A WW1 era 79th Infantry Division bullion patch

[Patchcollector]

Hi all,
I have not posted any WW1 patches for awhile,so I thought I would post this recent pickup.It is interesting in that the "cross" is incised and backed with metal bullion.

I'm posting some close up pics to show the detail of the bullion.

 

 

[Patchcollector]

Back view

[Patchcollector]

Close up of bullion cross

[Patchcollector]

Detail of bullion cross

[Patchcollector]

Here is some info about the unit that I found on the excellent blog
" The WW2 letters of Private Melvin W. Johnson"

 

http://www.privateletters.net/featured_79thID.html

 

 

 

 

The 79th Infantry Division

Utah and Omaha beaches, Cherbourg and Fort du Roule, La Haye du Puits, the Seine River, Parroy Forest, Haguenau, Hatten, Rittershoffen. Names that will be forever etched in the minds of the veterans, widows, and families of the 79th Infantry Division. Landing on D+8, (June 14th) the 79th Infantry Division was to be involved in many critical and bloody battles, prompting Major-General Ira T. Wyche to comment after the war that "I shall always look upon my command of the 79th Division as the most successful period of my official career. This is so because of those fine Americans who wore the Cross of Lorraine".
World War I

Activated: August 1917
Overseas: July 1918
Major Operations: Meuse-Argonne
Casualties: Total - 6,874 (KIA - 1,151; WIA - 5,723)
Commanders: Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn (25 August 1917), Brig. Gen. W. J. Nicholson (26 November 1917), Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn (17 February 1918), Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn (16 April 1918), Brig. Gen. W. J. Nicholson (22 May 1918), Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn (8 June 1918), Brig. Gen. W. J. Nicholson (28 June 1918), Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn (31 December 1918)
Returned to U.S.: May 1919
Inactivated: June 1919
The Meuse-Argonne and Montfaucon
The 79th was typical of its fellow national army divisions in that it consisted of Americans, many of them recent immigrants, from all walks of life; but it was also unique in that it played a particularly critical and bloody role in the largest and most important battle of that war, the Meuse-Argonne. In July 1918, the division embarked for France from Camp Meade, MD. Its arrival at Brest brought the total of U. S. troops in France to one million men. The four regiments of the 79th trained near Dijon for only 43 days, and moved north to the Meuse-Argonne front west of Verdun. Designed to end the war by capturing the key German railroad center at Sedan, the Meuse-Argonne offensive initially involved nine front-line American divisions, including the 79th, and eventually engaged more than 1.2 million men. General John J. Black Jack. Pershing commanded the offensive, which at that time was the largest military operation ever undertaken by the U. S. Army.
Although the 79th Division had completed far less than half the prescribed training and had no combat experience, Pershing assigned it the most difficult task of the attacking divisions, the capture of Montfaucon, a butte that had been heavily fortified by the Germans. One of the lead units in the attack was the 314th Infantry Regiment composed primarily of men from eastern Pennsylvania. Called the "Gibraltar of the Western Front," Montfaucon constituted one of the strongest positions in Germany's famed Hindenburg Line. The fortress consisted of concrete bunkers, machine gun nests, deep shelters and, most importantly, a sophisticated telescope in a well-protected observation post that could call down accurate artillery fire on the entire American front. Because the hill was such an important military asset, the Germans protected it with two advanced defensive lines and countless bands of barbed wire. Pershing regarded its early capture as essential to the success of the entire operation.
On September 26, 1918, the 79th attacked the formidable position, with the 313th and 314th Regiments leading the advance on the left and right respectively. Although the Germans had abandoned their first-line positions in the face of a tremendous artillery barrage, they fiercely defended the second line that lay a mile south of Montfaucon. At the ruined village of Malancourt, the 314th entered a box valley surrounded on three sides by steep hills. The Germans had dug in dozens of machine-guns among these hills, effectively entrapping the regiment and inflicting devastating losses. Though the 314th fought valiantly, it could not overcome the stubborn German resistance, and spent the night of September 26 under intense fire without support.

The troops were tired when they went into the fight. They had been held in the woods with wet clothes and wet feet for a week or more, made a long march before going in, without any sleep, and went over the top after having been under our bombardment for several hours. For green troops it was quite an ordeal.
- COLONEL WILLIAM H. OURY, commanding the 314th Infantry

