US Army WWI Serial Number Reference Guide

© Gary Mitchell

This guide is not meant to be a comprehensive reference of the history of serial numbers or identification tags (dog tags). Instead, it is meant to be a handy military research guide for use when attempting to determine the unit of assignment of a WWI Army or Marine Corps service member. The list in this guide is not complete. It comes from examining unit histories, citation reports, casualty reports, state rosters, orders of battle, and actual examples. When using this guide, the following context must be kept in mind:

1. Serial numbers were first issued in February 1918. The Army directed that serial number assignments be completed by February 28th, but some distributions appear to have spilled over into early March. This first issue of serial numbers is the focus of this list. Serial numbers assigned after February/March 1918 are not addressed (effectively 1 to 2,380,000 is covered).

2. A different means of serial number assignment appears to have been used after Feb/Mar 1918 based on the very limited amount of research I put into that question. I have no opinion as to whether it is hard or impossible to create a unit - serial number list for numbers above 2,238,000. The army directive initially describing this later scheme noted that for “each man subsequently entering the service, a number will be assigned by the recruiting or other proper officer at the time of enlisting in or otherwise entering the service.” This suggests that unit – serial number relations cannot be established.

3. Since the list links serial numbers to units of assignment, any personnel move, such as a transfer, immediately breaks this chain. This list can only tell you where a service member was assigned in Feb/Mar 1918. Often the service member stayed in the same unit through the war, which is why this list is a useful research tool. However there are exceptions and you need to be aware of. Some units, such as the 40th Division, were treated as depot units and troops from these units were sent as replacements to the combat divisions (thus the combat service of these troops is never with the unit of assignment in Feb/Mar 1918).

4. Serial numbers were assigned in blocks to specific posts and geographical areas. Most continental US assignment blocks to posts where divisions had been organized contained 35,000 numbers. That’s why National Guard (26th through 42nd) and National Army (76th through 93rd) divisions typically have a sequential relationship to the serial numbers used by its members. (But see rule 11- about AEF blocks). Most Regular Army stateside divisions (3rd through 7th) were assembled from component units stationed at different posts, which creates a serial number structure in the division which is not contiguous or related except where several of the units may have come from the same post or camp.

5. Because draftees from the same part of the country tended to be sent to the same post, there is a geographical relationship to draftee serial numbers and certain groups of states. Even if you can’t find a unit to match up with a serial number, you can make some

educated guesses as to the states from which the service member might have come. This in turn suggests the places you might focus on for your research. Some posts, however, such as Kelly Field, Texas, were used as branch schools and so troops from all over the country were sent there, and conclusions as to a state’s relationship to a post/block of serial numbers are generally incorrect in these cases.

6. My opinion is that there were certain initial blocks of serial numbers that were not exhausted. Therefore I do not believe there is a name for every potential serial number in the range 1 – 2,238,000.

7. It is easier to identify assigned blocks for larger units. Therefore many small units are not addressed in this guide. I focused on the primary combat organizations when creating this list.

8. All posts/locations did not follow the same methodology when assigning numbers from their allocated block. Thus the “rules” of issuing a serial number in the AEF are different than the rules used at Fort X, which are different than at Fort Y.

9. Officers were not assigned serial numbers until after the war. 10. Since the serial number block 1 – 310,000 was assigned to the existing forces already in

Europe, serial number 1 went to a service member serving in the AEF in Feb/Mar 1918. 11. The AEF assigned serial numbers by branch (medical corps, aviation, infantry, artillery,

engineers, etc) so for example all AEF Feb/Mar 1918 medical personnel have contiguous serial numbers in the range 1 – 18,000. This explains why divisions that were in the AEF at time of initial serial number distribution (1st, 2nd, 26th, 42nd) appear to have a very confused mélange of serial number ranges compared to the consistent serial number ranges observed for divisions located at a stateside camp in the same period.

