Okay I have a question or two for y'all. This is not a quiz, I am seeking information. What countries besides the US and British Commonwealth wore unit patches on the uniforms of their ground forces (army and marines) during the era that encompassed the Second World War, say 1930-1946? My question does not include cuff title insignia of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. I am asking about across the board unit patches, such as what denotes regimental, divisional, corps or army affiliation. Finally can you provide examples or point me to a page that has them demonstrated? Please do not include US insignia and commonly found British examples.
From what I remember the Free Polish forces wore unit patches etc on their BD uniforms (in a similar style to british ones) when fighting in the west, however I can't see any evidance of that coming from their original uniforms so I'm not sure that counts, here is a good link anyhow: Uniforms: Polish forces, post the surrender of Poland. The French Foreign Legion wore shoulder patches to distinguish them as free French: Italian troops also had patches to distinguish their unit, though lower on the arm, from what I remember however this was limited to specialist units: Italian military uniforms of WW2 (WWII) Hope that helps
It does, Stefan. Thanks for your information. I've not been able to find out which, if any, armies of other nations used unit patches. We usually called them divisional patches because by in large, that was the formation size that commonly wore them and were most visible. I am certain that other countries may wore them at some point (maybe post war, I am not looking at that era) but I have no hard and fast information regarding the war period.
Well, done a little research on the Italian stuff, here is the badge worn by the 'Decima Mas' troops during the war: Here is some info on their history (sorry its Wiki but it's the best I can do): Decima Flottiglia MAS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia There are an array of patches on this site as well, most of which are unit insignia from the Italian army, IIRC worn on the lower arm: Italian badges, flags & insignia, WW2 Hope that helps. What is this for Jeff? Just general interest or for some wider work? Take a look at WWIIReenacting.co.uk - The home of WWII / WW2 Re-enacting in the UK - WW2 Reenacting, WW2 Re-enacting, WW2 Reenactment, WW2 Re-enactment forum and ask on there, there are some people with a lot of expertise on WW2 insignia who should be able to help.