United States Army Shoulder Patches and Related Insignia From World War I to Korea 1st Division to 40th Division

239 Pages·2001·223.42 MB·English

United States Army
Shoulder Patches
and Related Insignia
From World War I to Korea
1st Division to 40th Division
William Keller
SchifferMilitaryHistory
Atglen, PA
Acknowledgments
My sincerestgratitudegoesoutto all thathelpedand made the pro besteachhadtooffer. Withoutexception,each visitwasawonderful
duction of this volume possible. Namely Dan Alloggio, Kurt H. learning experience. Theirdedication notjust to collecting but the
Andariese, David S. Angle, PeterM. Bennethum, Gary Castellino, preservation of history made this project ajoy to work on and the
Rocco Collura, DavidFisher, Mike Furey, ScottGlemby, BobFord, photographscontainedwithinspeakvolumestothelifetimecommit
Richard T. Graney, Daniel Griffin, Kurt Keller, WayneT. Mc Cabe, ment it has been for many ofthem. I'm especially grateful to the
BruceJ.PitreJr.,GusRadle,JamesF.Rudy,GarthThompson,Charles individualswhograciously provided mewith identificationforsome
VanDel'Eems,RobertA.WilsonandJohnB.Wright. Withoutanyof ofthemoreunusual pieces. Onelastnote, Iwould liketoespecially
whomthisbookwouldnothavebeenascompleteoraccurate. Iwish thankthosebravesoulswho mailed mephotosandpatchestophoto
tocommendthemfortheirhospitalityandcooperation. Itwasaunique graph.
privilege to be invited to view their collections and photograph the
Toallthesoldierswhoserved,bothrememberedandforgotten.
BookdesignbyRobertBiondi.
Principal photography byKurtKeller; additional photography byWilliamKeller.
DustjacketphotobyRobertBiondi.
Copyright© 2001 byWilliamKeller.
LibraryofCongressCatalogNumber: 2001089821.
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Contents
Use Guide and Abbreviations Key 6
Introduction 7
The Civil War 8
The Spanish-American War 10
World War I 1918-1923 11
The Interwar Period 1924-1940 13
World War II 1941-1945 14
Italian Theater Patches : 15
English Made Patches ,............................... 16
German Occupation Patches 17
Japanese Occupation Patches 18
Korean Made Patches 20
United States Army Shoulder Patches and Related Insignia
1st Division to 40th Division (numerically by division) 21
Bibliography 239
Use Guide and Abbreviation Key
Use this section as aquick reference pointfor the manu DI =Distinguished UnitInsignia: Metal insignia with enam
facturing style codes listed in the captions. For ease of use, eledorpainteddesigns commonlyfound forregimental units.
eachDivisionwillbeitsownchapter.Withineachchaptereach Occasionally these can be found in miniature patch form for
photocaptionwillcontainalltheinformationabouteachpatch. wearonGarrison caps, lapelsand shoulderstraps.
After the patch number, the periodthe patchis from is li~ted.
This is followed by the Country oforigin and, if unique be ET =Embroidered on twill: Any patch where exposed twill
yondthedivisionalidentity,theidentificationofthepatchand basematerialis partofthe design ofthepatch.
finallytheconstructiondescription.Allpatcheswithoutacoun
=
try listed, with the exceptionofWorldWarI's are believedto FE Fullyembroidered:Theembroiderycoverstheentiresur
bemadein the United States. Information not coveredby the face ofthepatch.
introductionwillbediscussedinthecaptionwhenthetopicis
reached- seethefollowing sampleentry: Felt=Pressedwoolenmaterial that has no weave.
Fig. 8.16. PostWorldWar II, Germany. Bullion andfelt. HE=HandEmbroidered: The design ofthe patch is embroi
Translation: 8th Division, Patch 16, manufactured after dered with needleand threadby hand.
WorldWarII,madeinGermany,bullionandfeltconstruc
tion. ME =Machine embroidered: The design is embroidered on
material withamachineguided by aprepared pattern.
Bullion=Any spun, wovenorwrapped metallicthread. ODB =OliveDrabBorder
CS = Chain Stitch: Two top threads attached to basematerial TM =Patch is believed to be theater made but is of an un
by a single pick up or backing thread. Under close examina knownorigin.
tionthisembroiderytyperesemblesachain.This techniqueis
usuallydone withahandguidedembroiderymachine.Ahand Wool =Wool thatis awovenclothwithorwithout texture.
embroidered technique also exists that resembles this stitch
pattern. ?=The possibility exists thatthe patch is from this period or
countryoforigin.
