86th Combat Engineers Battalion Color WWII

86th Engineers Battalion Color, WWII
This is the scarlet silken color of the 86th Engineer Battalion. It was constituted on 15 July 1940 as a component of the U.S. Regular Army. They were outfitted and trained and then activated on 9 July 1941 at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. After the commencement of WWII they were reorganized and reassigned as the 86th Engineer Heavy Ponton Battalion.

Combat engineer battalions like the 86th usually possessed high esprit de corps because they rightly considered themselves to be elite. When needed, the combat engineers also could serve as front-line as infantry, often doing so during WWII.

It is rare to find a combat battalion unit color to survive among the public since they usually were kept with the unit except when gifted or "taken" by the unit commander as in this case upon retirement of the unit or commander. In this case not only is there these circumstances present but the unit color happens to be from one of the premeire combat engineer units of the US Army during WWII thus making this flag a rare and significant example of American combat history of WWII.

The 86th was sent to the United Kingdom with the 9th Infantry Division of VII Corps for the massive preparations for the invasion of Europe called Operation Overlord. As a component of "Operation Neptune" - the landing and breakout phases, June -July 1944, the 86th Battalion (less one company, who was detached for other duty) were attached to the 1105th Engineer Combat Group who was charged with the general supervision of the delivery & assembly of Bailey Bridges for all major bridging operations and the replacement of treadway bridges with heavy ponton bridges.

From 25 July-14 September 1944 the 86rth participated in the Northern France Campaign during which the Allies broke through the German lines and fanned across Northern France causing the Germans to fall back to the Siegfried Line. By mid-September nearly all of France had been liberated.

Between September 1944 and March 1945 the Rhineland Campaign overlapped the 16 December 1944-25 January 1945Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, during which the 86th saw some of its most active service. On 17 December elements of Company B were moving toward Ligneuville, Belgium in a convoy of about 30 vehicles, supporting the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, when they were ambushed by the Kampfgruppe Peiper of 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. In the confusion that followed, after the German disabled the first and last vehicles in the convoy, five of the engineers managed to escape while one was captured. This engineer was among the U.S. soldiers murdered at the Malmady Massacre. After Malmady, with few bridging operations during the brutal winter of 1944 - 1945 most of the men of the 86th Battalion served during the Battle of the Bulge as front-line infantry.

In March of 1945 perhaps the most significant accomplishment of the 86th Engineer Battalion occurred , the crossing of the Rhine river. On 7 March elements of the U.S. 9th Infantry Division captured the damaged but intact Ludendorff railroad bridge and established a bridgehead . In order to support the bridgehead the 86th was tasked with the constructing and operating a ferry across the Rhine.

Assisted by a platoon from the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion, the 86th established the first ferry on 9 March just downstream from the Ludendorff Bridge. This they accomplished while under constant German artillery and machine gun fire. They built a second ferry upriver near Kripp, and a third at Unkel just downstream from the original ferry. These additional ferries were also constructed while the 86th was under constant fire and attack as the Germane tried to thwart the Allied advance.

The ferries operated by the 86th were the only support for the Rhine bridgehead and operated day and night until the 13 March establishment of a heavy ponton bridge to relieve the traffic on the ferries. As additional pontoon bridges were built the U.S. Army's reliance on the ferries diminished and they ceased operation on 26 March 1945..

After the Rhineland Campaign the 86th saw service in the Central Europe Campaign from 22 March to 11 May 1945 during which they aided in the eastward advance of the Allied forces. This flag was carried by the 86th from their creation in 1940, throughout the campaign in Europe where they earned 5 battle streamers.

After the Allied Victory the 86th returned to the United States. There inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 2 January 1946, at which time the Battalion Commander retained this color as a memento of service.

The color is scarlet with white fringe, the colors of the Engineer Corps since 1872. The arms are displayed on the central shield of the American Bald Eagle, common to all U.S. Battalion and Regimental colors since 1792, although this incarnation of the eagle dated from 1904. The arms of the 86th Engineer Battalion are blazoned, "Gules, a Viking Ship argent" which is the heraldric description of a red shield defaced with a white Viking ship executed the colors of the Engineer Corps. The Viking Ship represents of the bridge-building activities of the battalion because it was these ships which first "bridged" the ocean. The scroll which the eagle is grasping in its beak is defaced with the Latin motto, Pontifices Sumus, which translates, "We are builders of Bridges."

Provenance:
• Made by Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot 1940.
• Used by 86th Combat Engineer Battalion, 1940 to 1946
• Retained by Battalion commander after inactivation as a memento of service 1946.
• Sold at estate sale of Battalion Commander circa 1986 by unknown collector.
• Acquired by purchase by The Old Guard Militaria, West Grove, PA, 2012.
• Acquired by purchase by the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2012.

Sources:

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Viking Engineers of Vietnam, 86th Engineer Battalion (Combat Engineers), 10 April, from: http://flavets.tripod.com/engineer.htm

Anderson , Rich, THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, Combat Engineers in WWII, 10 April 2013, from: http://www.327engineer.com/documents/engineersinwwii.htm

Wijers, Hans, The Malmedy Massacre The Baugnez Crossroads (Belgium), 10 April 2013, from: http://www.30thinfantry.org/malmedy.shtml

Massacre At Malmédy During the Battle of the Bulge, Weider History Network, 10 April, 2013, from: http://www.historynet.com/massacre-at-malmedy-during-the-battle-of-the-bulge.htm

Fowle, Barry W., The Rhine River Crossings, 10 April, 2013, from: http://140.194.76.129/publications/eng-pamphlets/EP_870-1-42_pfl/c-7-5.pdf

U.S. Army, 86th Engineer Heavy Ponton Battalion history, 9 July 1941-9 July 1945, Munich, J.G. Wein,1945.

Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC) Archives, 2012.

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection

CSG
USAC
4March1921

Hoist & Fly
Width of Hoist	48
Length of Fly	36

Frame
Is it framed?	no

Crest/Emblem
Description of Crest/Emblem	U.S. Arms bearing shield of 86th Engineers

Nationality
Nation Represented	United States

Fabric
Fabric	Bemberg

Stitching
Stitching	Hand
Comments on Stitching	Hand loom embroidered arms & scroll, flag and sleeve machine sewn, fringe attached and repaired by machine.

Thread
Type of Thread	Silk
Thread Material	Silk

Attachment
Method of Attachment	Sleeve & Tabs

Applica
Applique Sides	Double Faced = Reads correctly on both sides

Documentation

Condition
Condition	Good
Damage	Used, soiled, worn
Displayable	yes

Date
Date	1940