AUCTIONS Poulin's Online Firearms Auction, December 3-5, 2023 PRE-WW2 184TH US INFANTRY FLAG.

1114 PRE-WW2 184TH US INFANTRY FLAG.

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This item SOLD at 2023 Dec 03 @ 11:12UTC-5 : EST/CDT
Category Firearms & Military
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 150.00 USD
Estimated at 300.00 - 500.00 USD
Regulation unusually large 5' x 6' double applique machine and hand embroidered regimental crest in the center of the Eagle On army Bluefield. The crest features three devices, a cactus, a battle axe and a Fleur-dis-lis and above the Eagle is the Bear of California with the rays of the Sun behind it. The unit motto, “Let's Go,” is in the streamer in the Eagle's beak. The issue date is worn on the Philadelphia quartermaster depot label inside sleeve. Typically flags from World War 2 and after are 3' x 4', this flag may predate the war when flags were larger pre-1931, this unit actually formed with this designation in 1924. The genesis of this regiment was two companies of California Militia dating to the middle to late 19th Century: The Sarsfield Grenadier Guards and the Auburn Greys. The former company formed on July 29, 1870 in Sacramento. It was named for Patrick Sarsfield, the famous Irish military commander of the late 1600s who led Jacobite forces. At least one other American military company was named for him, the Sarsfield Southrons, Co. C, 22nd Mississippi Infantry in the Civil War. The latter, and the California company, was made up of Irishmen. In February 1872, the company became Co. G of the 4th California Infantry Regiment and this connection lasted until March 1877 when the regiment was disbanded. The Guards then transferred to the 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade. Three years later they became part of the 1st Artillery Regiment, also of the 4th Brigade. In December 1895, however, the brigade was disbanded and the Guards were transferred to the 3rd Brigade becoming Company G of the 11th Battalion. The other related unit that formed at this time was the 2nd California Infantry which was made up of the 1st Artillery and the 8th Infantry Regiment. As with many militia and National Guard units of the era, they performed some ceremonial duties as well as those dealing with strikes, riots and natural disasters. When President Benjamin Harrison came to Sacramento in 1891the Guards were his escort. They did similar duty a year later for the Grand Army of the Republic Day. The railroad strike of 1894 found them deployed to keep the peace as such events sometimes turned violent. For the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Guards were used to fight the post-quake fires that burned a large swath of the city as well as helping in the rescue of people. From June 1916 to April 1917, the Guards were sent as part of the National Guard contingent to protect the Mexican border from Pancho Villa's raiders. For the Spanish/American War, part of the 2nd California was Federalized as part of the 8th California Volunteer Infantry but they never left the U.S. When they were demobilized the 2nd California companies were returned to their parent regiment. In May 1907, the 2nd California was made into a smaller command and merged with the 6th California Infantry to become the new 2nd California Infantry Regiment. As with other unit of the California Guard, they were sent to the Mexican border serving from June 1916 to November. The coming of World War One found the 2nd California being mustered into Federal service in late March 1917. With so many state units coming into that service, the U.S. Army created a system of divisions and plugged the various units into them. The 2nd California was originally part of the 19th Division which consisted of units from several other western states. In September, the division was renumbered as the 40th Division. Later that month a portion of the 2nd California was merged with the 5th California to become the new 159th Infantry Regiment of the 40th Division. The remainder of the 2nd was merged with the 7th California thus becoming the new 160th Infantry Regiment of the same division. The 40th Division was sent to the new Camp Lewis (later Fort Lewis, now Joint Base Lewis/McCord) as well as Camp Funston near San Francisco. As would happen with other new divisions forming and training for the war, men and equipment were taken from them to help form and equip other new divisions. This practice carried over into World War Two which made creating a cohesive division difficult. By August 1918, the 40th Division was in France to take part in the tail end of the German Ludendorff Offensive which had cracked the Allied lines with the aim to disrupt the newly arriving American divisions. The 40th Division, after its arrival, was changed to a depot division with the new designation of 6th Depot Division. Their mission changed to one of supplying men to the other combat divisions and by the end of the war the 6th Depot had supplied some 27,000 replacement soldiers of whom over 14,000 would be killed or wounded. The war now concluded, the 40th Division was shipped back home and demobilized near San Diego in April 1919. A month later, the portion of the old 2nd California that had become part of the 159th Infantry were de-Federalized along with those who had become part of the 160th Infantry. The 2nd California earned one campaign streamer for their service in the war. In 1924, the 184th Infantry Regiment was formed using the 2nd California as its basis save for the elements that were based near San Francisco. With their headquarters in the state capital of Sacramento, they became part of the 40th Division, California National Guard. In 1927, some of the new regiment were dispatched to help deal with the riots in Folsom State Prison. In 1929, elements of the 184th Infantry were detached to help form the new 185th Infantry Regiment. In 1934, the huge strike of longshoremen and sailors along the west coast went out on strike which would last for nearly three months. Violence ensued in San Francisco as part of the strike and a portion of the 185th was sent there to restore order. In March 1941, the Army National Guard across the nation was Federalized and the 184th Infantry formed up near San Luis Obispo. Originally only for a year's service and training, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed that. Not long afterward, the 184th moved to San Diego and were placed to repel any Japanese invasion threat where they were spread out along the coast. After this service, they were sent back to Washington at Fort Lewis and also at the Presidio in San Francisco. While at the latter location, the 184th was removed from the 40th Division becoming part of the Western Defense Command in June 1942. In November they became part of the 7th Infantry Division where they were reinforced to become the 184th Regimental Combat Team. In July 1943, the regiment was sent to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska taking part in the attack on the Japanese held island of Kiska in mid-August. With the landing unopposed, they soon found that the Japanese garrison had been evacuated by a warship in late July. This gave the regiment the honor of the only regiment of the National Guard to recapture former enemy held American soil since the War of 1812. Soon after, the regiment moved to Hawaii. After rest and more training, the 184th Infantry was sent west for the invasion of Kwajalein