106th Infantry Regiment, World War One

The 106th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment was a New York State National Guard Regiment that saw action in the Civil War, the Mexican Border dispute of 1916 and World War I. For service in WWI, the 23rd New York Infantry officially became the 106th Infantry and was strengthened by reinforcements drawn from the 14th Infantry. At the commencement of active fighting, the 106th had a total effective strength of 3,003 officers and men. The 106th was attached to the 53rd Brigade, along with the 105th Infantry Regiment. Following World War I, the 106th Infantry was transferred out of the division and renamed the 186th Field Artillery Regiment. The 10th New York Infantry Regiment was brought in as a replacement and was eventually given the numerical designation of the old 106th. The 106th shipped to Europe in May of 1918 and was initially placed in the East Poperinghe Line with the rest of the 27th Division.

On July 25th 1918 the 27th division was slowly rotated into the front line in relief of the British 6th Division. On August 31st 1918, operations of the Ypres-Lys Offensive began in an attempt to remove the Germans from the Dickebusch/Scherpenberg area. The 106th participated in the reconnaissance that opened the offensive. On September 3rd 1918 the Germans withdrew from the area, marking the successful completion of the Ypres-Lys Offensive. From September 24th to October 21st 1918 the 106th participated with the rest of the 27th Division in the Somme Offensive, which was a successful attempt to break the German’s Hindenburg defensive line. On October 21st 1918 the entire division was relieved. By March 19th 1919 the division had returned in full to the states where it was quickly mustered out.

During its service in World War I, the 106th sustained 1,955 casualties including 1,496 wounded, 376 killed, and 83 who later died of their wounds.

NYSMM Online Resources

Roster of the 106th 

A short history and illustrated roster of the 106th Infantry, United States, Colonel Frank H. Norton commanding

History of the 23rd Regiment N.G.S.N.Y., Re-designated the 106th Infantry A.E.F.; to which is prefixed a history of the Brooklyn City Guard, the parent organization by Rutherford Ireland. 

Other Resources

This is meant to be a comprehensive list. If, however, you know of a resource that is not listed below, please send an email to ng.ny.nyarng.list.historians@army.mil with the name of the resource and where it is located. This can include photographs, letters, articles and other non-book materials. Also, if you have any materials in your possession that you would like to donate, the museum is always looking for items specific to New York's military heritage. Thank you.

American Battle Monuments Commission. 27th division, summary of operations in the World War. [Washington] : U.S. G.P.O., 1944.

Guide to the New York State National Guard, 23rd Infantry Regiment records ARC.216
Scope: This collection includes materials dating from 1863 to 1957 documenting the peacetime activities of the NGSNY 23rd (later 106th) Infantry Regiment, as well as the Regiment's service in the Civil War and World War I. Items include muster rolls and member lists, dinner and event programs and invitations, regimental histories, news clippings, photographs, and issues of the Regiment's journals, The Guardsman and  Vigilantia. Also included are two scrapbooks of decorations, notes and correspondence, photographs, clippings, and ephemera. One scrapbook commemorates a rifle match between the NGSNY 23rd Regiment and the 13th Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard at Gettysburg in 1893, while the other relates to the 23rd Regiment's visit to Gettysburg in 1904. The latter scrapbook is oversized and is housed separately from the rest of the collection. Finally, the collection contains a small number of items documenting the Veteran Association of the 23rd Regiment's Company A, including a dinner and meeting announcement and a single volume containing the Association's constitution, amendments, and membership lists with autograph signatures and addresses for each member.
Located at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Thank you to John Zarrillo for recommending this resource.

Love, Edmund G. The 27th Infantry Division In World War II. Nashville: Battery Press, 1982.

O'Ryan, John F. The story of the 27th division. New York, Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., 1921.

O'Ryan, John F. History of the 27th Division :New York's own. New York : Bennett & Churchill, 1919.

