Other Foreign Forces
An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcards is the standard reference book on embroidered silk postcards. It contains references to over 2600 different cards with over 270 illustrations. The Listings on this website list cards discovered since the book was published, plus an additional section on Greetings Cards. The new additions are shown in RED.
Embroidered silk postcards exist for military units from Switzerland and the United States. The Swiss forces were essentially Border Forces to protect the country from alien forces, and people fleeing the war zones in the rest of Europe. Most caption on the cards include the German word GRENZBESETZUNG, which translates as frontier occupation. A few cards are known from the Second World War and they have an appliquéd embroidered designs. All Swiss military cards are very rare.
The United States did not enter the First World War until April 1917, so their military cards are less widely available than those of most other countries. Most of the cards that do exist have unique designs not seen elsewhere. The publishers seem to have sourced the silk panels from Switzerland and manufactured them in the United States. United States military cards are rare to very rare.
Images of a representative selection of cards are shown beneath the listings.
Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.
No part may be reproduced, stored, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.
SWISS BORDER FORCES
General
AUX FRONTIERES
GRENZBESETZUNG
GRENTZBESETZUNG 1914/15
GRENZEBESETZUNG 1914 1918
GRENZBESETZUNG 1916
GRENZBESETZUNG 1939-1940 (printed)
MOBILISATION 1939-1943 (printed)
SOLDATENGRUSS
SOUVENIR
ZUR ERINNERUNG AN DIE
GRENZBESETZUNG 1939/40 (printed)
Artillery Regiments
ARTILLERIEGRUSS GRENZBESETZUNG 1914-17
ARTILLERIEGRUSS GRENZBESETZUNG 1914-18
Infantry Regiments
GRENZBESETZUNG BAT 91
REG 31 GRENZBESETZUNG
REG 32 GRENZBESETZUNG
REG 33 GRENZBESETZUNG
UNITED STATES FORCES
General
USA
US ARMY OUR NATION’S PRIDE
Air Force
AVIAT.
AVT (Aviation)
US AVIATION
Artillery
CA (Coastal Artillery)
CA CORPS
FIELD ART
USA ARTILLERY
Cavalry
CAV
USA
Engineer Corps
(Badge only)
39TH ENG MARCY 1919 SOUVENIR DE FRANCE
39TH ENGRS USA SOUVENIR DE FRANCE
ENG
USA
USA ENGINEER
Infantry
US INFANTRY
USA INFANTRY
27th DIV. SOUVENIR DE FRANCE
Machine Gun Corps
M.G.
M. GUN
Marine Corps
US MARINES
Medical Corps
MD
USA MEDICAL
MED
Motor Transport Corps
MTC VERNEUIL AEF SOUVENIR DE FRANCE 1919
Ordnance Corps
ORD
ORD DEPT
Q.M.C.
QU. M.
QUARTER M.
USA QUARTERMASTER
Signal Corps
SIG
SIG CORPS
US Navy
USN WITH YOU
United States Army, Motor Transport Corps.