James Dempster;99209 wrote:
I hope you don’t mind a quasi-heraldic British interloper.
Of course not.
Since you mention the division level, for reference:
Omaha Beach
1st Infantry Division ("The Big Red One")
The 16th and 18th Infantry belonged to the 1st Infantry Division, the origin of whose nickname is obvious.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/29th_ID_SSI.svg/200px-29th_ID_SSI.svg.png
29th Infantry Division
The 115th and 116th Infantry belonged to the 29th ("Blue and Gray") Infantry Division, a National Guard formation made up in large part of regiments with lineages to both sides in the Civil War. The 115th traces its roots to the 1st Maryland Infantry on the Union side, the 116th to the 5th Virginia Infantry on the Confederate side.
Utah Beach
4th Infantry Division (Ivy Division)
So nicknamed from the four ivy leaves, which are in turn a pun on the Roman numeral IV. The 8th, 12th, and 22d Infantry belonged to the 4th ID.
Airborne Landings
82d Airborne Division ("All American Division")
So-called because it was said during World War I that the division (not airborne at that time, obviously) drew its men from all over the United States, unlike most divisions that were made up of troops from just a few states. The 505th, 507th, and 508th Parachute Infantry and the 319th and 320th Parachute Field Artillery belonged to the 82d.
101st Airborne Division ("Screaming Eagles")
The insignia and nickname come from the division’s having been organized in Wisconsin; the 8th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War was famous for having a live bald eagle as its mascot. The 501st, 502d, and 506th Parachute Infantry belonged to the 101st Division.
Great thread! If my memory is correct, at least two American armigers landed at Normandy by sea on D-Day: General Theodore Roosevelt III and his son Captain Quentin Roosevelt II.
A few more I’ve tracked down.
58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (Omaha)
http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mhBfksgJ29Eh3yD3P3-XFOg.jpg
81st Chemical Mortar Battalion (Omaha)
http://www.nbc-links.com/nbcgraphics/dui/81st Chemical Battalion-81A.gif
111th Field Artillery Battalion (Omaha)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/111FARegtCOA.jpg/100px-111FARegtCOA.jpg
62d Armored Field Artillery Battalion (Omaha)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/5773_116869733606_845402_n.jpg
7th Field Artillery Battalion (Omaha)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/7FARegtCOA.jpg
197th Self-Propelled Antiaircraft Battalion (Omaha)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/197_FA_Rgt_DUI.jpg/125px-197_FA_Rgt_DUI.jpg
467th Self-Propelled Antiaircraft Battalion (Omaha)
http://images.military.com/UserImages/19129
37th Engineer Combat Battalion (Omaha)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/37EnBnCOA.gif
359th Infantry Regiment (Utah—at least one battalion landed late in the afternoon on June 6)
http://armyunitpatch.togetherweserved.com/18747.jpg
237th Engineer Combat Battalion (Utah)
http://gmcozart.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/237thcrest.gif
49th Engineer Combat Battalion (Utah)
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/U-S-Army-49th-Engineer-Battalion-hand-sewn-felt-patch-brand-new-never-issued-/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqV,!hsFC)PhyDjKBQur7SroU!~~60_35.JPG
29th Field Artillery Battalion (Utah)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/29FARegtCOA.jpg
299th Engineer Combat Battalion (Utah)
http://www.flyingtigerssurplus.com/product-images/lg/U956_lg.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/V_Corps.svg/226px-V_Corps.svg.png
V Corps who commanded Omaha Beach Forces 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions plus the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions.
VII Corps who commanded the Utah Beach Forces 4th Infantry Division, 359th Regimental Combat Team and 90th Infantry Division.
90th Infantry Division. Part of the Division landed Utah Beach 6 June, but the main Division Forces landed a few days later at the 10 June.
The British 79th Armoured Division has allready been mentioned. It supported the Brittish and Canadian Forces who landed at Sword, Juno and Gold Beaches. So I add the main units who landed here.
Carrying out a role similar to the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions where the British 6th Airborne Division (including a Canadian Airborne Battalion).
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3060/airborne.jpg
The Pegasus Insignia of the British Airborne Forces carried by both the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions.
