Sidney D. Light's WWI Diary, Postcards & Letters, 329th Battery Book Accounts

    Clothes don’t make the man, but they reveal a lot about him and the American soldiers knew it. Their desire to look like what they were made a certain job we know about in the batteries anything but soft, especially just after the armistice was signed and the fellows thought it was time to dress up again.

        Aside from the food the most important issue in the soldier’s life was his clothes. Not all manner of wearing apparel, but his regulation outfit. Fatigue suits and denim hats were easy to get, but puttees and gloves, they were entirely different. When an organization traveled, it traveled all dressed up; that was part of the ordeal, for every man to look his best. But that put more clothes on the bum than any other thing. A few nights in a French box car is enough for any suit, but it did not always stand to reason that such trips marked the end of its service. And that wasn’t the supply sergeant’s fault, either.

        When we left Camp Custer we were all equipped with two complete outfits, but at Camp Mills we turned the extra one in and drew another the next day. We did the same thing the next two days, and the next and the next, until we left. And it just so happened, perhaps, that we left on the day we turned in an outfit; so when we landed in France we had but one, and that looked more like we had been in the recent battles in Flanders than that we had made a summertime ocean voyage. From then on we had but one outfit. That was supposed to be complete but times may be recalled when an article or two was missing. As time advanced the causes for disappearance of articles changed. It seemed that the average soldier hiking along a road under full pack had a different idea of necessary equipment than the fellow who made out the original clothing allowance. Anyhow, before the regiment was long in France the fellows learned to travel light, and get along with as little clothing as possible.

        The first time a soldier appeared in a military formation the clothes he wore represented an expenditure of approximately $45.00. That did not include equipment other than was necessary for presentation as a soldier. There are many articles which are issued as reserve, and as changes, dependent upon the weather. The original clothing allowance consisted of:

1 Waist Belt

1 Woolen Breeches

1 Hat

2 Drawers

1 Pair Gloves

1 Overcoat

1 Pair Leggins

2 Flannel Shirts

1 Slicker

4 Pairs stockings

2 Undershirts

        The overseas allowance differed only in the style of the garments. The old, original half leather riding leggins used by the artillery were replaced by spiral puttees and the campaign hat was discarded for the overseas cap.

        For the man who was accustomed to wearing tailor-made garments an issue of army apparel was a heart-breaking shock. It was a matter of taking what could be had rather than getting what was desired and at times, especially while in the advanced zones, anything would do. Men ordinarily wearing size 32 breeches, 10 ½ socks and 7-C shoes, were glad to grab 38 or 40 breeches, size 13 socks and 11 ½ E shoes, being satisfied to get something to replace his falling-off uniform.

        This was not true, however, after the fighting was over. The supply sergeants had a little war all their own when the time came to go home.

        As a general rule, after a generous issue of new clothing, everything would go along nicely for a while, then things would begin to happen. According to the supply sergeant, it was impossible for only one man to tear up a pair of trousers in a day. Lots of days, however, there would be an epidemic of destructive influences on clothing throughout the companies. "The Wonderful One Hoss Shay" had nothing on army clothes. They would stand to a certain point, and then owner was, by his own volition, confined to quarters until an issue came along; and sometimes for a long time afterward.

        In passing from the topic a word should be said in behalf of the supply sergeants. Certainly there was no grumblesome disposition attendant on these fellows when they came into the army, or the captains would not have made them supply sergeants, so the conclusion reached is that, if they seemed an unusual lot, the job itself had something to do with it. A little confidential talk with any of them would convince anyone that more than anything else the sergeant would choose to give every man just what he wanted. But imagine trying to dress up two hundred men of various sizes and builds with about half a dozen standard army sizes and cuts. It can’t be done! But this much anyhow; our regiment never failed to pass an inspection with flying colors, and it must have been some satisfaction to the supply sergeants to know that others thought we looked good, whether we thought we did or not.