Pvt. Louis Alterici

I apologize for not posting more frequently, but I’ve been focusing on preparing presentations and talks for local historical societies here in my home state of Vermont. Tonight’s post is the first that focuses around a recently-purchased portrait photo. A dealer from the Philadelphia area has been selling off what appears to be an entire collection of WWI portraits from a Charleroi, Pennsylvania photo studio. Of the several dozen portraits sold by this seller in the past two months, I’ve been lucky enough to pick up two photos. The best of the two is the image photograph presented below:

Louis Alterici of Charleroi, PA

At first glance, this photograph clearly presents evidence of damage in the hands of an ink-wielding enemy. Who knows how this was damaged, but it didn’t seem to impact the final value of the photograph, which sold for a healthy $68.00. The particularly interesting elements of the photograph are presented here:

English Style Cap and Engineer Collar Disc

French Croix de Guerre medal w/ silver star and 1st Army patch variant

After a bit of research into the sitter above, it quickly became clear that he was an engineer with the 1st Gas and Flame Regiment, previously the 30th Engineer Regiment. As a Private with the regiment, he would’ve been involved in the maintenance and mobilization of Livens gas projectors during the last several months of the war.

Born on April 21st of 1897 in Naples Italy, Louis emigrated to the United States on May 26th, 1910 in hopes of linking up with family members in Pennsylvania. He gained his citizenship when he was naturalized in May of 1928 due to his service for the U.S. during the war.

The men of the 1st Gas and Flame would be charged with maintaining, resupplying and moving the Liven’s projectors during the tail end of the war. What did this involve?

Levin’s Projector schematic

Louis is sporting a wound chevron in the portrait photo above – he was gassed on November 1st, 1918 only ten days before the Armistice of November 11th.

Note wound chevron (stripe) on right hand sleeve

It’s unclear through the records on how he received his gas wounds, but it’s highly probable that his gassing took place during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, when the 1st Gas Regiment was actively moving forward during the “third-phase” of the offensive. The attack in which Louis was wounded began at 5:30 on the morning of the 1st of November. Sadly, the gas mortars that were projected that morning were done so under less-than-ideal conditions and it appears that shifting wind blew toxic gas back towards the 1st Gas Regiment. All those who were gassed during this event were brought off the line to Sommerance, France where they were treated. All of this information can be found in the unit history of the 1st Gas Regiment, which is hyperlinked here.

Louis’ War Record (Note gassing date)

What Louis achieved after the war is unknown to me, but I hope that he lived a full and rewarding life. His war record and portrait will remain a part of my website, but I hope to pass the photo along to a relative one day.

I picked up this little gem in a Palmer Massachusetts antique store a few months back and never took the time to look at the photo closely until this past week. The frame was intricately created; something not often seen in run of the mill WWI photos. The gold stars on the corners and bottom of the image should have been a dead giveaway. Once I decided to look at the photo a little closer, I took the frame apart from the back and began to uncover the identity of the soldier depicted in the image. I knew he was a member of the 7th Infantry Regiment; this was evidenced in the collar disc. The 7th New York eventually became the 107th Infantry Regiment of the 27th Division. Harold was in Company H.

The reverse of the photo was beautifully inscribed with everything I needed to know to track this fellow down.

Harold Edward Manners

Killed in France in the

Great War, Sept. 29th 1918

aged 23 years

After extensive research I’ve learned that Harold was killed during the operations before the Hindeburg Line east of Ronssoy, September 29th, 2918. His citation for the day reads:

“This soldier, with great gallantry and determination, advanced against unusually difficult enemy positions composed of strongly fortified machine gun nests until killed.”

I found an auction result online that showed his medals which were sold in 2008 at an auction in NY. A beautifully inscribed NY veterans medal for a KIA was included. I wish I had that grouping!