallen of the Gallipoli Campaign ntvmsnbc :: 2008-02-08
As of March 18, a huge 330-square metre Turkish flag will fly beside the monument to commemorate the Turkish soldiers who fell during the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign, authorities declared. At 71 metres, the flag's pole will be almost twice as high as the main Turkish memorial on the peninsula: the 41 metre high Canakkale Martyrs' Monument located above Morto Bay on the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The flag will be unrolled on March 18, the 93rd anniversary of the defeat of the combined French and British fleets in their undertake to fight their way through the Dardanelles Strait to Istanbul. [Flags & Uniforms]

Mystery of the service flag fredericksburg :: 2006-11-14
As a National Park Service intern Kati Singel uncovered a mystery when she was working on one of those glamorous projects interns tend to get. She came across a service flag: a 7-foot long banner decorated with 49 blue stars and one gold one. She knew service flags were hung during World War I and II to honor members of the military. But she never heard of them in use during the Civil War and everything at the Chancellorsville center should be from that era. [Flags & Uniforms]

Battle of the Somme Re-enactment - Uniforms and Trenches guardian :: 2006-08-23
For some, the Battle of the Somme has never ended. Gwyn Topham spends a night in the trenches at English Heritage's latest attraction. Jordan, the corporal, has a face that looks so first world war it is barely imaginable in a modern context. His immaculate uniform is a reproduction: genuine outfits are "too expensive and don't fit"; soldiers were smaller then. Living the history brings closer to understanding what the Tommies went through. He recalls talking to one of the very last living veterans. "He said: "You can always tell somebody who's been in the Great War. That look is in your eyes now." [Flags & Uniforms]

First World War in the News is an edited review of hand-picked World War I 1914-1918 articles.