airborne ovals and patch

[warcollect1942]

These all came from this 17 airborne paratrooper. On D Day he was in the 82nd

airborne 507th PIR. Which was decimated on D Day. They were transferred to the

17th airborne.

[doyler]

Nice insignia group.

 

Did he serve in the 508th and or 504th during the occupation?

[warcollect1942]

He served in the 504th and the 508th after the war

[Patchcollector]

Very nice!

[Torch03]

Very nice! I'm pretty positive that I owned one of his 507th Jump Wing ovals, Jump Wing and that same photo.

 

Matt

[warcollect1942]

I have everything this guy had. I have his photo album and all his paperwork and souvenirs.

The first half of the album is WWII airborne and the second half he is a combat photographer

in Korea.

[chcole1]

Very cool. Great pics of him too.

 

Chris

[Allan H.]

Warcollect1942,

 

Thanks for sharing these interesting pieces. The only ting missing seems to be his 507th oval!!! The 504th PIR ovals are great pieces. It is interesting to note that the 504th was running out of ovals for issue to soldiers by the time he was in the unit, so they had ovals made in France. The ovals are blue felt with a very thin tinsel wire used to embroider the borders. You also have a very nice variety of 508th ovals that span the WWII and post war era. A couple of them look like the classic 1947-48 "no tab" era of the 82nd. All of those are great pieces too. The blue and light blue bordered ovals are usually associated with the 509th PIB, though you occasionally find them in the effects of 17th A/B veterans, though not usually 507th PIR vets.

 

What can you tell us about the items in post #6? Obviously, he must have stayed active as a veteran as the beret, jump oval and pocket patches all appear to be newer made pieces. They are definitely not WWII.

 

The pictures are probably the most interesting, and I appreciate getting to see them.

 

Allan

[warcollect1942]

Thanks for the information, Was the 507th disband after D Day. He was both 507th and 17 AB. Which 508th ovals are after 1945?

I trash everything after 1945. The patch beret oval are already trashed. I kept the wing it is sterling. What features of

this patch determined it was junk?

[Allan H.]

Here's the deal on your 507th pocket patch. You laid in into the center of the beret, which is obviously not a WWII beret, and the oval on the beret is also clearly not a WWII 507th oval. When you add the fact that the face of the spider is missing so much detail (no teeth on the mouth) and the fact that the material appeared to be plain cotton, or a cotton poly blend, I made the assumption that the pocket patch was one of the type made for re-enactors. I've taken the liberty of attaching a 507th pocket patch that has rock solid provenance and you can see that there are definitely some differences. The base material appears to be different and the lack of facial details already mentioned. Since you posted a photo of the back of the patch, my opinion has improved somewhat. My study of these patches has led me to the conclusion that there were two production runs of this patch during WWII. There is also the fact that the folks at "Boots and Chutes" were offering a 507th pocket patch after the war. It is unknown to me exactly what this patch looked like. I have encountered a number of the embroidered on felt Boots examples, but I have not encountered a 507th executed on felt. Is it possible that this one that you show is a Boots example? Perhaps. It is also possible that it is something else all together. I would really want to examine this piece in hand to comment further. Maybe some others with experience can comment too.

To change the subject for a minute- Are you SERIOUS about TRASHING anything post 1945? Wow! I'll tell you what, mail it to me. I'll even pay postage. You'd b amazed at what you can learn about a soldier by the reunion pieces and post war pieces that he owned. Additionally, there are some items that didn't come out until after the war that are very significant pieces. I can't imagine throwing a Japanese made patch or jump jacket in the trash. Please reconsider your desire to toss aside pieces that go beyond 1945, especially if they are a part of a group.

 

Allan

[doyler]

Alan

My thoughts exactly.

 

I was thinking the beret and oval as well as the patch were reunion items.I liked the patch from the start but thought it may have been a late war or as you stated a boots patch or early association offering.Not uncommon with veterans to have a (modern) beret to wear.Seen a lot of the Maroon ones worn around the 50th Anniversary of the Airborne when vets were more active going to celebrations.

 

I dont own a 507th at all and I would take it in a heart beat as a filler

[warcollect1942]

Which of the 508th ovals are post war? He did go to reunions.

[doyler]

Which of the 508th ovals are post war? He did go to reunions.

 

I dont think any of the 508th are reunion items.To me the larger ones that are more round with widr borders are late examples or post WW@.

 

Allan will have more detail.

 

Seeing he served for a period of years he will have later ovals

 

The construction and materials are a good key as the one on the beret is made of modern materials.

 

Size changed after the war as well