Original Items: Only One Lot Available. This is a particularly appealing group of six original WWI era 3rd Division shoulder patches, representing several different construction styles and including both velvet backed variations and a scarce example with a 3rd Army patch stitched over the 3rd Division insignia. The 3rd Division earned one of the most famous reputations of any American formation in WWI during the desperate fighting along the Marne in July 1918, where elements of the division refused to yield under heavy German pressure. That stand produced the enduring nickname “Rock of the Marne,” and surviving period insignia from the division remains especially desirable to collectors of American Expeditionary Forces material.

The 3rd Division was activated on 21 November 1917 at Camp Greene, North Carolina, only seven months after the United States entered WWI. Less than a year later, the division was in France and engaged in combat on the Western Front as part of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Its defining moment came during the fighting along the Marne in July 1918.

At midnight on 14 July 1918, German forces launched what would become their final major offensive of the war. The 3rd Division was positioned along the Marne River as part of the defensive effort protecting the approaches toward Paris. As German attacks intensified and neighboring units were forced back, elements of the 3rd Division held their positions.

The 8th Machine Gun Battalion moved into the Château-Thierry sector amid retreating French troops and helped hold the German advance at the Marne. The division’s 4th, 30th, and 38th Infantry Regiments also remained engaged during the Second Battle of the Marne.

The 38th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ulysses G. McAlexander, became particularly associated with the division’s stand. Its determined resistance earned it the celebrated nickname:

“Rock of the Marne”

The name soon became closely associated with the division as a whole.

Major General Joseph T. Dickman, commanding the 3rd Division, is traditionally associated with the declaration:

“Nous Resterons Là”

or:

“We Shall Remain Here.”

The phrase captured the determination of the division during the German offensive and became part of the unit’s identity.

The 3rd Division’s blue and white shoulder insignia also led to another wartime nickname:

“The Blue and White Devils.”

General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, Commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, later characterized the division’s stand as one of the most brilliant episodes in American military history.

During WWI, two members of the division received the Medal of Honor.

The insignia represented in this group are especially interesting because WWI shoulder patches were produced in a remarkable variety of materials, colors, stitching styles, and construction methods. Unlike later periods when insignia became more standardized, many WWI patches were locally made in France, privately purchased, tailor produced, or assembled from available fabrics and trim. As a result, original examples from the same division can look noticeably different from one another.

This lot provides an excellent illustration of that variety.

The six patches included are:

• Velvet backed patch with woven silver tape stripes.

  
  

• Velvet backed patch with dark silver stripes.

  
  

• 3rd Division patch with 3rd Army patch stitched on top.

  
  

• Standard 3rd Division fabric patch.

  
  

• Blue back patch with embroidered white stripes that do not fully envelop the square, dark blue.

  
  

• Blue back patch with embroidered white stripes that do not fully envelop the square, heavily faded blue from wear, with surviving stitching from having been removed from a uniform.

  
  

The two velvet backed examples are especially attractive variations and reflect the wide range of privately produced and locally made insignia encountered among returning AEF soldiers.

The example with the 3rd Army patch stitched over the 3rd Division insignia is particularly interesting. The U.S. Third Army was organized late in 1918 and became the American occupation force in Germany following the Armistice. A combination insignia of this type can reflect the transition of a soldier from divisional service into occupation duty or a later modification made while serving under Third Army command.

The uniform removed patch is another especially desirable example because its surviving stitching and heavy fading preserve visible evidence that it was actually worn rather than retained unused. The difference in color between the faded and darker examples also gives a useful comparison of how these insignia aged under field and uniform use.

Taken together, this lot offers a small study collection of 3rd Division WWI shoulder insignia rather than six nearly identical patches. The velvet constructions, silver tape variations, embroidered examples, 3rd Army combination, color differences, and uniform removed stitching demonstrate the diversity that makes original AEF insignia collecting so interesting.

The 3rd Division’s place in WWI history gives these patches additional significance. The division’s stand during the Second Battle of the Marne came at a critical point in the war, when the German Army was making one final effort to break the Allied line before American manpower could be brought fully to bear. The resistance of units such as the 3rd Division helped halt that offensive and contributed to the shift in momentum that would ultimately carry the Allies toward victory in November 1918.

For the collector, this is far more appealing than a single representative patch. The six different constructions allow the group to be displayed together as a focused study of one of the most famous U.S. divisions of WWI. The scarce 3rd Army combination, two velvet backed examples, embroidered variants, and heavily worn uniform removed patch make the group particularly well suited to an advanced AEF insignia, 3rd Division, “Rock of the Marne,” occupation of Germany, or WWI U.S. uniform collection.