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17th Airborne Flags


Gliderinf
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The kneeling Medic is wearing an M42 Jumpsuit jacket in case people haven't spotted that yet.

 

In the (partial) group photo above, the guy front right in the jumpsuit is obviously still wearing a gauze small-size armflag, whilst the rest are wearing cut-down brassards.

 

Most "flags" seen in 17th Rhine crossing photos that people think aren't cut-down brassards are actually cut-down brassards that have been trimmed right down to the edge of the red stripes/blue starfield. You can see how stiff they are, being the brassard material, and not cloth armflags.

 

Cheers,

Glen.

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  • 3 years later...
Here is my favourite image of morning pre-take off phase for Varsity. The para from 513th PIR pictorial of "Life" weekly. He has patch-type US flag (right sleeve). He has interesting leg strap for M3 Trench Knife -- with a kind of O-ring.

 

This is a great picture that was taken by Robert Capa and then used in Life magazine...

The sad part of it is that this troop will loose his leg for the battle of Wesel... :(

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This is a great picture that was taken by Robert Capa and then used in Life magazine...

The sad part of it is that this troop will loose his leg for the battle of Wesel... :(

Do you know who is that soldier from the picture I posted? Was he wounded in his leg?

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Do you know who is that soldier from the picture I posted? Was he wounded in his leg?

 

The portrait of the young paratrooper on the title page was of Jim Conboy of the 513th HQ Cpy. In the jump and ensuing battle he lost a leg, but lived until 2004

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Thank you very much for this information. I have "Life" issue with him before Varsity but then he was anonymous for the readers.

 

Regards

 

Gregory

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Could be he already had a red cross on that side - hence putting flag on left ?

 

 

The kneeling medic is wearing a red cross armband pinned vertically on his right shoulder.Have seen this in other photos in the ETO/MTO

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@ Gregory your welcome

 

I have a question.... any of you has any idea of te Radio call sign of the 17th?

 

(101st was Kangaroo)

(82nd was Champion)

 

Ciao Greg

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Yes, but incidentally also left shoulder. Here is one more photograph from the 513th pictorial of Varsity.

 

This photo shows a fatal injured Joseph Clyde Haney - the 17th AB, 194th GIR.

post-9520-1323341194.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
507th vets flags

post-342-1323039239.jpg

 

507th was attached to the 82nd for Normandy, so small gauze flag as per SOP for the 82nd.

 

After Normandy, 507th was attached to (and finally assigned to) the 17th so Large flag

 

Regards

 

Lee

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In the book The Last Drop by Stephen Wright thier is a picture of Lt John W Hefner of the 62nd tcs 314 tcg and a picture of the a trooper of the 155th AAB with large flags on the right shoulder,the picture from the the 194th GIR shows no flag.

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  • 4 weeks later...
OK, so far from all the photos Ive seen, I'm getting =

 

513th = Flags right shoulder

194th = No Flags

GPs = Mix of Brasards / Flags / either shoulder

507th = bugger all pictures ?

Other = Flags right shoulder

 

What have you got to support / disprove these ? :thumbsup:

 

The 194th GIR had flag. I have a picture from John J. Schumacher D.comp. HQ.

Photos by R. Capa from LIFE magazine are great. Lots of photos are in the book The Sky men. There is also written that 513th PIR had new uniforms for Varsity so I suppose that also flags was new one.

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This may help...this Brassard was definitely worn on Op. Varsity by a 513th Trooper. By this time seems supply issued what they had left over from past operations....

post-6038-1326865932.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Troopers belonging to the 193rd, 194th, 507th, 513th, 139th, and 680th wore the flag on either the left or right sleeves. Some were sewn while others were pinned. There photographs that clearly show the brassard style flag utilized. I hope this helps.

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507th was attached to the 82nd for Normandy, so small gauze flag as per SOP for the 82nd.

 

After Normandy, 507th was attached to (and finally assigned to) the 17th so Large flag

 

Regards

 

Lee

 

 

 

True

507th lost a lot of men at Normandy and later many re-assigned to the 17th.

But this man never made Normandy.He was hospitilized prior to the jump as he had an old injury flare up and it turned into a bone infection.He stated he spent 22 weeks recuperating so I think he must have been in hospital several weeks prior to normandy.Injury flared back up while training in England.He later re-joined the 507th prior to the Buldge.The only man to survive his stick at Normandy was his best friend.All others drowned.His friend was later killed in Belgium before Bob was back to the unit.

 

Possible he had the flag prior to Normandy and kept it.Cant ask him as he is long gone.

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Troopers belonging to the 193rd, 194th, 507th, 513th, 139th, and 680th wore the flag on either the left or right sleeves. Some were sewn while others were pinned. There photographs that clearly show the brassard style flag utilized. I hope this helps.

 

 

Here are two shots showing flags; first one is of the Signal Battalion attached to the 17th and the second of the 139th Engineers. Both were taken during the Varsity operation

 

post-701-1328828097.jpg

 

 

post-701-1328828140.jpg

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Captaxe, the second photo was NOT taken during Varsity.

I read the original caption a while ago and I think I saved it on my computer somewhere.

I´m thinking that it either was Chalons-sur-Marne or Sedan

Believe it was a town called Sedan.

Hope this helps

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True Tom!

 

The last pic was taken prior to Varsity...

 

rgds

Bart P

 

 

Yes-- My apologies! Captions says it was taken in Douzy, France on 12/31/44.

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Bob Baldwin of Co H, 507 PIR gave me a unit-made, silk-screened flag, in un-used condition. It still have it.

 

He said that it became clear in the few days before the op while in the marshalling area that there were not enough flags for everybody. He -- an amateur artist then and a professional one in later life -- and a handful of others made up a silk screen, using as base material window shades they pulled out of offices/rooms. The silk screen was made using "trash bin" old, weathered silk from the riggers (useful only for patching cargo chutes). Nice new silk would not have been porous enough. They only liberated a few window shades before "getting caught". They made only 50-100 flags and they may have all stayed within 2/507 if not just Co H.

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Bob Baldwin of Co H, 507 PIR gave me a unit-made, silk-screened flag, in un-used condition. It still have it.

 

He said that it became clear in the few days before the op while in the marshalling area that there were not enough flags for everybody. He -- an amateur artist then and a professional one in later life -- and a handful of others made up a silk screen, using as base material window shades they pulled out of offices/rooms. The silk screen was made using "trash bin" old, weathered silk from the riggers (useful only for patching cargo chutes). Nice new silk would not have been porous enough. They only liberated a few window shades before "getting caught". They made only 50-100 flags and they may have all stayed within 2/507 if not just Co H.

 

 

John

 

Great info.This stuff you wont see in books.Only can get this from the source and sadly many collectors dont have the chance or wont do the work to find these obscure facts and interviews with these men who are leaving us daily and who need these stories told.

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