12. Units that arrived in the AEF after Feb/Mar 1918 but who had not yet been assigned serial numbers because they were in transit when numbers were handed out, were given numbers in the not initially exhausted block assigned to the AEF. Thus a member of a Base Hospital that arrived after Mar 1918 and which had not had serial numbers assigned in the US, would have been given a number in the range 237,000 to 310,000.

13. Marines assigned to the AEF were given army serial numbers. 14. For every “rule” noted above, there is always an exception.

Initial Blocks of serial numbers assigned to posts and geographical locations in late Feb 1918 and the principle units which received SN distributions there.

AEF 1 - 310,000 1/2/26/32/41/42 Divs Manila 310,001 - 330,000 Honolulu 330,001 - 345,000 Panama 345,001 – 360,000 Ft. Slocum, NY 360,001 – 410,000 Ft. Thomas, KY 410,001 – 430,000 Columbus Barracks, OH 430,001 – 460,000

Jefferson Barracks, MO 460,001 – 500,000 Ft. Logan, CO 500,001 – 520,000 Ft. McDowell, CA 520,001 – 540,000 Camp Greene, NC 540,001 – 575,000 NE Dept, Boston MA 575,001 – 595,000 General Eastern Dept 595,001 – 715,000 SE Dept, Charleston SC 715,001 – 815,000 W Dept, San Francisco CA 815,001 – 900,000 Central Dept, Chicago IL 900,001 – 1,000,000 So Dept, Ft Sam Houston TX 1,000,001 – 1,200,000 Camp Wadsworth, SC 1,200,001 – 1,235,000 27th Div Camp Hancock, GA 1,235,001 – 1,270,000 28th Div Camp McClellan, AL 1,270,001 – 1,305,000 29th Div Camp Sevier, SC 1,305,001 – 1,340,000 30th Div Camp Wheeler, GA 1,340,001 – 1,375,000 31st Div Camp Logan, TX 1,375,001 – 1,410,000 33rd Div Camp Cody, NM 1,410,001 – 1,445,000 34th Div Camp Doniphan, OK 1,445,001 – 1,480,000 35th Div Camp Bowie, TX 1,480,001 – 1,515,000 36th Div Camp Sheridan, AL 1,515,001 – 1,550,000 37th Div Camp Shelby, MS 1,550,001 - 1,585,000 38th Div Camp Beauregard, LA 1,585,000 – 1,620,000 39th Div Camp Kearny, CA 1,620,001 – 1,655,000 40th Div Camp Devens, MA 1,655,001 – 1,695,000 76th Div Camp Upton, NY 1,695,001 – 1,735,000 77th Div Camp Dix, NJ 1,735,001 – 1,775,000 78th Div Camp Meade, MD 1,775,001 – 1,815,000 79th Div Camp Lee, VA 1,815,001 – 1,855,000 80th Div Camp Jackson, SC 1,855,001 – 1,895,000 81st Div Camp Gordon, GA 1,895,001 – 1,935,000 82nd Div Camp Sherman, OH 1,935,000 – 1,975,000 83rd Div Camp Taylor, KY 1,975,001 – 2,015,000 84th Div Camp Custer, MI 2,015,001 – 2,055,000 85th Div Camp Grant, IL 2,055,001 – 2,095,000 86th Div Camp Pike AR 2,095,001 – 2,135,000 87th Div Camp Dodge, IA 2,135,001 – 2,175,000 88th Div Camp Funston, KS 2,175,001 – 2,215,000 89th Div Camp Louis, TX 2,215,001 – 2,255,000 90th Div Camp Lewis, WA 2,255,001 – 2,295,000 91st Div POE, Hoboken, NJ 2,295,001 – 2,335,000 POE, Newport News, VA 2,335,001 – 2,365,000 Camp Fremont, CA 2,365,001 – 2,380,000

The AEF block of serial numbers (1 – 310,000) was distributed based on a branch based scheme. Thus all members of units within a specific branch (for example infantry) were assigned numbers from a sub-block within the master AEF block. In our example, the infantry sub-block seems to run from 38,000 to 105,000. This range has been established by examining books, rosters, and other documents which mention serial numbers, and not from an official AEF list or order. Within the sub-block, lower numbered units were given lower numbers. Again examining the AEF infantry example, the 9th Infantry Regiment (the lowest numbered Army infantry unit in the AEF in Feb/Mar 1918) received the number range 38,000 – 41,000 and the 369th infantry (the highest numbered infantry unit in the AEF at that timeframe) received numbers in the range 103,000 – 104,000. With that understanding, the following list details the branch sub-blocks used in the AEF as determined by data evaluation of existing secondary sources.

