WWII guidon for 169th Infantry

[mmerc20]

I just found this at an antique mall in Little Rock, AR. This guidon is from E Company 1-169th Infantry, 43rd Infantry Division. It is in nice condition with a few pinholes. What appears to be a stain is not one. It got wet when I was bringing it inside through the rain. It has a Quartermaster Depot tag but I can't make out a date.

 

I have just started looking into the 169th history but what I can see right now is they participated in Guadalcanal and the Solomons. If anyone has more information on them, and specifically E Co. please let me know!

 

Mike

[mmerc20]

closeup

[David D]

Nice!

[raylemere]

awesome!

[Steve B.]

I believe this is a post-WWII guidon.

 

Under the WWII Table of Organization, E Company would have been part of 2nd Battalion (A, B, & C Companies were 1st Battalion, E, F, & G Companies were 2nd Battalion, etc.); plus WWII guidons did not normally carry the battalion designation.

 

I'm not sure exactly when the change occurred (late 1950s, I think), but the Army changed their method of designating units, and after the change, every battalion had an A B, C, D, & E Company. Other changes happened, but those changes varied with the unit.

 

I will say that I was with an Army Reserve Unit in the 1980s, and even though we were 1st Battalion, we had A, B, C, D, and E Companies. At that time, the local National Guard unit had A B, C, CSC (Combat Support Company), and HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters Company) all in the same battalion. CSC was later changed to D Company.

 

Anyway...all of this to say that in my opinion, this guidon could be from the 1950s through the 1980s, maybe even a little later.

[mmerc20]

Hmm...Any idea when they stopped using the "quartermaster depot" tags? I thought they were 1940s. I wish I could see a date though. That would certainly help.

[Pudgy (V)]

Awesome for display!!

[atb]

The guidon dates from as early as 1959-1960 when the Army adopted the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS). Infantry regiments were no longer tactical units, but were converted to seperate battle groups (BG), later battalions (BN) of the regiment. Each BG or BN had an A, B, C, D, and etc. company. The BG or BN designator was added to the organization colors and company guidons.

[mmerc20]

Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it.

[atb]

One other thing, the lineage of the CARS 1st Battalion, 169th Infantry is derived from Comany A of the pre-1959 regiment. The lineages of the companies in a CARS battalion mostly started new. That means that the E Company represented by your guidon has no relation to the earlier pre-CARS regimental E Company.

[patches]

I would venture that this Guidon dates from the late 60s on, as prior to this there were no E Companies in the ROAD Infantry Battalions, E Companies start to be raised in South Vietnam around 1968 to become the battalion Support Company, this being now where the Recon Platoon and 4.2 Mortar Platoon where assigned to, prior to this these platoons were in the battalion headquarters company, the HHC, so these E Companies start in short order to be raised Army Wide. They, E Companies, seem to have been found only in Non Mechanized Infantry Battalions, the Mechanized Infantry Battalions have a Combat Support Company rather than a E Company.

 

When this Guidon was carried it would of been after 1967 by 1st Battalion, 169th Infantry, 43rd Infantry Brigade, 26th Infantry Division, Manchester, Connecticut, the 1st Battalion, 169th Infantry was a part of the old 43rd Infantry Division which was inactivated in 1963, but reactivated sometime in 1967 as a component of the Massachusetts National Guard's 26th Infantry Division in its newly assigned 43rd Brigade, it consisting of Connecticut National Guard units.

[patches]

13 hours ago, patches said:

I would venture that this Guidon dates from the late 60s on, as prior to this there were no E Companies in the ROAD Infantry Battalions, E Companies start to be raised in South Vietnam around 1968 to become the battalion Support Company, this being now where the Recon Platoon and 4.2 Mortar Platoon where assigned to, prior to this these platoons were in the battalion headquarters company, the HHC, so these E Companies start in short order to be raised Army Wide. They, E Companies, seem to have been found only in Non Mechanized Infantry Battalions, the Mechanized Infantry Battalions have a Combat Support Company rather than a E Company.

 

When this Guidon was carried it would of been after 1967 by 1st Battalion, 169th Infantry, 43rd Infantry Brigade, 26th Infantry Division, Manchester, Connecticut, the 1st Battalion, 169th Infantry was a part of the old 43rd Infantry Division which was inactivated in 1963, but reactivated sometime in 1967 as a component of the Massachusetts National Guard's 26th Infantry Division in its newly assigned 43rd Brigade, it consisting of Connecticut National Guard units.

Was just now reviewing the PENTOMIC era Infantry Battle Groups, which I guess also included Mechanized Infantry Battle Groups of the Armored Divisions,, the initial Infantry Battle Group had 4  Infantry Companies A, B,C, D Companies, however in the later PENTOMIC Period, a fifth infantry company was added, E Company, Airborne Battle Groups appear to have had 5 Airborne Infantry Companies throughout the period. So another period the guidon can be from, as mentioned the new ROAD Infantry Battalions from 1963 till circa 1968-69 had no E Companies.

[nirvana]

If you all want to see some 169th guidons from the earlier era...   from my collection.  GI flags with QM guidons. 

[postmanusnac]

Very cool. I had a relative in WW2 who was in the 169th Infantry. He was wounded at the very beginning of fighting on New Georgia, but returned to participate in the fighting in the Philippines.


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[HAWKER 21]

I just finished research on a relative who was with the 169th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines. If anyone would like additional information about any of the regiments of the 43rd Infantry Division during World War Two, here is a very thorough resource: The History of the 43rd Infantry Division 1941-1945. The book is easy to find for sale on ebay.