New York (State). Education Dept. Division of Archives and History. World War I veterans' service data and photographs, 1917-1938 (bulk 1919-1924).
Quantity: 33.4 cu. ft.
Quantity: Copies: 53 microfilm reels; 35mm.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by county, then alphabetical by municipality.
Additional phys form: Microform is available at the New York State Archives through interlibrary loan.
Abstract: This series primarily contains personal information, service data, newspaper clippings, and photographs of New York State veterans of World War I, and some accounts of home front activities in the state. Also included is a small amount of material documenting contributions toward the war effort by the state's schools, faculty, and students as well as war work done by units of the Education Department.
Abstract: These records were collected by State Historians James Sullivan and Alexander C. Flick (from 1923) in response to a joint resolution of the senate and assembly to "collect, collate, compile, edit, and prepare for publication sufficient material, statistics, and data for a history of the State of New York in the World War...." Because no funds were appropriated for this work, the publication was never completed.
Abstract: The State Historian relied on officially appointed local historians to collect and forward information relating to their communities' roles in the war. Only two-thirds of the state's communities provided the requested information, and very few veterans from New York City are represented in the series. There are no files for Bronx, Queens, or Richmond counties.
Abstract: The contents of the files vary considerably, but each contains all or some of the following: list of soldiers from the community; service record forms for each veteran, usually providing name, address, place and date of birth, parents' names and address, date entered service, drafted or enlisted, military unit at entrance and discharge, brief outline of service giving duty stations, combat experience, wounds, and decorations received, and date, place, rank, and military unit at discharge or death; narrative statements of individuals' war service by veterans or the local historian; newspaper clippings documenting the return of soldiers, commemorative celebrations, or other soldier-related activities; transcripts of original letters written by soldiers while in the service, some written from France; photographs of soldiers, most in uniform and identified; narrative written by the local historian describing home front activities in the community; transcripts of community newspaper articles concerning local home front activities; souvenir booklets or other items of memorabilia; transmittal correspondence between the state historian and the local historian; and information on nurses who served in the war.
Abstract: Photographs in the series are primarily portraits of soldiers in uniform, taken either formally in studio settings or informally as private snapshots in home-like surroundings. Some are of the souvenir variety taken overseas. There are no scenes from the war front.
Abstract: The final box of the series contains important additional material (correspondence, reports, lists, bulletins, pamphlets, books, and a few photographs) on the New York State's contributions to the war. These materials provide information on: wartime activities of the state's schools, teachers, and pupils (e.g. Liberty Loan campaigns, Red Cross and civilian relief work, conservation activities, and work for base hospitals); war service of college and university students; wartime activities, especially through the Bureau of Educational War Service, of the Regents and the Education Department, including specific projects of the Division of Archives and History, the State Museum, and the State Library; and the reorganization of New York State troops in the federal service, including transcribed extracts from military cables and comuniques (May 1917-December 1918) on deployment and military actions of New York components of the American Expeditionary Force (the 77th, 42nd, 78th, and 27th Divisions).
Abstract: Copies of several noteworthy works are also found with this material: a research paper, New York State "Boys" in the War: A Report of Impressions Gathered From Sorting and Reading Soldiers' Letters of the World War During the Summers of 1934 and 1935, prepared for Alexander Flick using materials collected by the Division of Archives and History; a 1920 book, The New York Hospital in France: Base Hospital No. 9, A.E.F., a historical diary of the New York Hospital Unit during its two years of active service in the war; and a 1920 booklet, Army Ordnance: History of District Offices - New York, a detailed account of the organization, activities, and production (including statistics) of the New York District of the Army Ordnance Department.
Abstract: Researchers may consult Alexander Flick's 10 volume History of the State of New York (1933), available at the New York State Library, for a review of New York's civilian and military efforts in World War I.
Located at the New York State Archives.

Starlight, Alexander. The Pictorial record of the 27th Division. New York : Harper, 1919.

Items in the museum collection are in bold.