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WW2 23RD INFANTRY BATTALION FLAG, 7TH ARMOR

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
WW2 23RD INFANTRY BATTALION FLAG, 7TH ARMOR
DIVISION. 35” x 47” plus 2” leading edge sleeve. The 23rd battalion was 7th Armored Division in France 1944, major combatant in Battle of the Bulge, 246 combat deaths in France 1944, second only to 48th battalion with 284. 23rd Infantry Battalion (Armored) – This battalion was a component of the famous 7th Armored Division during World War 2. The division was formed on March 1, 1942 out of elements of the 3rd and 5th Armored Divisions and was reorganized into the triangle formation used by most U.S. armored divisions during the war in September 1943.
During this reorganization, most U.S. armored divisions changed from the old “square” and infantry-light formations to the triangle style divisions which added a larger infantry component. These divisions consisted of three brigade sized combined arms brigades; Combat Command A, Combat Command B and Combat Command R. Each had tanks, infantry, artillery, engineers and support units. Making up these brigade commands were three armored battalions (two medium – Shermans, and one light – Stuarts), three infantry battalions (riding in half tracks and trucks), three field artillery battalions, a cavalry reconnaissance squadron, an armored engineer battalion, signal company, medical units and more. Armored divisions also had attached tank destroyer battalions and an anti-aircraft battalion.
After completing training in California, the division transferred to England arriving in June 1944. In mid-August, the division landed in Normandy for service in France and was initially assigned to George Patton’s famous Third Army. Under Patton they were part of the great armored drive across France that chased the Germans back to the borders of the Reich. After attacks across the Moselle River failed in early September 1944, the division was transferred later that month to the Ninth Army to protect the flanks of the British offensive into Holland, Operation Market Garden. By early November the unit was exhausted and they received thousands of replacement troops which necessitated training and refitting.
The rejuvenated division, now under Major General Robert Housbrouck, prepared to invade Germany when on December 16th, the Germans began their Ardennes offensive. Transferred to First Army, the 7th Armored Division was sent to hold the vital road junction town of St. Vith and were attacked by several SS and Wehrmacht panzer and infantry divisions. The lines began to form what became known as the “Fortified Goose Egg” as German units tried to bypass the town. After a week of heavy combat, the division abandoned St. Vith but their stand (along with attached units) held the Germans up for quite some time. The division fell back, regrouped and when the Allies launched their counterattack to drive the Germans out, the 7th Armored was given the mission to retake St. Vith in late January 1945.
After a softer time in February, the division was part of the American offensive across the Rhine River which resulted in the creation of the Ruhr Pocket and the capture of 317,000 German troops (and 24 generals), a capitulation larger than Stalingrad. The 7th Armored ended the war supporting the British 2nd Army and the drive to the Baltic Sea where advance elements linked up with units of the Soviet Red Army as the war closed.
The division returned to the United States in October 1945 and was deactivated. The division was briefly reactivated for the Korean War but never left the United States.
The 23rd Infantry Battalion (Armored) took part in all of the campaigns of the 7th Armored Division in Europe. Its colors are blue, the official color for U.S. infantry units. CONDITION: fair-good, light fading one side, soiling and staining. (02-17547-12/JS). $600-800.