Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an ultra rare uniform patch insignia from World War I for the Machine Gun Company of the 6th Regiment, USMC. This company was also known as the 73rd Machine Gun Company, as Marine companies were originally numbered before being converted to letters. This patch originally came from a collection of patches gathered in 1919 by 1st Lieutenant Alan G. Cherry, 301st Engineer Regiment, 76th Division.

Cherry was with the 3rd Army in Germany and collected patches of units stationed there with the Army of Occupation. For the 2nd Division, he collected this gorgeous German-made 73rd Machine Gun Company, 6th Regiment patch with a hand-stitched Indian head and purple diamond. Based on the style & pattern of the Indian head, we can tell that this patch was handmade in Hönningen, Germany. It measures about 4.5x4.5". This patch was acquired directly from the collection which was unfortunately split up some time ago.

2nd Division Machine Gun Company Patches are highly sought after for their scarcity, being for a single company of men rather than for a battalion, which included 4 companies. This is one of the nicest examples we have ever offered. The 73rd Machine Gun Company participated in campaigns and battles such as Bois de Belleau, Vierzy, Château-Thierry, Pont-a-Mousson, Limey Sector, Fleury, Meuse-Argonne, Blanc Mont, St Michiel, Leffincourt and Soissons.

Almost 100 years after its inception, the 2nd Division’s distinctive star and Indian head insignia is perhaps the most sought after of all of the shoulder patches used by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). There are a number of reasons for this … One being the 2nd Division’s unmatched fighting record during the Great War. Another is that it was the only AEF division to be composed of Army, Navy and Marine Corps personnel. Still another is because the shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI) was authorized to be made from six different colors of cloth that were cut into fourteen different shapes, geometric and otherwise.

The U.S. Marine Corps did not field divisional size units during WWI, so they were made part of the divisions of the U.S. Army. In fact, the entire 2nd Division was for a time during WWI commanded by U.S.M.C. Major General John A. Lejeune himself!

This is a fantastic example of a 2nd Division Marine Corps patch. If you were going to have one example to represent the 2nd Division in your collection, this would be it! Comes ready for further research and display.