6
Introduction
Soon after the arrival ofthe U.S. Army in any theater of This series will follow a general format as to the period
War or Occupation, local merchants catered to the soldiers, thateachpatchwasmadein.TheywillconsistofWorldWarI,
who passed through or were stationed there. Anything from which covers 1918 to approximately 1923 and the endofthe
scarvesformother, to cups andplatesemblazonedwithinsig OccupationofGermany. The nextwill bethe Interwarperiod
niacouldbeboughtby thebytheDoughboy andGI alike. As thatincludesthe1920suntiljustbeforeWorldWarII.Thethird
you will note by the great variety in this book, patches were periodcoveredwillbeWorldWarII,whichconsistsofjustthe
also on the list. The U.S. Army usually provided the soldier . waryears, 1941-1945.ThefinalerafeaturedwillbePostWorld
withenoughpatchesforeachofhis serviceuniforms whether War II whichincludes theGermanandJapaneseOccupations
theyweredomesticallyproducedornot.Oftenthenicestpatches and theKoreanWarera.
wornwereonesmade"InTheater"whichwerebeautifullyhand You may note that the World War I patches are only la
embroidered or made with bullion thread. Many individuals beledas"WorldWarI".Thisisdonebecausepatchesfromthis
purchased theater made insignia on theirown, in some cases erayvere manufactured inFranceorGermany and still others
forsouvenirsorforwearonadressuniform.Sometimespatches were made in the U.S. and shipped overseas. Without proper
wereboughtin theatersimplyto replaceones thatwere worn provenance, it is sometimes difficult to determine with any
outor lost. In many cases these patches were strictly against certaintytheexactcountryoforigin.Asageneralruleofthumb
theregulations orapprovedfor localwearonly. Occasionally a majority of the hand made patches were made in France.
the soldiers added theirown touches to the design ofapatch Some personnel had their insignia made in Germany during
with the addition of special tabs that reflected a unit's nick the occupation and some had their patches made inAmerica.
nameoranumerical designation. Likeothertheater madein The 81st Division for example arrived in France wearing a
signia,theseto wereusually unofficial. shoulderpatch.However,FrenchorGermanmaterialsarenot
This volume, the first in a series, will hopefully paint a a guarantee that the patch is from that country. With the War
fairly complete picture ofthe development and evolution of Reparations imposed onGermany, materials and machines of
ShoulderSleeveInsigniaortheShoulderPatchandrelatedin allmannerwereturnedoverto theAllies.Withthisinmind,it
signiaoftheU.S.Army.Thestartingpointoftheseriesarethe is conceivableto have patches madeinFranceusing German
DivisionalShoulderpatches,astheywerethefirstunitstoadopt machines and material. Thus, to avoid error, all World War I
patches during and afterWorldWar I. Through the gallery of patches are simply classified as "WorldWar I". With patches
photographs, I hope this series will effectively document the made at a later date this problem does not usually exist be
many variations and manufacturing stylesoftheperiods cov causeunits canbeeasilytraced to areasofserviceorveterans
ered and the countries that produced them. Every effort has mayhavebeenavailabletoanswerquestions.Fromthisagood
been made to includeinteresting and unique insigniato dem baseofcomparisoncanbemappedouttoidentifyotherinsig
onstrate the diversity that can befound. There will be some niaofthesameorigin. Unfortunately,in manycases, identifi
thing for every reader to enjoy, regardless ofspecific orgen cationofthemanufacturerissomewhatofan"art"atbest,and
eralinterest. assuch,itismoresubjectivethanabsolute.Caseinpoint,how
7
UnitedStatesArmyShoulderPatchesandRelatedInsignia
to tell the difference between apatch madein Germany com
pared with that ofAustria. Withineach era patches ofsimilar
styles are grouped together regardless of chronological age.
While thisis mainlydoneoutofconvenience,itwouldbedif
ficulttoarrangethepatchesinanorderthataccuratelyreflects
the true age of all insignia covered. It should be noted that
every attempt has been made to weed outany spurious orre
production items. To the best of anyone's knowledge, only
genuineperiodpiecesarepictured.Thisisnotsolelymyopin
ion,butalsothatofthecontributorswhoweremorethanhelp
ful in that regard. Forapproval dates ofthe patches and gen
eral unit history, the reader should refer to Shoulder Sleeve
Insigniaofthe U.S.ArmedForces 1941-1945bySmith& Pelz,
whichis thebestguideforthis information. Onefinal note, in
somecasestheremaybealackofvarietyforsomeoftheunits.
