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LOT 1445
Fine Garrison Cap for the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion - Originally established during World War I as
a conventional engineer battalion that saw action at Saint Mihiel, Lorraine and Meuse-Argonne, the 307th would be reformed in 1942 as an air mobile engineering unit. The 307th would see action in Sicily, Italy, the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden and the general advance through Mainland Europe, switching between acting as engineers or acting as infantry as conditions required. The cap is OD green cloth construction, with red/white piping and a gold bullion on red patch of a parachute over “307” on the exterior and a brown leather sweatband on the interior. No maker’s marks are present.
CONDITION: A few small holes are present, otherwise very good.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 3,000 - 5,000
LOT 1446
Fine Grouping of Eight U.S. Airborne Infantry Patches, Including Early World War II Specific Designs - The grouping consists of two airborne “parachute” patches, a patch for the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (eagle swooping through an “0”, flanked by “5” and “6” dice), an early pattern 505th PIR patch (black panther on blue trimmed white shield, “READY” in banner below; this patch was used for WWII but rejected by the Institute of Heraldry and replaced with the winged panther motif and “H-HOUR” motto later), two early 503rd PIR patches (angry cat descending under silk, one round with polychrome cat, the other squared with black and white cat; this patch would be retired in favor of a heraldic motif symbolizing the 503rd’s critical role in the Battle of Corregidor), and two patches for the 508th PIR (a red-skinned devil descending under silk, rifle in one hand and grenade in the other). CONDITION: Good overall. The squared 503rd patch and the two 508th patches show mild staining.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 2,500 - 3,500
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