11/11/11 Tribute - M1903 Rifle

[Alan Smith]

The 11/11 holiday got me thinking about a WWI vet that I want to introduce you guys to: my great-grandfather's M1903 rifle that he brought back from France in late 1919, after finishing a 1 year tour of duty with the YMCA doing war relief work. My great-grandfather passed away about 10 years before I was born, so I never got to ask him about the rifle. The oral family history with the rifle, however, is that it was "picked up off of the battlefield in France after WWI". As the documents I show indicate, at one point my great-grandfather was involved in "battlefield salvage" so I guess this duty may have been how he acquired the M1903 rifle and the other war souvenirs I will show you. I know that he toured the former battlefields, as one of these excursions is depicted in some photos I will show later in the thread.

After starting to put this thread together I relized that I have never taken any good photos of the M1903 rifle outdoors in natural light. Thus, I snapped a couple of shots indoors tonight to try to give some idea of what the rifle looks like. I will work to supplement with good photos at a later date.

Anyway, here are my great uncle and I with the rifle about 2 years ago, when he was 95 years old. It was his father that brought the rifle home from France after WWI. My great uncle was born in 1913, so he was about 5 years old when his dad left home to join the YMCA for war relief work in France c. 1918-1919. Apparently my great-grandfather really wanted to get over to France to see what things looked like after the Great War, as he left his law practice and wife and 2 small children at home while he went off for what was apparently quite an adventure for him.

[Alan Smith]

Another photo of my great uncle w/ the rifle. My great uncle was a WWII vet, serving in the PTO on the aircraft carrier USS Hancock. The USS Hancock was commanded by Capt. Gallery (the guy who had captured U-505 earlier in the war).

[Alan Smith]

Here is the receiver, showing it to be a pretty "low number" Rock Island Arsenal gun.

[Alan Smith]

Another view of the receiver. Again, I appologize for the poor quality indoor photos (that I took at the last minute tonight).

[Alan Smith]

View of upper portion of rifle, showing damage to stock that per family oral history is "battle damage" that was on the rifle when it came back from France in December of 1919.

[Alan Smith]

Barrel date of 3-17. My understanding of '03's is that this rifle was manufactured some 10 years or so earlier, but was reworked in early 1917 (w/ new "1917" dated stock and barrel) to get it ready for AEF use in WWI.

[Alan Smith]

Here is my great-grandfather. I think this photo was taken in the 1920's when he was in state politics, so he is probably a few years older than he was at the time of his post-WWI adventure in France.

[Alan Smith]

Here he is in France, wearing his YMCA uniform.

[Alan Smith]

Here is a photo (w/ his handwriting) showing one of the places he lived while in France. If you look closely you can see him standing under the middle arched window on the second story of the home.

[Alan Smith]

Per his records, he spent some time in Gondrecourt, France. I believe this is in the Meuse-Argone area, where the AEF saw a lot of combat.

[Alan Smith]

Here is a copy of a period document which summarizes his YMCA service.

[Alan Smith]

Here you can see the physical locations where he worked. Given the significant WWI battles around Gondrecourt and his work there in the "Salvage Department", I wonder if this may be where the rifle came from?

[Alan Smith]

Here is one of his battlefield tour photos, showing a knocked out German 105mm artillery piece that appears to have been struck by counter-battery fire.

[Alan Smith]

Here is a photo of a landmark know as "Mount Faucon" in the Meuse sector of France. I have done some research and found that the U.S. 32nd Infantry Division fought in this area.

[Alan Smith]

Another damaged German artillery piece.