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102nd Field Artillery, Battery A Guidon, 26th Infantry Division


nirvana
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I figured I would post one of these, its been a little while. This turned up in a my mailbox today, so I figured it would work. Its the guidon from Battery A of the 102nd Field Artillery Battalion. The unit was attached the 26th Infantry Division in WW2, and were equipped with 105mm guns The division entered combat in October 1945 and stayed on until the war ended.

 

Sometimes its hard to find much information about a unit, and this was true here. I did however come across an interview with the man who commanded this battery during the war, Lt. Col Thomas Boyer. He was a captain at that point in time, and recalled strongly his experiences during the Bulge.

 

http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/blacksburg/veterans-remember-the-battle-of-the-bulge-some-boys-were/article_33669cf3-1f94-5740-b227-fdf6b201140d.html

 

As the end of 1944 approached, Tom Boyer had seen his share of war. He had no idea that the worst was yet to come.

Boyer was a young artillery captain whose regiment had fought its way across much of France that fateful summer and fall, when nothing seemed capable of stopping the Allies as they rolled toward Germany. The 102nd Field Artillery had been beaten up pretty badly along the way, which is why Boyer and his men were pulled off the front line to replenish their company rosters.

Then, on the morning of Dec. 18, Boyer was shaken from a deep, much-needed sleep by his commander.

“Boyer, get up! All hell’s broken loose! Be prepared to move in eight hours!”During the slow advance up the icy roads, Boyer and his men came upon a lone American soldier walking toward them. Remembering the rumors about Germans in disguise, a colonel apprehended the soldier and jammed his pistol under the shaken soldier’s chin. The colonel badgered the nervous kid with questions: Where you from? What’s your outfit? Who won the World Series? Finally, the soldier sputtered answers the colonel deemed acceptable and he was turned loose.

“Everybody was very jumpy,” Boyer said.

The infantry held its lines, even as losses mounted. Boyer and his men lined their foxholes with busted up ammo boxes to try to stay dry. His battalion was heavily shelled by German guns. Boyer said he still remembers the sound of German shells ricocheting off frozen ground before exploding.

 

 

When I saw the above article, I considered reaching out to Mr. Boyer, but a further google search revealed that he died last October only a few months after being awarded the French Legion of Honor. Based on the tag and the construction its a pretty safe bet that this is the original flag that would've traveled across Europe with the Captain, and it would've been interesting to hear what he had to say about it. Regardless, its now in my collection, along with another flag from the 26th, that of the 101st Engineer, which I may post up one of these days.

 

http://www.roanoke.com/obituaries/boyer-thomas-blackamore/article_da67af4c-739c-5cd2-aa84-720c2c39afdb.html

 

http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/wwii-vets-receive-highest-distinction-from-france/article_04f663ea-f430-58a4-bc7f-eb7c7d3bb268.html

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