Medical 1 – 18,000 Aviation 18,000 – 38,000 Infantry 38,000 – 105,000 Machine Gun 105,000 – 112,000 HQ Trains and MPs 114,000 Marines 116,000 – 122,000 Field Artillery 124,000 – 146,000 Trench Mortar 146,000 – 147,000 Coast Artillery 147,000 – 152,000 Anti-Aircraft 153,000 – 154,000 Engineers 154,000 – 194,000 Engineer Trains 196,000 – 197,000 Signal 197,000 – 202,000 Ammunition Trains 203,000 – 207,000 Ordnance 207,000 – 208,000 Cavalry 208,000 – 209,000 Supply Trains 212,000 – 214,000 Motor Supply Trains 215,000 – 217,000 Quarter Master Repair 217,000 – 219,000 Stevedore/Labor Bns 219,000 – 235,000 GHQ AEF 236,000

It is possible to break down each branch sub-block into the units that were available in the AEF, but that is a very space consuming exercise, and for the most part consists of holes with occasional data points that prove the methodology is accurate. For example, the Aviation sub-block apparently consists of 20,000 numbers, but these were divided among at least 100 aviation units, each of which consisted of only a couple hundred men. In order to keep this study to a manageable length I will not breakdown the sub-blocks into their unit ranges. Those primary combat units which were assigned to divisions will show up in the division tables, representing many of the numbers of interest. If a researcher is interested in a specific number in an AEF sub-block range and it does not trace to one of the divisional units detailed later in this pamphlet, contact the author and he will provide potential units that were associated with the serial number in question.

After the initial branch based distribution scheme documented above had been executed, units arrived in the AEF which had not been assigned numbers in the United States. These units were given numbers from the unassigned ranges remaining in the AEF master block. For example, the 32nd Division fell into this condition, and was assigned numbers in the 261,000 – 301,000 range. See the division tables for the exact unit ranges within the division. It does not appear that the arrival of un-serial numbered units completely exhausted the AEF master block, and some serial numbers appear not to have been assigned to anyone. As a final note, serial number 1 went to Arthur B. Crean, and each service man holding numbers in the range 1 - 10 are known by name.

# # # The final part of this pamphlet deals with the divisions that were organized prior to the distribution of serial numbers. As we have already seen, divisions in the AEF in the Feb/Mar 1918 timeframe consisted of units THAT WERE assigned serial numbers from the AEF master block and sub-blocks. The serial numbers in these AEF divisions thus have no contiguous range of serial numbers that applies to the entire division. Divisions organized and still located in the US as of Feb 1918 were assigned serial numbers from the blocks assigned to posts (see list #1 above) and thus have a contiguous range of serial numbers that spans the entire division.

Divisions were complicated formations, and contained many small units that had only a few hundred members. It also had a number of large organizations, such as infantry (3600 men), artillery (1500 men), and engineer regiments 1400 men). The reality of how the serial number data was obtained and evaluated by the author biases the results towards these larger units. Thus the divisional ranges quoted below will account only for the larger units, and the reader should understand that there were other personnel in the division (signal corps, medical, trains, mps, etc) that are not included in the tables but which had serial numbers that were part of the division sequence. The units represented in the tables account for approximately 80% of the personnel in a WWI US Army division.

