December  |  Quartermaster School Flag

This month’s featured artifact is an example of the official flag of the US Army Quartermaster School. The Quartermaster School originally opened in 1910 at the Philadelphia Depot to teach Quartermaster Sergeants, and soon expanded to include officers and senior NCOs before moving to the Schuylkill Arsenal in 1921. On 5 October, 1941, the school moved to Camp Lee (now Fort Lee), Virginia, where it remains to this day. This year the school is celebrating its 75th Anniversary—a period over which it has trained over half a million Soldiers and civilians in the ways of military logistics.

The flag is supposed to be buff colored (although this example appears more yellowish) and features the Quartermaster School coat of arms, which consists of a crest on top, a shield in the middle, and a motto on the bottom. The crest is simply the Quartermaster symbol of the crossed sword and key over a wagon wheel with an eagle atop. The shield contains the liberty bell in one corner (which alludes to the school’s origins in Philadelphia), and the lamp of knowledge above a book (to symbolize the educational nature of the establishment) in the opposite corner. A scroll below the shield has the Latin phrase “Famam Extendimus Factis,” which means “We spread our fame by our deeds.” The flag is trimmed with a gold colored fringe.

This particular flag dates to circa 1970, but the insignia of the Quartermaster School adorning it was authorized on 7 May 1925.

November  |  British Army Kukri Knife

This artifact is an example of the well-known Kukri, or “Gurkha” knife. These knives are a traditional weapon and tool of the Gurkha people of Nepal. The British Army actually employs a special Brigade of Gurkhas using soldiers recruited from Nepal. Among their arsenal of weapons, a Gurkha soldier would have been equipped with one of these. These knives serve well as both close-combat weapons and as field tools, as they excel at chopping, hacking, and slashing. It is an excellent tool for such tasks as cutting logs, clearing vegetation, digging, slaughtering animals, and shelter construction. In close combat, its chopping power is very effective, and there are many stories (if only that) of Gurkhas taking off the heads of enemies with a single stroke.

The Kukri knife has a sharply curved bolo-type blade that tapers to a point at the tip. The blade has a small U-shaped notch near the handle. The handle itself is made from mahogany wood and is attached to the blade by two metal rivets. It is accompanied by a leather scabbard which houses the blade and allows it to be worn by the user. This knife likely came home with a US soldier serving with British Gurkha troops in the China/India/Burma Theater during World War II.

October  |  Hub and Die Collection

These artifacts are a collection of hubs and dies used by the Army’s Quartermasters to produce buttons for various pieces of clothing. This particular set was manufactured by the French button maker Coinderoux (of Paris), which had been in the button-making business since 1814. In 2011, the French Government discovered these in its possession, and the French Army donated them to the US Army as a gift. The collection contains hubs and dies used in the production of buttons from as far back as the Civil War up until the 1950s. Images produced by these include symbols for Quartermasters, Medical Department, Artillery, MPs, and Adjutant General. One of the pieces was used for the manufacture of buttons for the Confederate Army.

The difference between a hub and a die is that a hub has a raised image, and a die has a recessed image. A hub is created to make dies. The dies are then used to make buttons, insignia, etc. There are a couple of reasons for the two step process of making hubs to create dies, then dies to create buttons. One is that it is easier to create a detailed image on the raised (convex) surface of a hub then on the recessed (concave) surface of a die. The other is that dies eventually wear out, and making a new one from a hub is much easier than it would be to make one from scratch.

September  |  Petroleum Pipeline Section

Petroleum fuel is a critical resource upon which the modern mechanized Army is greatly dependent. The Army and its Fuelers rely on various methods of storing and transporting petroleum around theaters of operation, which include the use of trucks and pipelines. In 2003, Quartermasters from the 49th Group along with Army Engineers built an Inland Petroleum Distribution System (IPDS) that was the longest tactical pipeline ever constructed by the Army. The IPDS was a 220 mile long system of pipelines, pumping stations, and storage terminals that stretched from Camp Virginia, Kuwait to Talil, Iraq. This particular artifact was the last piece of pipe installed as part of the system in the Tactical Petroleum Terminal known as Bridge Point West. As evidenced by the markings, this piece of pipe straddled the border between Kuwait and Iraq. The IPDS was capable of pumping 600 gallons of fuel per minute through six-inch aluminum pipes such as this one. This pipeline played a valuable role in providing fuel for the trucks, tanks and assault vehicles used in this theater.

August  |  Water Purification Truck

This month’s artifact is a 2 ½ ton truck outfitted with an ERDLator style water treatment unit capable of purifying up to 1,500 gallons of water per hour. The ERDLator type of water purifier, so called because it was developed by the Engineering Research and Development Laboratory at Fort Belvoir, VA, was first produced for Army use during World War II. This particular truck and unit was in service during the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, and is painted with a woodland camouflage pattern. The primary purpose of these water purifiers was to provide soldiers with safe and palatable drinking water from freshwater sources. As transporting in water supplies from outside of a combat theater is not always a practical option, having the ability to produce it locally is an essential capability. In 1979, the Army would replace ERDLator style water purifiers with the Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit (ROWPU), although these would continue to see use in civilian applications. At the time of this water purification truck’s use, this duty was still under the direction of the Army’s engineers. However, in 1981, the Quartermasters took over the job of water purification, and still handle it today.

