150TH Machine Gun Battalion during World War I

150th Machine Gun Battalion

150TH Machine Gun Battalion 42D ‘Rainbow’ Division during World War I

The 150TH Machine Gun Battalion was organized from companies and personnel from the Wisconsin National Guard’s 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment on 16 August 1917. The Battalion fought with the 42D Division in France throughout WWI. After the war, the companies and personnel were reorganized into the 32D ‘Red Arrow’ Division’s 127TH Infantry Regiment, which is why the 127TH Infantry’s distinctive unit insignia includes a small rainbow.

During the crucible of the First World War, the Wisconsin 150th Machine Gun Battalion stood proudly as a vital component of the famed 42nd “Rainbow” Division—a unit uniquely assembled from National Guard units across 26 states to ensure every region of America was represented in the American Expeditionary Forces. Activated in the fall of 1917 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. McCoy, the battalion quickly molded its ranks of Midwestern citizen-soldiers into a lethal, highly disciplined tactical force. Armed with punishing French Hotchkiss machine guns, the men of the 150th earned a formidable reputation for their steadfastness under fire. They participated in virtually every major campaign of the American forces in France, displaying extraordinary valor during the grueling stalemate of the Champagne-Marne defensive, the sweeping offensive of the Aisne-Marne, the brutal mud and slaughter of the St. Mihiel push, and the final, decisive slog through the Meuse-Argonne. Operating often as detached platoons to reinforce hard-pressed infantry lines, the battalion provided relentless covering fire that blunted German counterattacks and paved the way for Allied advances. Through freezing rain, mustard gas, and relentless artillery barrages, the Wisconsin 150th embodied the unwavering grit of the American doughboy, cementing a legacy of sacrifice and tactical excellence that permanently marked the history of the Badger State.