A final caution is in order. The amount of data available to the author in assigning unit ranges was sometimes very limited. Thus the ranges quoted are subject to some degree of uncertainty. Any range quoted is always supported by at least two data points defining an upper and lower bound, but additional data points would in all likelihood expand the ranges by hundreds of numbers in one direction or another. That explains why some units seem to have smaller ranges than their peers (limited data which doesn’t allow for the full range to be stated), and why gaps sometimes exist between two units within a division that ought to share a contiguous range. One exception applies to the 2nd Division. A report exists which gives the exact ranges reserved for each ARMY unit of the division, and thus the data in the table below for that unit is definitive except for the Marine component which was reconstructed using the usual techniques.

1st Division 2nd Division

16 INF 41000 – 44000 9 INF 38001 – 41600 18 INF 45000 – 48000 23 INF 48801 - 52400 26 INF 52000 – 55000 5 MAR 116000 - 119000 28 INF 56000 – 58000 6 MAR 120000 - 122000

5 FA 124000 12 FA 128201 - 129700 6 FA 125000 – 126000 15 FA 129701 – 131200 7 FA ? 17 FA 131201 - 132900 1 ENG 154000 – 155000 2 ENG 156081 - 157680

3rd Division 4th Division

4 INF 2337000 – 2340000 39 INF 555000 – 557000 7 INF 540000 – 543000 47 INF 557000 - 558000 30 INF 545000 – 548000 58 INF 559000 - 560000 38 INF 549000 – 551000 59 INF 560000 - 562000 10 FA 107000 & 1038000 - 1039000 13 FA 562000 - 563000 18 FA 1043000 16 FA 564000 76 FA 1550000 - 1551000 77 FA 566000 6 ENG 157000 – 158000 4 ENG 568000

5th Division 6th Division

60 INF 2382000 – 2384000 51 INF 739000 – 740000 61 INF 2385000 – 2388000 52 INF 741000 6 INF 730000 – 734000 53 INF 446000 - 448000 11 INF 734000 – 736000 54 INF 417000 - 419000 19 FA 1044000 3 FA ? 20 FA ? 11 FA 1039000 21 FA 1097000 78 FA ? 7 ENG 915000 (?) 318 ENG ?

7th Division 26th Division

55 INF 479000 - 480000 101 INF 59000 – 62000 56 INF 481000 – 483000 102 INF 63000 - 66000 34 INF 485000 – 487000??? 103 INF 67000 - 70000 64 INF 453000 – 455000 104 INF 70000 - 73000 8 FA 1033000-1034000 101 FA 132000 -133000 79 FA ? 102 FA 135000 80 FA ? 103 FA 136000 5 ENG ? 101 ENG 185000

27th Division 28th Division

105 INF 1203000 - 1205000 109 INF 1235000 – 1237000 106 INF 1206000 – 1208000 110 INF 1238000 - 1242000 107 INF 1209000 – 1212000 111 INF 1242000 - 1246000 108 INF 1213000 – 1215000 112 INF 1247000 - 1249000 104 FA 1217000 107 FA 1250000 - 1251000 105 FA 1218000 108 FA 1251000 - 1252000 106 FA ? 109 FA 1253000 - 1254000

102 ENG ? 103 ENG 1254000 - 1255000 29th Division 30th Division

113 INF 1276000 - 1278000 117 INF 1307000 – 1309000 114 INF 1279000 – 1281000 118 INF 1310000 - 1312000 115 INF 1283000 – 1286000 119 INF 1314000 - 1317000 116 INF 1287000 – 1290000 120 INF 1319000 - 1321000 110 FA ? 113 FA 1323000 - 1324000 111 FA ? 114 FA 1325000 - 1326000 112 FA ? 115 FA 1326000 - 1327000 104 ENG 1270000 105 ENG 1328000 - 1329000

32nd Division 33rd Division

125 INF 261000 - 263000 129 INF 1381000 – 1382000 126 INF ? 130 INF 1383000 - 1384000 127 INF 273000 – 2756000 131 INF 1386000 - 1387000 128 INF 283000 – 284000 132 INF 1388000 - 1391000 119 FA 297000 122 FA 1375000 - 1376000 120 FA 2302 123 FA 1376000 - 1377000 121 FA 2303-2304 124 FA 1378000 107 ENG ? 108 ENG 1393000 – 1394000

35th Division 36th Division

137 INF 1448000 141 INF 1481000 – 1484000 138 INF 1452000 – 1453000 142 INF 1489000 - 1491000 139 INF 1456000 – 1458000 143 INF ? 140 INF 1458000 – 1462000 144 INF ? 128 FA ? 131 FA ? 129 FA 1464000 132 FA ? 130 FA 1466000 133 FA ? 110 ENG 1467000 - 1468000 111 ENG ?

