Can someone out there de-mystify army patch wearing? When would one wear their division patch (the most common that I've seen) and when would you wear the army (or perhaps corps) patch? From the picture here, you can see the XO has the 7th Army Patch on his jacket but man to his left does not. Is it because the 540th did not have a division patch? Can you wear a patch for a unit smaller than a division?
We, in the Marines, try to not complicate things too much. the only thing authorized for wear on our utility uniform is rank and up to two devices (jump, pilot, or EOD wings; or scuba bubble.) On our dress uniforms you have rank and the afore mentioned devices as well as ribbons, shooting badges, and a couple of Eagle, Globe, and Anchors. This simplifies things greatly for us dumb jar-heads.
No the 540th, 36th, 39th, and 1108th were never part of a division and therefore did not have divisional patches. They were "bastard" units and were a separate unit unto themselves. They would be under Corps or Army Command, thus during their tours of duty were in direct orders from 5th and 7th Army and II or VI Corps.
The 540th did wear they regimental patches, the seahorse, pictured here.
Later when they were converted from Regiment to Group, each battalion, the 2832nd and 2833rd, had their own unique designation.
In the case of Operation Dragoon (by the way, there is a great article in Military History Quarterly on Op Dragoon - I will post it in the near future) they fell under VI Corps which was part of the 7th Army. So which one would be proper to wear? VI Corps, 7th Army, or even the regimental?
It actually varied and changed from time to time. In France they were part of 7th and then directly under VI Corps. I can provide details in a while. I have all the journals from each day.
If you want to read a very good book, pick up a copy of Dragoon, The Other Invasion of France by Paul Gaujac
I hadn't finished the article yet, and I admit my knowledge of that landing is not as mature as others. It would seem that the fact that it went well kept it from being as well know as Normandy, Salerno, or Anzio. (Of course, it is sad to say that not many in America could tell you the significance of Salerno or Anzio in the WWII. That's not to say anything about the marvelous things you guys did [Rocky, Chuck, et al.] that's just a pathetic reality caused by the lack of interest in things that don't have to do with misbehaving starlets.) In the case of Normandy, most people are familiar with Omaha beach - even if they couldn't identify it by name. The other four beaches, especially the British and Canadian, are not as well know because it wasn't the slaughter that the 29th and 1st ID's walked into.
That's my own theory on it anyway. I guess Dieppe was a slaughter, too, but not many outside the WWII history nerd community knows about it either. How 'bout it Moose? Is Dieppe a household name in the land of Engles? God bless those boys; they got destroyed.
James Dietz 29, Let's go!
VI Corps had been withdrawn from the front after the fall of Rome and assigned to the Seventh Army on June 15. Two days later, its commander, General Truscott, was called to Bouzareah to be briefed on Operation Anvil. Then in Salerno he attended a presentation of the procedures used in Normandy, before returning to Rome to study the plans with his staff.
At the beginning, Truscott stressed to General Patch the necessity of grouping all the planners involved in Naples and creating a single command structure for the assault phase. In particular he suggested that all the participating units be under his command as leader of the land forces and that his rank be equal to that as the chief of naval forces. But VI Corps was a latecomer and 7th Army with its partners has already finalized their plans. The introduction of a new level of command would be a source of confusion (no kidding). Beyond that, General Patch believed that, during the assault, VI Corps could not cope with the directing the special units and airborne troops, on top of its three assigned assault divisions.
General Truscott let himself be convinced and it was only natural that the Navy would direct the operations until the ground units CPs could be established on the shore. So the Navy planning group came to Naples on July 8 and was joined two days later by Admiral Hewitt, who was thus nearby the command structures: 7th Army, Armee B and XII Tactical Air Command.
Hey, M,
I just noticed that you are about a week away from hitting your 8000th post! Holy cow! I bet you wonder where the time has gone!
You should make yourself a General of the Armies or Field Mashal or something!
