Artifact of the Month
A Coat of a Noncommissioned Officers from the Women's Motor Corps of America on display at the TC Museum.
A Coat of a Noncommissioned Officers from the Women's Motor Corps of America on display at the TC Museum.
The Women’s Motor Corps of America was established between November 1917 and January 1918 as a volunteer organization of women drivers and mechanics. This uniform coat is the regulation cut and is based upon the design of a similar British organization. They were purchased by the individual who had them custom made. The King’s Blue (also called Royal Blue) collar tabs and embroidered winged wheel was the insignia of the Women’s Motor Corps of America. Rank structure and insignia were similar to the US Army’s, thus the Sergeant of the Hospital Corps chevron on the right sleeve. The red chevron is an Honorable Discharge chevron worn upside down and on the opposite sleeve per regulation. The dark blue chevron is for less than six months service.
The Women’s Motor Corps of America was one of many women’s organizations established during World War I. The exact number of women who joined the motor corps is uncertain but the estimate is between 3,000 and 5,000. While some members of the Women’s Motor Corps of America went overseas to France during the war, most did not.