Mass Militaria & Antiques

This is a WW2/ Pre WW2 insignia group from the 241st Coast Artillery Regiment/ 241st artillery regiment insignia, Massachusetts National Guard, consisting of three 241st Coast Artillery Distinctive Unit Insignia crests with the regiment’s “VIGILANTIA” motto, a wartime brass “U.S.” collar disk, and two Massachusetts “241”collar disks, including an earlier pre-war example. Also included is an infantryman’s collar disk, an unknown one in the bunch but one that will stay as it was found this way.

During World War II, the 241st Coast Artillery Regiment served as part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston, manning coastal fortifications, artillery guns, and harbor defense positions protecting Boston Harbor and the New England coastline from potential naval attack. The regiment had already been federalized before the United States entered the war and spent the conflict carrying out coastal defense and anti-invasion duties during the period when German naval activity off the Atlantic coast posed a serious concern.