Sword Beach:
1st Special Service Brigade (Army and Royal Marines Commandos). Used the Combined Operations Shoulder Patch. Was commande by an armiger the Lord Lovat until he was wounded in action on 12 June.
3rd (British) Infantry Division.
http://www.d-daytanks.org.uk/images/regiments/armoured-brigade.jpg
27th Armoured Brigade.
My grandfather was a Ranger
However, he had been wounded at the amphibious landing at Anzio (minor) and at Rome-Arno (major) and was recuperating in an Italian hospital during Normandy. His unit scaled Pointe du Hoc at Omaha Beach, taking >60% casualties.
To close this out, some USAAF heraldry. As with the regiments and battalions of the ground forces posted yesterday, USAAF groups were color-bearing units and therefore entitled to full coats of arms, not just sleeve insignia like those of higher formations.
There were many more groups flying in support of the invasion, but I was able to verify that these five (a) flew on D-Day, and (b) actually had coats of arms at the time. Many of the recently formed groups did not, in part because the rapid expansion of the U.S. Army in 1943-44 exceeded the capacity of the Quartermaster Corps Heraldic Services Branch (now TIOH) to produce new designs. The other, more interesting, factor was that the head designer, Arthur Dubois, had a higher priority mission: designing and producing a full array of formation and unit insignia for Patton’s 1st Army Group, the fictitious organization created to deceive the Germans into expecting an invasion at the Pas de Calais.
Anyway:
48th Fighter Group
Since replaced by a far inferior design. (As an aside, my father served briefly with this group flying the dive-bomber variant of the P-51 in early 1943 before it deployed to Europe and he deployed to India.)
50th Fighter Group
http://www.schriever.af.mil/shared/media/ggallery/webgraphic/AFG-060613-001.jpg
322d Bombardment Group
http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/ggallery/webgraphic/AFG-110120-002.jpg
This is the current USAF emblazonment; during WWII the group would have used an Army-shaped shield simiilar to that of the 48th and 50th FGs. The blazon is "Tierce per fess azure and or, five piles, three conjoined between two transposed counterchanged." The motto was Recto Faciendo Neminen Timeo, "I fear none in doing right."
323d Bombardment Group
http://www.323bg.org/Assets/Pictures/323rd.jpg
Also later replaced by a horribly inferior design. Masochists can click here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/323dairexpeditionarygroup-emblem.jpg/250px-323dairexpeditionarygroup-emblem.jpg.
355th Fighter Group
Joseph McMillan;99197 wrote:
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment
(Note: These arms were not granted until 1952. I don’t know if the unit had arms in 1944)...
Joe,
According to the 505th Panther Association:
Quote:
The official insignia is in fact not the insignia first designed by the men of the unit, which was simply a black panther on a shield, with the original motto, "Ready" inscribed below it. However, the Institute of Heraldry refused to approve the crest known by the men of the WWII 505th and replaced it with the above-referenced insignia.
Here’s a photo of Col Gavin ca July 1942:
http://www.505rct.org/images/DickPowellColGavinat505.jpg
"Dick Powell and Col Gavin at 505th Headquarters"
And a modern-made version:
http://www.505thrct.com/mediac/400_0/media/505thpatch.jpg
I think the TIOH did a fantastic job, even if it wasn’t what the 505th wanted.
======
My father was in the 505th PIR from 1948 ~ 52 (then to 77th Special Forces Group; then to OCS).
—Guy
I think a winged panther without the bendlets would have been more striking (no pun intended) and effective, myself. The guys did a great job; most of the arms we see should be so good.
Joseph McMillan;99226 wrote:
101st Airborne Division ("Screaming Eagles")
The insignia and nickname come from the division’s having been organized in Wisconsin; the 8th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War was famous for having a live bald eagle as its mascot. The 501st, 502d, and 506th Parachute Infantry belonged to the 101st Division.
My late dad’s buddies in the 4th Armored Division Association say that the monument to the 101st Airborne and the Armored Forces Monument are across from each other on Memorial Drive outside Arlington so the 4th Armored tankers can keep watch on the 101st, whom they rescued at Bastogne.