Insignia

[Excerpt from Wyllie, Col. Robert E. "The Romance of Military Insignia."
 The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXXVI, No. 6. December, 1919. ]

The insignia of the Second Division was evolved by a truck driver, according to report. He painted the device on the side of his truck and it was selected as the insignia for the division. The color of the background on which the star is placed shows the battalion or independent company in the regiment, according to the following schedule: Black, Headquarters Company; green, Supply Company; purple, Machine Gun Company; red, First Battalion; yellow, Second Battalion; and blue, Third Battalion.

The shape of the background showed the regiment, as follows: Ninth Infantry, pentagon; Twenty-third Infantry, circle: Fifth Marines, square; Sixth Marines, diamond; Twelfth Field Artillery, horizontal oblong, Fifteenth Field Artillery, vertical oblong, Seventeenth Field Artillery, projectile; and Second Engineers, castle.

[Excerpt from division history]

The Indian Head Divisional insignia was originated during the stay in Lorraine. The Supply Train commander, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Herringshaw, had been attracted by the devices used by the French to identify their trucks, so he called upon his train to submit designs for a 2d Division insignia. The Indian Head, submitted by Sergeant Louis B. Lundy, Company "A", 2d Supply Train, modified by a design submitted by Sergeant John Kenny, Company "B", 2d Supply Train, was adopted. This device appeared upon the trucks in April, 1918 and was later accepted as the insignia of the Division and was officially recognized shortly after the Armistice.

Nickname

None.  The division was referred to as the 2d Division (Regular).

Background

Authorized 22 September 1917 and formed out of Regular Army and Marine Corps units in the U.S. and France from 22 September 1917 to 30 March 1918.

Primary Units

3d Infantry Brigade:
9th Infantry Regiment
23 Infantry Regiment
5th Machine Gun Battalion

4th Infantry Brigade (USMC):
5th Regiment (USMC) 
6th Regiment (USMC)
6th Machine Gun Battalion (USMC)

2d Field Artillery Brigade:
12th Field Artillery Regiment (75mm)
15th Field Artillery Regiment (75mm)
17th Field Artillery Regiment (155mm)
2d Trench Mortar Battery

Divisional Troops:
4th Machine Gun Battalion
2d Engineers
1st Field Signal Battalion
2d Train Headquarters and MP
2d Ammunition Train
2d Supply Train
2d Engineer Train
2d Sanitary Train (Ambulance Companies & Field Hospitals 1, 15, 16, 23)

Product Flyers

DB 2-1: 2d Division, Division Histories, Vol. 1

DB 2-2: 2d Division, Division Histories, Vol. 2

DB 2-3: 2d Division, The Indian Magazine

DB USMC-1: The USMC in the World War

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