Original Item: Only One Available. Brought back by General C.L. Burpee, who was a Colonel in 1944. This very nice Italian Savoias Flag appears to have seen long service during the war. It measures approximately 12 inches by 7 ½ inches, is of a single piece construction, with each color being dyed onto the original white cotton. Savoia’s coat of arms is also dyed onto the center white portion on the flag. This flag design was replaced in 1946 with the current Italian flag.

Included are some very old photocopies, showing articles related to Burpee. The back of one is also loaded with information about his service.

This item would be perfect in any collector’s showcase!

Clarence Lamar Burpee was born in Jackson, Georgia, on 12 September 1894, the second of the four children of James Arthur Burpee and his wife Katherine Milledge née Smith. His father died when he was just eight years old.

During World War I, Burpee enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 4 July 1918. He gave his occupation as a "yardmaster". After recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, he joined the 15th Marine Regiment in August. The following month it sailed to France, but saw no action before the war ended. He was promoted to corporal on 8 January 1919, and returned to the United States in August. He was honorably discharged on 13 August 1919.

In July 1941, Burpee was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the engineer reserve. He was called to active duty with the rank of colonel in June 1942. He assumed command of the 703rd Railway Grand Division, which landed at Casablanca in North Africa on 18 November, just ten days after the commencement of Operation Torch. The 703rd Railway Grand Division moved on to Italy, where it opened the first railway line from Salerno on 5 October. He became the director of military railways in Italy, in which role he was responsible for all American railway units supporting the Italian campaign.

Burpee returned to the United States in November 1943 to become the general manager of the 2nd Military Railway Service. He was promoted to brigadier general in February 1944. The 2nd Military Railway Service arrived in the UK in March 1944, and Burpee landed on Utah Beach in late June. He moved his headquarters to Paris in September 1944, and Brussels in February 1945. By the end of the year, the 2nd Military Railway Service had eighteen railway operating battalions, four shop battalions, five mobile workshop units, and ten hospital train maintenance crews. These were controlled by five railway grand divisions, and had a total of 17,526 men.

He left active duty after the war ended, but was promoted to the substantive rank of brigadier general in May 1947. For his services he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.

Burpee, who never married, died in Jacksonville on 6 October 1956, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery there. The Clarence L. Burpee United States Army Reserve Center in Jacksonville was named in his honor in 1957.