Original U.S. WWII 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment Enamel Distinctive Unit Insignia DUI by N.S. Meyer - Matched Set

Original Items. Only One Pair Available. This is a gorgeous pair of Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) for the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, which saw extensive service during WWII. Both are in lovely condition, produced by N.S. Meyer Inc of New York, and have functional pinback attachments. Both are marked N.S. MEYER / INC. / NEW YORK, and bear the shield shape logo with MEYER running vertically and NEW YORK horizontally in a cross shape (intersecting at the Y).

It is generally believed that this firm was founded in 1906 by Nathan S. Meyer in New York. This company, located at 79 5th Ave, was considered an army and navy equipment store. His father, Simon N. Meyer, was a clothing merchant whose business began selling “gold and silver trimmings” and eventually was listed under “Regalia” in the directors in the 1880s and 1890s. It is believed that Nathan played an active role in this business. This explains why some sources state that N.S Meyer had created medals for the Army since the late 19th century.

The insignia are in great shape, and are shield shaped, with a banner underneath inscribed with LOYAUTE (French for Loyalty). The shields have a red background, with a diagonal gold stripe down the middle with three blue Fleur-de-Lis insignia. The upper right corner shows three columns, which come from the state emblem of Georgia, where the regiment was originally formed.

A lovely set of DUI Insignia from a regiment that saw long WWII service. Ready to display!

319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion during WWII (1942-1945)
The regiment was reorganized and redesignated 13 February 1942 as the 319th Field Artillery Battalion. It was then ordered into active military service on 25 March 1942 and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. Reorganized and redesignated 15 August 1942 as the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion (GFAB). During World War II the battalion was present for the Invasion of Sicily (although it saw no combat after the friendly fire incident on 11 July involving the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th PIR, Company C of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, and the 376th PFAB), the Salerno landings, the Normandy landings, where it earned a Presidential Unit Citation at Ste Mere Eglise, the invasion of the Rhineland (for which two operations it was granted an arrowhead distinction), and fighting in the Ardennes-Alsace region. It was also given general campaign credit for Central Europe.

The 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion saw its first combat action in Italy in September 1943 when it was chosen by Col. Darby of the U.S. Rangers to be his only artillery unit to support his Rangers in a seaborne invasion of the Naples coast. Fighting alongside the Rangers and small detached units from the 82nd Airborne, it effectively repelled numerous German counterattacks and kept the roads to Naples through the Chiunzi Pass clear until the US and British forces could gain control of the Sorrento Plateau.

The 319th gained distinction as the first Allied unit to enter Naples and formally liberate that city from the retreating German forces. After serving as a "military police" unit to clear rubble, provide aid, food and shelter to the civilian population and also help dispose of German time bombs and other armaments left behind, the 319th was relieved of its civilian police duties and sent to Northern Ireland where it rejoined the rest of the 82nd Airborne to begin training for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. For its conduct in this offensive, the 319th was awarded its first Presidential Unit Citation, making it the first battalion of the 82nd Airborne to win such an honor in WWII.[citation needed] (Note: some smaller-sized units of the 82nd also won the award because they were selected by Col Darby to be part of his Ranger force along with the 319th)

The 319th and its sister GFAB, the 320th, made two glider assaults behind enemy lines during the Second World War; at St. Mere Eglise on D-Day and at Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The 319th lost approximately 40% of its strength due to death, wounds and injuries sustained by glider crashes and enemy fire on the night of 5–6 June 1944 during the Normandy landings.

Because all of their howitzers were damaged by crash landings, the 319th fought as infantrymen for the first few days supporting the paratroop and glider infantry of the 82nd Airborne during the battles to control the Merderet bridgehead. The glider carrying the commander of the battalion, Col Todd, crash-landed behind German lines and he and the survivors had to fight their way back to the original landing zone to rejoin his men.

Once the battles in Normandy had subsided, the 319th was sent back to England to recoup and regroup along with the rest of the 82nd. A few weeks later, they were ordered to begin preparation for Operation Market Garden, a joint US and British assault on the south-eastern Netherlands to secure the Rhine bridges for a planned invasion of the German Rhineland. The 319th's glider landings in September 1944 took place in daylight (as opposed to the night landings during D-Day) and there were fewer casualties although several gliders did land across the border in Germany (most of these men did not survive). The 319th provided artillery support for the 508th and 504th Parachute Infantry Regiments (82nd) during this campaign and aided in the paratroopers' capture of the critical Nijmegen Bridge.

After almost two months of combat, the 319th was then sent to Northern France for R & R in mid-November 1944. However, less than a month later, they were quickly brought to the front near St. Vith (Belgium) to support the American infantry which sustained heavy losses following the German assault in the Ardennes Offensive. During this engagement, the 319th fought close combat action against several SS Panzer units, frequently with little infantry support (the 82nd lines were stretched over a wide area to the south of St. Vith as a holding action until more US troops could be brought to the battlefront to stem the tide of the advancing SS Panzers).

The 319th then fought with other 82nd units through the Huertgen Forest and across the Rhine into Germany and continued to fire high explosive shells against the enemy until April 1945 when they encountered advancing Russian or Red Army troops. The 319th along with other units of the 82nd Airborne served as the U.S. military honor guard in Berlin in July 1945.