This may be due to the short service life ofa unit or the un
availability of a patch or patches for photography. With that
said,Ihopethatyou willgetas muchenjoymentfrom reading
this volumeas Idid from assemblingit.
BillKeller
July 15,2000
Fig.1. GeneralPhilipKearny.CourtesyofWayneT. McCabe.
The Civil War
The story ofthe shoulder patch begins in 1918 with the
departureofthe81st"Wildcat" Divisionfrom theU.S. forthe
GreatWar. While this is afairly well known fact, little atten
tion is paid to the original use of cloth insignia by the U.S.
Armed Forces. In 1862 under the direction ofGeneral Philip
Kearny, thefirst suchbadgewas adoptedforuse.Theoriginal
purpose was to aid in the identification ofhis troops in battle
butitbecamemuchmorethanthat.Intime,itbecameasource
ofunitprideandbadge ofhonor, atradition that continuesto
day. Itconsistedoflittlemorethan asmallsquareofred flan
nel worn upon thekepi. General Kearny sacrificedone ofhis
own blankets to begin the production ofthese devices. After
theeffectivenessofthissimplemeasurewasdemonstrated,the
entireUnionArmyadoptedtheconceptandcreatedovertwenty
differentsuch"CorpsBadges".Theycameinavarietyofcol
orstodesignatedifferentdivisions withineachCorps.Redfor
the 1stDivision,whiteforthe2nd, andblueforthe3rd.Occa
sionallyatri-colordevicewasusedforheadquartersandsome
Corpsaddeda4thdivision, which wasdistinguishedbygreen.
The style ofmanufacture varied widely from simple felt cut
outstojewelerquality badges madefrom silverand gold. Fig. 2. CaptainJ. B.Winslowwearingaclothand bullion5th CorpsBadge.
CourtesyofWayneT.McCabe.
8
Introduction
Fig.3.CaptainDavidAyers,5thandlater7thNewJerseyVolunteerInfantry Fig.4.CaptainGeorgeV.Boutelle'sforagecapwith3rdCorps,2ndDivision
Regimentwearingametal3rdCorpsBadge.CourtesyofWayneT.McCabe. clothbadge.Capt.Boutellewaspartofthe2ndNewYorkVolunteerInfantry
RegimentandworethiscapattheBattleofChancellorsville.
Fig. 5. 2nd Corps Artillery Headquarters badge Fig. 6. Ist Veteran Army Corps (Hancock's) Fig. 7. Gold 17th Corps badge that belonged to
madeofbullionandcloth. gunstockinlayCorpsbadge. PrivateWilliam G. Nichols, Co. H, 76th Illinois
VolunteerInfantryRegiment.
9
UnitedStatesAnnyShoulderPatchesandRelatedInsignia
The Spanish-American War
After the Civil War the use ofCorps badges waned and
not until 1898 and the Spanish-American War was the U.S.
Allny again directed to use a set ofbadges to distinguish the
differentCorps.As originally intended these were to bemade
offeltjustliketheirpredecessorsandwornonthehatorbreast.
The badges of this period vary from simple painted metal
stampingstoornatehandcraftedworksofartproducedbythe
nation'smost renownedjewelers.
Fig.9.Stampedandpainted IstCorps,3rdDivisionBadge.
Fig. 10. 5th Corps Headquarters enamel on bronze badge made by Bailey
Banks& Biddle.
Fig. 8.CabinetCardofanunidentifiedSpanish-AmericanWarsoldierwear
ingametal3rdCorpsBadgeonhishat.
10
Introduction
World WarI
1918-1923
DUlingWorldWarItheshoulderpatchwas born, starting
atrendthatcontinuestoday.Whilemostoftheshoulderpatches
wereapprovedforwearbeforetheendofthewar,themajority
werenotwornuntilaftertheArmistice.The81stDivisionwas
among thefew units thatdid wearashoulderpatchbeforethe
cessation ofhostilities. Like their Corps badge predecessors,
manyofthefirstpatchesweresimplyfeltorwoolcuttoshape.
Otherconstructiontypesarefeaturedinfigures 12to 14;these
represent the majority of the styles made during this period.
Oneofthe mostuniquestylesfrom this periodis the "Liberty
Loan"patch,whichwasmadeinconjunctionwiththeWarLoan
program. These are of a woven construction, made with the
sametechniqueas amodernshirtlabel.
Fig.11.Diecutwool28thDivisionshoulderpatch.
Fig.12.ServiceofSupply.Woolonwoolconstruction.
Fig.13.ServiceofSupply. Handembroideredonwool.
II