unintentional collection

[overlandflyer]

interesting to find this group and glad to see it seems to be active.

i've had a box of WWII patches from my dad for years and just cracked it open again to check the contents. the box itself is pretty neat in that i believe it is a WWII Red Cross parcel 'LYOVAC' dated (expiration) Aug 5, 1948.

if i remember the story from my father, after WWII soldiers were allowed to keep their uniforms as civilian clothes, but they had to remove all the military patches. for a while, my dad was one of the officers supervising this operation.




apparently the 2nd Army were a good deal of their customers, but my dad also mentioned that box followed him around for a while and he often traded patches with other men. in total there are probably a few hundred along with some buttons and insignia. very cool stuff i'm interested in learning about.

other items i have are a few flags, US, Nazi, Red Cross and a German submariners suit. i have an old picture of my mom wearing it shoveling snow. apparently warm and waterproof.

cheers...gary

[Gunny Hartmann]

Please post your other items!...

[overlandflyer]

been researching the identification of these online, so please feel free to correct anything i may have gotten wrong. also please forgive any mis-orientation faux-pas' by which i mean no disrespect.

the first group are patches that seem to have nothing to do with numbered fighting divisions or armies...



i included the two Service Forces patches because one is definitely oval as opposed to the other round one. i have duplicates of some of these, but if i decide to trade any, i will list those later.

cheers...gary

[overlandflyer]

as i scan more, perhaps i should post these three...




the only ones i could not ID online.

thanks...gary

[Panzersaurus]

Very neat stuff. I would really like to see the submariners suit. A great collection

[aurelius180]

as i scan more, perhaps i should post these three...




the only ones i could not ID online.

thanks...gary

I believe they are, left to right, Glider Borne Paratrooper, 1st Army, 80th Division.

Here is a good site for reference: American Military Patches, Other Insignia and Decorations of World War Two

[fastfeet]

Thats a great collection Gary, I hopoe you post all of your patches and any other pieces you have. I ID'd the overseas cap patch (I have two) and discovered that the officers patch for their ( C _ _ _+ Cap) as we called it in the Army was to be worn on the opposite side of the cover. I am trying to post a picture of my Dad in Germany during WW II but am having trouble "righting" the photo that was scanned on Adobe Reader, the free one. Great stuff thanks for posting.
Fastfeet

Overseas Cap Insignia

Above is a sampling of common WW2 Airborne cap patches. Top left to right, light and dark blue variants of the early parachute infantry cap patch, and an early parachute artillery patch. Below left to right, an early glider artillery patch, a theatre-made officers' paraglide patch, introduced in the 101st circa August 1944), and a US made paraglide EM patch.The officer's version had to be worn on the right side of the cap, to allow insignia of rank to be worn in the usual spot on the left side. Thus, the glider flies in the opposite direction from that on the enlisted version, as their patch was worn on the left side. In this manner, the glider always appears to fly toward the front of the wearer.

[overlandflyer]

thanks for the quick ID on those unknowns.
well here are most of the rest...



armored divisions. interesting having one with no number(?)



love having a "Big Red One" patch. wondering about the two different 15th army patches, though(?)



i believe i'm missing some parts of these. i've seen other versions of some Mountain and Airborne divisions with the banner qualifier over the patch as with the 82nd Airborne shown here.

my dad passed away in 2004 at age 91. wish the internet had existed a few years earlier in his life as i'm sure he would have loved groups like this to share information.

cheers...gary

[aurelius180]

Attachment 685464

love having a "Big Red One" patch. wondering about the two different 15th army patches, though(?)

The 15th patch on the left is Corps level command, XVth Army Corps, and the one on the right is Army level command, 15th Army.

There is something about the "Big Red One."

[overlandflyer]

oops... see i misinterpreted one. 111th Army Corps should be III (3rd) Army Corps. darn Romans with those silly numerals!