POTD: General Harding’s USMC 1911 – A General’s Sidearm

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a 1913-frame Colt Model 1911 in the USMC serial range, documented as owned by U.S. Army Major General Edwin Forrest Harding. He gifted it to a family friend named Robert James when James came home to Franklin, Ohio after the Korean War.

Harding was West Point class of 1909, same class as Patton. His 36-year career included commanding the 32nd Infantry Division during the Buna campaign in New Guinea, 1942 into early 1943.

The 1913 frame puts this in pre-WWI production. USMC serial range guns are among the more desirable 1911 variants. The slide carries non-standard “M1911A1 U.S. ARMY” markings on a WWI-era pattern slide, the kind of thing that happens when military pistols get rebuilt and re-issued over decades. Flannery Bolt barrel, WWI manufacture, circled “WGP” inspection mark, U.S. property marking. All there.

What separates this one is the documentation. M1916 leather holster marked BOYT/42. 32nd Infantry Division cuff links and patches. Letters connecting the gun to Harding and to James. You can follow this pistol from prewar officer service through a Pacific command to a postwar gift, and you have the paperwork to back every step of it up. That kind of provenance on a USMC 1911 doesn’t come around often.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“Historic Documented World War II U.S. Army Major General Edwin F. Harding Owned U.S.M.C. Serial Range Colt Model 1911 Semi-Automatic Pistol with Holster, Case, Letters, and Accessories.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5031/158/historic-wwii-us-major-general-e-f-harding-owned-colt-m1911. Accessed 28 May 2026.

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