People often email to me, asking if I have rosters
of the Spruce Squadrons who served in the First World
War in Washington and Oregon. For the most part, I
do not, and generally cannot connect a soldier's name with
a particular unit. Aside from a few items in my collection,
I have received scans of several additional rosters, courtesy
of some very generous correspondents. See below for those that
I have posted on my website.
See my Spruce Squadron history page
for general information about these units that served in
the U. S. in 1918.
There is
an article on Wikipedia that discusses the Spruce Production Division history
and operations
.
The Wikipedia article mentions that:
At the U.S. National Archives in Seattle,
there are approximately 187 cubic feet (5.3 m3) of records related to the division,
as well as "a complete roster of all military personnel in the Spruce
Production Division as of 1 November 1918."[5]
The reference given with this statement is:
article about
the National Archives material describing the Spruce Squadrons.
As noted above, some generous collectors and correspondents have supplied scans of some rosters, which supplement the few that I have in my collection. For the most part, these are PDF files. See this page on downloading and viewing PDF files, for more information.
Roster of
the 16th Spruce Squadron (generously supplied by a collector, this brochure is dated December 1, 1918)
[More information about the 16th Spruce Squadron]
This item is not only a roster, but is a complete booklet about
the history of this unit. The 17th was one of the units that ran
the "cut up plant" in Vancouver, Washington. The booklet contains
very important information about the formation and operation of
the unit, as well as the construction and operation of the cut-up
plant, not available elsewhere. The book is located in the Washington
State Library. A correspondent was able to secure a PDF file scan
of the book.
The book's catalog entry is located at: history of the 17th Spruce, located at the Washington State Library.
The PDF scan of the entire booklet, including the roster is at:
17th Spruce history and roster booklet. Just the photos in this booklet
make up a terrific resource of Spruce Squadron history.
[More information about the 17th Spruce Squadron]
Roster of
the 26th Spruce Squadron (from a souvenir program for a Thanksgiving
dinner held December 1, 1918)
[More information about the 26th Spruce Squadron]
Roster of
the 28th Spruce Squadron (from a souvenir book printed for the unit in December 1918)
[More information about the 28th Spruce Squadron]
Roster of
the 43rd Spruce Squadron (image from Washington State Historical
Society, probably from a souvenir booklet (dated December 10, 1918) produced before the
unit was demobilized.)
[More information about the 43rd Spruce Squadron]
Souvenir Book with Roster of
the 53rd Spruce Squadron (scans generously provided by the owner of an original copy of the book).
I have extracted the text from the book images, so here is
one item from the book:
A 'story' created for the book, describing an outside
visitor's experience at the spruce camp.
I can offer a roster listing, grouped by Unit organization, at:
the 53rd Spruce Squadron roster, grouped by unit organization,
as well as the roster, sorted by last name at:
the 53rd Spruce Squadron roster, sorted by last name.
[More information about the 53rd Spruce Squadron]
Roster of
the 79th Spruce Squadron (from a souvenir booklet produced before the
unit was demobilized. This folder was shared with me by the family
of Abe Meeks, whose name appears in the roster.)
[More information about the 79th Spruce Squadron]
Roster of
the 93rd Spruce Squadron generously provided by a
family member.
[More information about the 93rd Spruce Squadron]
General Spruce Squadron Information
WWI Information (including Bob's WW I Books)
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Updated
August 18, 2020