landing in February 1944. As the Japanese had long held this island (and the rest of the Marshalls chain), the defenses were well prepared but by the end some 8000 enemy troops were killed in the battle. The 184th then became the first National Guard unit to liberate land that had been part of the Japanese Empire since before the war began. The 184th was then sent back to Hawaii to receive replacements and train for further operations. In mid-September, the regiment was sent to Eniwetok which had been planned to be used to stage troops for the attack on Yap but the American landings in the Philippines changed that and the unit was then sent to take part in that campaign. In mid-October, the regiment landed on Leyte. They then moved inland to tackle jungle and mountainous terrain and well-dug in Japanese defenses. The tenacious defense caused a lot of casualties in the regiment including during their part of the defense against a Japanese attack on the Palanas River. In late November, the 7th Infantry Division and the 184th Infantry was replaced by the 11th Airborne Division and the former was redeployed to attack on a different part of the island. As part of this new American offensive, the 7th Infantry Division captured a number of towns along with invading smaller islands that were nearby to Leyte. In February 1945, the division was relieved from the front and began to prepare for their part in the pending invasion of Japan via Okinawa. Landing there in April, the division along with the 96th Infantry Division, were tasked with attacking the southern portion of the large island. The 184th found heavy fighting in what would become known as the Pinnacle, a large rock formation strongly held by Japanese troops. From her they moved to take a well defended ridge line but suffered large losses with many units below 50 per cent of authorized strength. The 184th traded attacks and counter-attacks for a time along Gala Ridge before securing it. They then moved to cut off a large portion of enemy troops and there the campaign ended for them. The 7th Infantry Division was then rested to make ready for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, which, thankfully for all concerned, was canceled thanks to the dropping of the two Atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan in early September 1945. The 7th Infantry Division was then sent to Korea to disarm Japanese forces there and upon arrival took the surrender of the enemy forces there. During their time in Korea, soldiers with enough point to rotate home did so while those left behind would help for form a new 31st Infantry Regiment, the original unit having been destroyed in the Philippines on Bataan in early 1942. This regiment would replace the 184th as a component of the 7th Infantry Division and in mid-January 1946, the 184th Infantry was deactivated. By August, the regiment had been assigned to the 49th Infantry Division of the California National Guard. The regiment's service in the Pacific Theater earned them several battle streamers for their colors. The regiment also earned two Presidential Unit Citations. In May 1959, the Army redid their regimental system calling them Combined Arms Regimental System units and the 184th was reorganized under that incarnation. Remaining with the 49th Division, they were part of the two battle groups with a portion of the old 184th regiment used to form two command units of the 1st and 2nd Battle Group. In March 1963, the 184th was again reorganized as the 1st and 2nd Battalions as part of the 49th Division. In August 1965, these battalions were dispatched to Los Angeles to help deal with the riots in Watts. In December of that year, the 184th was again reorganized as the 1st Battalion of the 49th Division. In January 1968, this battalion became part of the new 49th Infantry Brigade and in November 1976, they became part of the 40th Armored Division, California National Guard. Their part in American military operations of the 21st Century began when two companies of the 1st Battalion were sent to Kuwait. As part of the American presence there they helped protect that border with Iraq but the mission changed after the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001. Between January and July 2002, both companies had been returned back to California. In August 2004, the full battalion was mobilized for the invasion of Iraq moving to several posts in the U.S. for training and readiness before moving back to Kuwait in January 2005. They were then attached to the 3rd Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team and took part in operations in the Baghdad area. During their time on the ground, the battalion was reinforced with tanks and other units to allow them to conduct full task force operations. One of their missions while there was for one company to provide security for the Iraqi National Assembly as they met for the first time. Their mission over after a year, the battalion rotated back to California after losing the most men in action from a unit from that state since the Korean War. In January 2006 they were demobilized at Fort Bliss in Texas. The unit earned two Campaign Streamers for their actions. While the bulk of the battalion served in Iraq, the rear elements were sent to Louisiana to help assist with recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina in early September 2005. Based in New Orleans, the troops assisted law enforcement, handed out aid supplies and other humanitarian operations. In November these troops were sent back to California. In 2006, parts of the battalion were ordered ready to deal with a planned terror attack that fortunately was broken up before it took place. In 2007, some of the battalion were sent to the San Diego area to help fight a large wildfire in that county. Assisting homeless residents, fighting the fires and other aid was rendered in this time. In 2008, more fires in California broke out and part of the battalion once again assisted in that operation. In August 2008, two companies (A and B) were again sent to Iraq, detached from the 184th regiment and added to the 1st Battalion of the 185th Armored Regiment for the mission. Their mission was logistics escort and patrolling and a year later they were sent home. In December, Company D and the battalion headquarters deployed to Kosovo after stopping for training in two places including Indiana before going overseas. Once in country, they served as part of a multi-national force as a component of the task force that again including the same armored battalion that they worked with in Baghdad. In October 2009, the unit began to redeploy back home and for their service received two more Campaign Streamers. A portion of the battalion were sent to Jordan in 2017 and returned the following year. Other elements were sent to Qatar around the same time as well as to Bahrain. Of the old 184th Infantry Regiment, only the 1st battalion remains on active duty. The 2nd Battalion was deactivated in January 1968 when the California National Guard was reorganized while the 3rd Battalion was deactivated in May 1949. The 1st Battalion is now part of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Companies A, B and C are infantry units while Company D performs anti-armor missions. Company E serves as the brigade's support and transportation unit. They are all based around northern California. (02-19982-12/JS). $300-500.
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