July  |  Thomas Nast “Saving the Flag” Painting

Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was a nineteenth-century German-born American artist most known for his political cartoons. Famously, the sketches he created to satire Boss Tweed and his Tammany Hall political machine are credited with helping to bring down the corrupt organization in New York City in the 1870s. His drawings of Santa Claus are also considered the basis for the modern American image of the beloved Christmas character. Nast’s work was not limited to drawings however, and this painting, titled “Saving the Flag,” is an example of his work with the medium.

During the Civil War, Nast made many sketches of events while working as a correspondent for Harper’s Weekly. Later, when Nast had made a change to doing largely commissioned works, he painted “Saving the Flag” based on one of these sketches. Although the sketch upon which Nast based the painting, called “Capturing the Heights of Fredericksburg,” was done in 1863, he did not paint “Saving the Flag” until the 1890s. The painting depicts a soldier hoisting a tattered American flag in the middle of a battlefield scene. Other soldiers around him are shown in various states of battle action, including one bandaged soldier and another lying presumably dead. The hard fought victory in the painting serves to stir patriotic feelings in the viewer. This work would end up displayed in the welcome lobby of the War Department in the 1920s, before eventually making its way to the Quartermaster Corps.

June  |  Attack Dog Training Jacket

This jacket was designed for use by the Army to train dogs as attack animals. During World War II, the Army began its first widespread use of dogs for military purposes, with the responsibility of training the animals being given to the Quartermasters. By the end of the war, the Army had used almost ten thousand dogs to serve in such roles as sentries (guards), scouts, and messengers. A subset of the sentry dogs were trained as attack animals, and were taught to work without a leash and attack when commanded to or provoked. A soldier wearing this could safely serve as a human “target” for a dog being trained to attack.

The jacket’s construction, which features a tan burlap outside, a white canvas inside, and a thick filling of cotton, provided protection from the jaws of attacking canines. It fastens in the front using cotton straps with buckles, while the sleeves are held in place by leather straps. The lower part of the sleeves covering the forearms feature additional padding. The extra protection for this area was necessary because the dogs were trained to attack the arms in particular so as to disarm the targeted person.

May  |  Variable Density Goggles

This artifact is a set of variable density goggles that date to approximately 1950. The goggles feature lenses that the wearer can adjust to vary the amount and quality of light that passes through them. These were meant for pilots and gunners in particular who may have to view bright and potentially blinding images such as tracer fire and bomb blasts. Goggles of this type were first developed during World War II, and were used by the crew members of the Enola Gay, the plane from which the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, to protect them from the flash of the bomb’s blast.

The goggles come in a tin olive drab case along with spare lenses and instructions for use and care. The goggles themselves have black rubber eye protectors around the sides of the lenses and an olive drab elastic band that holds them on the wearer’s head. A knob on the front can be turned to adjust the amount of light coming through the lenses, and a red plastic shield can be flipped down to further alter the viewing experience.

April  |  World War I Portable Scale for Recruiters

The item here is a portable scale manufactured by the Fairbanks Company that was used by Army recruiters during World War I. The Army would use these at recruiting stations around the country to help complete the physical examinations of potential soldiers.

When closed for transport, the scale folds up in the form of a 14 ½” x 27” x 9” rectangular wooden box. Unfolded it reveals a platform and a balance scale with weights. Although the compact nature of the scale when folded up helped make it portable, the user still had to contend with the fact that it weighs more than fifty pounds.

March  |  Spanish-American War Era Footlocker

Dating to the Spanish-American War period of 1898-1899, this footlocker was once owned by a soldier named E. E. Harris, who during that war served in the 15th Infantry in Ciego De Auilo, Cuba. This is evidenced by the words painted on the footlocker’s front panel. The painting also depicts a tropical setting of a house surrounded by palm trees and birds. The footlocker is made of wood with metal handles and hinges. It measures 30 inches long x 15 inches wide, and stands just under 13 inches tall.

The issuing of footlockers to soldiers was a fairly new practice during this period. A footlocker is essentially a storage box, usually made of plywood, in which a soldier can store his or her belongings. The term “footlocker” derives from the fact that they are usually kept at the foot of the soldier’s bed.

February  |  Mexican-American War Guidon

This rare artifact is a guidon carried by the 5th Infantry Regiment during the Mexican-American War (1846-1847). It is one of only a handful of such pieces of heraldry still surviving from this conflict. A guidon is essentially a flag that serves as a standard for a particular unit within the Army. The guidon features a gold field with a red conch shell in the center, on which are listed the names of the various localities in Mexico where the 5th Infantry saw combat. It starts with Veracruz, which was the site of the first amphibious landing by Quartermasters in the Army’s history, and ends with the City of Mexico (Mexico City). The guidon is made primarily of silk and measures approximately 31 ½ inches by 20 ½ inches. Visible across its face is a webbing of thread that was added as a conservation measure and was not part of the original construction. The red fabric exhibits some loss of material, and part of the fringe is missing, but the piece is otherwise in relatively stable condition for its age.