37th Division 42nd Division

145 INF 1516000 - 1519000 165 INF 88000 – 91000 146 INF 1520000 – 1523000 166 INF 92000 - 94000 147 INF 1543000 – 1545000 167 INF 97000 - 98000 148 INF 1528000 – 1531000 168 INF 101000 - 102000 134FA 1532000 149 FA 141000 - 142000 135 FA 1533000 - 1534000 150 FA 144000 136 FA 1535000 - 1536000 151 FA 145000 112 ENG 1537000 - 1538000 117 ENG ?

77th Division 78th Division

305 INF 1696000 - 1699000 309 INF 1735000 – 1736000 306 INF 1701000 – 1702000 310 INF 1762000 - 1764000 307 INF 1704000 – 1706000 311 INF 1745000 - 1749000 308 INF 1707000 – 1711000 312 INF 1750000 - 1752000 304 FA 1713000 307 FA 1753000 - 1754000 305 FA 1714000 308 FA ? 306 FA 1716000 309 FA ? 302 ENG 17160000 - 1717000 310 ENG 1742000

79th Division 80th Division

313 INF 1781000 317 INF 1817000 – 1818000 314 INF 1782000 – 1783000 318 INF 1820000 - 1821000 315 INF 1784000 – 1785000 319 INF 1826000 - 1827000 316 INF 1785000 – 1786000 320 INF 1829000 - 1831000 310 FA ? 313 FA ? 311 FA ? 314 FA 1834000 - 1835000 312 FA ? 315 FA 1836000 - 1837000 304 ENG 1791000 305 ENG 1838000

81st Division 82nd Division

321 INF ? 325 INF 1897000 – 1899000 322 INF 1864000 326 INF 1901000 - 1903000 323 INF ? 327 INF 1905000 - 1907000 324 INF 1858000 – 1859000 328 INF 1910000 - 1911000 316 FA ? 319 FA ? 317 FA ? 320 FA ? 318 FA ? 321 FA ? 306 ENG ? 307 ENG 1917000

88th Division 89th Division

349 INF ? 353 INF 2175000 – 2177000 350 INF 3230000 - 3231000 354 INF 2178000 - 2179000 351 INF ? 355 INF 2181000 - 2182000 352 INF 2703000 - 2704000 356 INF 2183000 - 2185000 337 FA ? 340 FA 2187000 338 FA ? 341 FA 2187000 - 2188000 339 FA ? 342 FA ? 313 ENG ? 314 ENG 2176000

90th Division 91st Division

357 INF 2216000 - 2217000 361 INF 2256000 – 2257000 358 INF 2220000 362 INF 2259000 - 2261000 359 INF 2224000 – 2226000 363 INF 2264000 - 2265000 360 INF 2228000 – 2229000 364 INF 2266000 - 2267000

343 FA ? 346 FA ? 344 FA ? 347 FA ? 345 FA ? 348 FA ? 315 ENG 2236000 - 2237000 316 ENG 2272000 – 2273000

92nd Division MISCELLANEOUS

365 INF 2073000 369 INF 104000 366 INF 2168000 – 2169000 370 INF 1401000 - 1403000 367 INF ? 371 INF 1801000 – 1802000 368 INF 1799000 - 1800000 1869000 - 1872000 349 FA 1766000 372 INF 2335000 - 2336000 350 FA 1768000 9 CAV 313000 - 314000 351 FA ? 10 CAV 1007000 - 1009000 317 ENG 1972000 - 1973000 24 INF 1022000 - 1024000

25 INF 335000 - 336000