On the morning of September 27, the 314th and 313th, aided by troops from the 315th and 316th regiments, renewed their attack on Montfaucon. Advancing doggedly onward with the support of artillery and tanks, they captured the butte by noon. By taking the key position in a day and a half, the 79th Division had convincingly disproved the prediction of the French high command that the Americans would not capture Montfaucon before Christmas.
As the Germans rushed reinforcements into the area, the U. S. divisions encountered much stiffer resistance, akin to that encountered by the 79th at Montfaucon. Following the capture of the fortress, the division took the village of Nantillois and crashed into the main line of German resistance near the Madeleine Farm just south of the village of Cunel. In the rolling hills in front of the Bois d'Ogon, the division lost many men due to German machine-gun fire and artillery barrages directed from Hill 378 east of the Meuse River. The stiffening German resistance and massive reinforcements eventually brought Pershing's troops to a momentary standstill. In light of the 79th's losses in men and materiel, the division was withdrawn from the line and sent to a quiet sector of the front for refitting. Despite its losses, the 79th division had performed magnificently. The bravery and persistence of the troops and their compatriots are recognized by the tallest U. S. military monument in Europe, a Doric column some 200 feet tall.
The 79th Division and the 314th Regiment did not remain long out of combat. Following the fall of Montfaucon, the task of directing German artillery fire fell to observers and spotters on Hill 378 located in the ridges lining the east bank of the Meuse River. The observation post on La Borne de Cornouiller - or "Corned Willy Hill," as the doughboys called Hill 378 - could direct fire to any location of the 24-mile-wide Meuse-Argonne Front. General Pershing insisted on its capture, and called on the 79th to carry out the task. The division commander, Major General Joseph Kuhn, called Corned Willy Hill "an obstacle of the most serious character," and the attack proved extremely difficult. The hill was riven by deep ravines lined with trenches, bolstered by reinforced bunkers and peppered by machine guns. Yet after several unsuccessful assaults, the Doughboys of the 79th took the position on November 6, 1918. As the Great War ended on November 11, 1918, the 79th Division and the 314th Regiment pressed an attack on Cote de Romagne, a fortified hill that was the last obstacle before the troops reached the Woevre Plain that led directly into Germany. Yet the capture of Montfaucon and Hill 378 had already secured the 79th Division.s place in the pantheon of American military history.

Here is an account of the unit being gassed by the Germans in WW1,PDF document.

http://www.privateletters.net/DOCUMENTS/79thMontfaucon.pdf

[lamarhooten]

That is a nice piece! Interesting how it is "layered'. Wonder how big or what shape the bullion piece is. Can't say I have seen one built this way before.

[Patchcollector]

That is a nice piece! Interesting how it is "layered'. Wonder how big or what shape the bullion piece is. Can't say I have seen one built this way before.

 

 

Hmm.Interesting question.I'll try and pull back some of the fabric and see how far it extends.

[lamarhooten]

Here is an idea of a very over-active mind on how to get an idea on how big the bullion piece(s) is/are! If you have access to an infar-red/night scope viewer, look at the patch in a dark area after you set it in front of an incandecent lamp for afew minutes. The metal should heat up enough not to be damaging to the patch, but still give off a good heat signature! Who says that patch collectiong is dull! Never tried it, worth a shot!

[Patchcollector]

Here is an idea of a very over-active mind on how to get an idea on how big the bullion piece(s) is/are! If you have access to an infar-red/night scope viewer, look at the patch in a dark area after you set it in front of an incandecent lamp for afew minutes. The metal should heat up enough not to be damaging to the patch, but still give off a good heat signature! Who says that patch collectiong is dull! Never tried it, worth a shot!

 

 

I like your idea!I don't have access to the equipment that you mentioned,but if I did,I would try it.I tried to pull away the fabric around the cross,but it is sewn down,probably to keep the cross in place.I did feel an edge to the cross through the fabric,and it appears that it extends very little under the fabric.So my guess is the bullion is maybe a bit larger than the cross shape that we see.

[lamarhooten]

Here is an idea of a very over-active mind on how to get an idea on how big the bullion piece(s) is/are! If you have access to an infar-red/night scope viewer, look at the patch in a dark area after you set it in front of an incandecent lamp for afew minutes. The metal should heat up enough not to be damaging to the patch, but still give off a good heat signature! Who says that patch collectiong is dull! Never tried it, worth a shot!

Can't think of too many other times this way of checking a patch might come in handy! If it shows up in The Trading Post as an option to check patches, I want the credit!

[Patchcollector]

X-rays would work too

[doyler]

Very cool patch.The bullion appears to be a braided type.First I have seen.

[Jarhead8007]

Thanks for sharing the patch and the story. I've got a personal connection to the 79th. My great uncle, Carroll Hockersmith, served with them throughout the war. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/870-show-your-wwi-studio-photographs/page-14 (post #271). Still conducting research on him.

[Patchcollector]

Thanks for the comments fellows.The 79th in WW1 was thrust into the huge Meuse-Argonne OP and given the task of assaulting Montfaucon,a butte that had been heavily fortified by the Germans, called the "Gibraltar of the Western Front".This would have been difficult for battle hardened troops to accomplish,and the 79th was still "green",having no combat experience and not much training.
After successfully taking this objective,they were assigned another task;take the German observation post on La Borne de Cornouiller - or "Corned Willy Hill,another well defended elevated outpost.
Under the circumstances the unit performed magnificently,suffering many casualties,and their efforts contributed greatly to the hastening of the end of hostilities.