Grouping Belonging to Col. Wade C. Gatchell, US 10th Armored Division in WW

This is a very large assortment of items that belonged to Col. Wade Carpenter Gatchell (1895 - 1995), a long-serving veteran of both the horse and later mechanized cavalry.  Wade Gatchell was born on May 10, 1895, in Vermont.  He was the youngest of two sons born to Brig. Gen. George Washington Gatchell (US Army Field and Coastal Artillery), and was the younger brother of Brig. Gen. Oscar James Gatchell (West Point Chair of Dept. of Ordnance).  He was commissioned into the cavalry prior to WW1 and was reassigned as an aide to his father as part of the AEF in France once the US joined the war.  After the armistice, he returned to the cavalry just in time to see the transition from horses to tanks, and was assigned to the 10th Armored Division ("Tigers") when it was activated in July, 1942, at Fort Benning.  The 10th landed in France on September 23, 1944, and, after about a month of training, commenced combat operations as part of Patton’s 3rd Army.  Gatchell was in command of the division’s Combat Command Reserve (CCR) which maneuvered in support and/or in concert with the front line Combat Commands A and B (CCA and CCB).  In this capacity, Gatchell and his men took part in operations around Metz in late November and early December, the 10th AD becoming the first US Army Division to set foot on German soil during the operation, before wheeling north to break the encirclement of 10th Armored’s CCB and the 101st Airborne at Bastogne during the Ardennes Offensive later in the month.  Following the repulse of the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge, the 10th prepared to attack the Saar-Moselle "triangle" anchored by the city of Trier in mid-February.  Gatchell’s command, divided into two Task Forces (TF Cherry and TF Standish) took nine towns to the west of Trier linking up with US forces spanning the Moselle in the town of Wincherigen.  Gatchell and the 10th continued advancing across southern Germany and on into Czechoslovakia where they were finally halted by the surrender of the Third Reich.  Colonel Gatchell retired following the end of WW2 and moved to San Diego, where he remained until his death in February of 1995.  

Included in this lot are: Col. Gatchell’s US M1941 Field Jacket (size 36L) with 10th AD shoulder patch, metal Colonel insignia, large post-war embroidered "Tiger" patch on the left breast, and intact flannel lining with satin sleeves;  US Army summer four pocket officer’s tunic with gilt US Army buttons, crossed saber cavalry service branch insignia, and pre-war 7th Cavalry Mechanized Brigade patch; private purchase US Army tan shirt; pair of riding breeches (waist size: 37); a collapsible shaving kit valise with lightly flaked waterproof lining and two snap-fasteners; group of ribbons and rank insignia: (ribbon row 1: Legion of Merit – Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster – WW1 Victory Medal with four bronze Campaign Stars / ribbon row 2: American Defense Service Medal – American Campaign Medal – Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal with three bronze Campaign Stars; pair of 10th Armored Division enamel pins; pair of Major rank insignia; pair of Colonel rank insignia; and a post-war ID badge for The Military Order of the World Wars); a large folio of documents and ephemera pertaining to Gatchell’s service in the Cavalry ranging from his pre WW1 service until the end of WW2 and the 10th AD’s brief period as an occupation force in Bavaria.

This is an excellent lot of items that belonged to a heroic combat commander from an established American military family.  It would make a wonderful addition to any collection of WW2 militaria and memorabilia.