Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an outstanding original U.S. WWII infantry company guidon identified to Company B, 355th Infantry Regiment, 89th Infantry Division, a regiment that fought across Germany during the final months of the war in Europe. The swallowtail guidon measures approximately 18 1/4 x 28” and retains its infantry crossed rifles insignia and unit designation. It is presently mounted to a partial wooden pole with decorative tassels, although both the pole arrangement and tassels appear to have been added later for display.

One of the most interesting details associated with Company B appears in the surviving history of the 355th Infantry Regiment. During the 89th Division’s first combat operations in Germany in March 1945, the history records that:

“A soldier from Company B was the first division member to fire his weapon in anger against the enemy.”

The guidon has been nailed at the top corner to this partial pole with attached tassels, though the pole and tassels were likely added for display later, and are not the originals. They will still provide for a lovely display with this guidon, however.

The guidon is the traditional swallowtail form used by U.S. Army company sized organizations. Infantry company guidons carried the crossed rifles branch insignia together with identifying letters and numerals that distinguished the company and its parent organization. This example is identified to Company B, 355th Infantry Regiment, 89th Infantry Division.

The guidon has some damage including repairs, with a large L-shaped tear in the body to the left of the crossed rifles that was stitched back together. There is also some scattered fraying of the material along the edges, and scattered holes in spots across its length.

The guidon is currently nailed at its upper corner to a partial wooden pole measuring approximately 39” long. The guidon is single-sided, and the opposite side shows the insignia backwards.

The lower end of the pole shows evidence of having been broken or snapped from a longer staff. The attached tassels are also believed to be later additions. Neither the shortened pole nor tassels are represented as original components of the WWII guidon, but they provide an effective existing display arrangement.

The 355th Infantry Regiment was activated with the 89th Division at Camp Carson, Colorado, in July 1942. During its stateside preparation the division briefly experimented with the 89th Light Division (Truck) organization before returning to the standard infantry division structure in June 1944. After additional training at Camp Butner, North Carolina, the division departed the United States in January 1945 and landed in France later that month.

Following final preparations in France and Luxembourg, the 89th moved into Germany in March 1945 as part of General George S. Patton’s Third Army. The division entered combat along the Sauer River on March 12th, 1945, beginning a rapid advance through the Rhineland.

It was during these opening operations that the 355th Infantry history records the Company B soldier as the first member of the division to fire his weapon against the enemy.

The 89th advanced rapidly toward the Moselle. The 355th crossed the river after the initial bridgehead had been established and was temporarily attached to the 11th Armored Division, participating in the fast moving advance southeast toward the Nahe. The regiment subsequently took part in the division’s movement to and across the Rhine before continuing eastward into central Germany.

During April, the 89th Division overran Ohrdruf, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp and the first concentration camp in Germany liberated by U.S. troops. The discovery became one of the division’s defining historical experiences and exposed American troops and senior commanders to direct evidence of the atrocities committed within the German concentration camp system.

The 355th continued east with the division through Thuringia and Saxony, participating in the rapid advance toward the Mulde River and the fighting around Zwickau. By late April the division’s major offensive movement had ended, and the remaining period before Germany’s surrender was devoted largely to patrolling, security, and the reduction of remaining pockets of resistance.

The 89th Division’s recognized WWII combat service encompasses the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. Though the division entered combat comparatively late in the European war, it advanced rapidly across Germany during its short but active combat period.

The combination of the Company B identification, 355th Infantry Regiment association, classic infantry crossed rifles insignia, documented repair, field worn appearance, and the company’s connection with the 89th Division’s first enemy engagement makes this a particularly significant WWII guidon. The later partial pole and tassels provide a ready display arrangement while remaining clearly distinguished from the original flag itself. For a collection focused on the 89th Infantry Division, the 355th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army guidons, personalized unit artifacts, Ohrdruf liberation history, or the final campaigns in Germany, this is an especially compelling surviving piece.