British Rank Insignia Cheat Sheet for Doughboys

During World War I, the American Army was a mostly volunteer force with a very small professional military. With this mostly volunteer force it meant it now had an Army with very little knowledge on many military topics that professional soldiers would know. A large number of American Doughboys had a very quick basic training in America with the idea that Doughboys would receive more detailed training upon arrival in France. As Doughboys hurriedly arrived in France they now had to learn a lot of information on a range of topics. It was extremely common for the detailed training to be completed by their British and French Allies. This created a problem of Doughboys not having any knowledge of French and British rank insignia for the officers and other ranks they were being trained by. This cheat sheet was created to help Doughboys learn the insignia of their British Allies. This cheat sheet breaks down British insignia from Generals all the way down to the lowest soldier as well as a number of different branches and positions. It was instructed that this cheat sheet should be cut out for easy reference in case a Doughboy did not recognize the rank. Items like this cheat sheet were created for Doughboys to help assist at a chaotic time as the underprepared US Army raced to try and prepare itself for fighting on the Western Front.

[Citation: Stars and Stripes March 29, 1918]