George Barbier: Les alliés à Versailles, 1920

[BoldHighlander]

Great print! The sailor, and the soldier in the left background, are Americans, but what is the sergeant in the blue on the right? Canadian, maybe?

Rank chevrons are upside down... it's not Canadian.

Okay, I've been attempting to do some detective work on the 4th figure (the "sergeant" at far right) in this interesting little puzzle. Right from the start I suspected that this figure probably represents a French pilot, as their uniforms were generally a blue color (British & American pilots uniforms being khaki). The more I started searching the more that he seems to represent a member of the famed Lafayette Escadrille:



Uniforms and Insignias:

Upon completion of his flight training, the student pilot was awarded the badges of a pilot brevet, the wings and star, and his corporal’s stripes.

The style and color of his uniform was a matter of the pilot’s individual personal preferences.

As the illustration shows, the colors of tunics varied from sky blue to navy blue and black, and pants were usually riding breeches, a carry over from the cavalry days. Head gear was either the traditional French military “kepi” or forage overseas cap. High boots or oxfords with “puttees” were usual footwear.

The air service uniforms carried on the older military tradition of colorful uniforms.

Note the Lafayette Escadrilles’ famous lion cub mascot, “Whiskey,” in the illustration [above].

a modern interpretation from the film "Fly Boys" (2006):



Can I prove that this figure represents the Lafayette Escadrille? No.
I even thought at one point that he might have been an artillery officer (the red stripe on the breeches -- the breeches & cap being dark blue; but then remember the blue fringe on the wrong side of the kilt ), but after looking at WWI era photos of French infantry officers, I'm a wee bit doubtful. For me its the color of the tunic & the overseas cap (I noted that French infantry/artillery officers to a man seem to have worn the kepi, whereas a large number of the pilots of Lafayette Escadrille seemed to have favored the overseas cap).

Could I be completely wrong about this? Yes.
However, if he is not a member of Lafayette Escadrille, then I still believe him to be a French pilot.
And if in the end it turns out that someone presents the proof that he is not a pilot, then that'd be great too!

You can see a larger version here of George Barbier's "Les Allies a Versailles".

For more on the Lafayette Escadrille:

The Layfayette Escadrille at NEAM

Lafayette Flying Corps

Lafayette Escadrille

Waterfront Pictures - Lafayette Escadrille (w/ a cool "little" video on this site)

French Uniforms - circa 1920.

[Chas]

If the picture depicts 'the Allies', then it makes sense to have the French represented.

Regards

Chas