Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Group. This is an outstanding original WWII grouping belonging to Arthur J. Honbarger, who served with the organization later designated the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion. The centerpiece is a remarkable American flag invasion armband that Honbarger turned into a personal record of his wartime movements through North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, recording dates and locations directly on the cloth. Also included are a yellow Shore Patrol armband, 5th and 7th Army patches, five overseas service bars, photographs, a troop assignment card, and a May 17, 1945 captured-property certificate naming Honbarger and the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion.

The American flag armband measures approximately 17 ¾ x 3 ⅝ inches and consists of a cotton armband with a stitched American flag patch. American flag brassards were issued to U.S. invasion troops beginning with the North African campaign as an immediately recognizable indication of American nationality. This example appears to have been fastened with a safety pin for an extended period, consistent with the method commonly used to secure these invasion armbands.

The armband is inscribed:

“AFRICA” - 3/19/43 TO 6/25/43
“ORAN” - “ARZUW” - “MONSTAGIEM”
“TUNIS” - “BERSITA”
“SICILY” - 7/10/43 - TO 9/8/43
GELA - PALERMO - TERMINY
“ITALY” 9/10/43 TO

PAESTIM SALERNO - NAPLES
MONTRAGONI - SESSA - POMPAE
ANZIO - NETTONE - ROME

Several of these names appear to be phonetic or abbreviated wartime spellings of locations encountered during Honbarger’s travels, including places that likely correspond to Arzew, Mostaganem, Bizerte, Termini, Paestum, Mondragone, Pompeii, and Nettuno.

The chronology recorded on the armband closely follows the Mediterranean campaigns of the 540th Engineer Combat Regiment, the organization from which the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion was later formed. The 540th Engineer Shore Regiment was activated in 1942 and redesignated the 540th Engineer Combat Regiment before deploying overseas. It participated in operations in North Africa and subsequently took part in the amphibious landings in Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio, followed later by the invasion of Southern France.

On February 15, 1945, the 540th Engineer Combat Regiment was reorganized as the 540th Engineer Combat Group. Its former 1st Battalion became the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion, while the 2nd Battalion became the 2833rd Engineer Combat Battalion. This distinction is important because Honbarger’s handwritten 1943–44 itinerary predates the 2832nd designation. The grouping therefore appears to document his service with the predecessor organization before he later served under the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion designation.

The armband’s Sicily section begins 7/10/43, the opening period of Operation Husky, and records Gela, Palermo, and “TERMINY,” apparently Termini. The Italian portion begins 9/10/43, immediately following the Allied landings in the Salerno area, and continues through a remarkable succession of locations including Paestum, Salerno, Naples, Mondragone, Sessa, Pompeii, Anzio, Nettuno, and Rome. As a personal theater record written directly onto an invasion brassard, it provides an unusually immediate visual record of Honbarger’s progression through the Mediterranean war.

The included Shore Patrol armband is yellow wool with an embroidered black SP. It measures 14 ¾ x 3 ⅞” and has some moth nipping as shown.

The group also includes 5th Army and 7th Army patches, a set of five overseas stripes, and two photos, one showing the soldier in camp and the other of a 5th Army presentation plaque. There is also a ID Discharge Certificate, not named, and a troop assignment card named with his name and number on the back.

One of the most important documents is an original War Capture Certificate dated May 17, 1945, which specifically identifies Arthur J. Honbarger and authorizes captured German material in his possession. The listed souvenirs include German medals, one armband, and one small flag. The certificate was approved by Lieutenant Donald G. Phelps and identifies the unit as 2832 Enr. Combat Bn. This document firmly establishes Honbarger’s association with the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion by the closing weeks of the war in Europe.

This is an unusually cohesive grouping because the surviving artifacts document several different stages of one soldier’s wartime experience. The theater-inscribed American flag armband records Honbarger’s movements through Africa, Sicily, and Italy, while the May 1945 captured-property certificate places him specifically in the 2832nd Engineer Combat Battalion after its formation from the veteran 540th Engineer organization. Together with the Army patches, overseas bars, photographs, troop card, and Shore Patrol brassard, the group preserves a highly personal record of an engineer soldier whose overseas service followed some of the principal Allied campaigns of the Mediterranean Theater.