Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 213, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1917 — SWORD NOT USED IN MODERN WAR [ARTICLE]

SWORD NOT USED IN MODERN WAR

American Officers Will Not Wear Them on Battlefields in France. TELL TOO MUCH TO ENEMY Commanders Dress Like Privates to Balk Attentions of Hostile Sharpshooters—lnsignia Worn by Various Branches.

Washington. —The traditional sword will not clank at the heels of American army officers in France. This is the first time in American history the officer’s sword has been abandoned in battle. The French and British armies banned swords for their officers during the first year of the war. The American army now follows suit by official order of the war department. The reason is simple and sufficient. During the first year of the war French and British officers were easily distinguishable from their men by their swords, uniforms and insignia and the boche sharpshooters concentrated their fire on them with deadly effect. The idea ever since has been to make commanding officers look as much like enlisted men as possible. Couldn't Tell Haig From Private. If you met General Haig, commander in chief of the British field forces, at the front in France, you couldn’t tell ldin from a private until you got close enough to shake hands with him. The insignia of French, British and American officers on the western front now cannot be seen farther away than the whites, of their eyes can. They wear the same uniforms and carry the same arms as the enlisted men of their commands. The war department has employed experts to devise cloth colors and button and insignia material to make the troops as nearly Invisible as possible. The buttons on the army field service uniform are dark bronze. The insignia on an officer’s coat are small bronze, dull silver or gold devices which cannot be seen across the street. The only difference between the insignia on the collar of an officer and on that of an enlisted man is that the eniioted man’s letters are on a disk.

while an officer’s are in a straight line and separated. Insignia of Various Branches. The arm, corps or staff department a man serves in also is shown on the collar. A general staff officer wears a U. S. coat-of-arins on a five-pointed silver star. In the adjutant general’s department the device is a gold shield. The inspector general’s men wear a sword and fasces crossed and wreathed in gold with the inscription “Droit Et Evant." Judge advocate general’s department, a gold sword and pen crossed and wreathed. Quartermaster’s corps, gold sword and key crossed on a wheel surmounted by a spread eagle. The rim of the wheel is blue enamel set with stars. The medical corps wears a caduceus of gold. A dental surgeon, the same, superimposed in the center of a bronze monogram bearing the letters “D. C/* The ordnaijre department, n shell and flame of Hold. Signal corps, two crossed flags with a gold torch in the center. . ,Cavalry, crossed gold sabersJß’Field artillery, two crossed field guns ln s gold, with regimental number in the upper angle. Coast artillery, two crossed cannons with raised oval center of red enamel, with gold projectile point upon it. Infantry, two crossed gold rifles. Philippine scouts, the same except that “P” replaces the regimental number. Porto Rican regiments the same, with the letters “P. R.” in the upper angle. Aids, wear the shield of the "United States, Its stripes red and white enamel on a field of blue, all bordered In gold and surmounted by a spread eagle. On the blue field a star or stars Indicate the rank of the general on whose staff the aid 1s serving. . Corps, department and arm of the service a man is in also are. shown by the facings and stripes of dress uniforms, but dress uniforms have been banned for the duration of the war. The grade of an officer is shown by his shoulder straps.