ocsfollowme Posted March 31, 2015 Share #1 Posted March 31, 2015 On page 66 of the Keller's book. I recently picked up this mint tab. Mine is exactly 3" in width. In looking in the Keller's book, it appears that there were two sizes of this tab....2.5" and 3?" Does anyone have a photograph of this tab being worn? http://www.101airborneww2.com/insignia.html has a photo of an officer of the 326th AEB but he is not wearing this tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocsfollowme Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted March 31, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted March 31, 2015 Share #3 Posted March 31, 2015 Almost looks German made to me. Interesting. -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF Posted March 31, 2015 Share #4 Posted March 31, 2015 There is one on ebay to compare ... http://www.ebay.com/itm/361247925032?rmvSB=true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baker502 Posted March 31, 2015 Share #5 Posted March 31, 2015 Neither of my 326th uniforms bear this tab, I have never seen one in a period photo. Would like to know more about this, best Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyDevil117 Posted March 31, 2015 Share #6 Posted March 31, 2015 Nice rare pAtch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garth Thompson Posted March 31, 2015 Share #7 Posted March 31, 2015 I sold one to one of our airborne gurus AllanH. The patch is reputedly for airborne quantified personnel not assigned to an airborne unit much the same as the more commonly encountered Ranger strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocsfollowme Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted March 31, 2015 I would love more info on this. It has a home on my quilts, but if this is for the 326th AEB then hopefully we can find a photograph of it being worn. I still think it is a rare patch, as I have only seen a few of them in my 10 years collecting....but I have only been to one ASMIC so I have limited myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X_redcatcher Posted March 31, 2015 Share #9 Posted March 31, 2015 I think the only reason why this is being called a AEB tab is the color Red- white for Eng. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocsfollowme Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share #10 Posted March 31, 2015 I would like to ask the Keller's about this or even AllenH. It is on page 66 of the Keller's new book which has been backed by 30+ years of historical documentation. They did not have a photograph of it being used though. I am not a guru, but I would love for some good discussion on this tab so that we can prove what it is. Needless to say, why is this tab so hard to find? Was it authorized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garth Thompson Posted March 31, 2015 Share #11 Posted March 31, 2015 I would love more info on this. It has a home on my quilts, but if this is for the 326th AEB then hopefully we can find a photograph of it being worn. I still think it is a rare patch, as I have only seen a few of them in my 10 years collecting....but I have only been to one ASMIC so I have limited myself. Contact AllanH he knows exactly what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocsfollowme Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted March 31, 2015 This came out of a collection from someone that worked at a patch factory. There were tons of errors of embroidery being incomplete, so I do not think that this was german made. With that being said, there was some stellar home front patches...some of them had errors where the fabric overlapped from one roll to the other. Start in post #145 http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/183430-home-front-patches/page-6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocsfollowme Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share #13 Posted April 1, 2015 I sent a PM to Allan H and then also an email to Kurt Keller. Hopefully we get some answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill K Posted April 3, 2015 Share #14 Posted April 3, 2015 Hi guys, I'll try to answer some questions about the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion (AEB) tab. To begin with, I have to stress, like the 88th and 326th GIR cap patch, this tab is from the very early days of Airborne forces. The first example on page 66 was sewn to an identified uniform and according to official records the soldier entered service on 24 March 1942, and was discharged on 23 October 1942 for disability reasons. The tab is decidedly US made. Here's a picture of the back of one of these tabs and a 506th PIR oval. As you can see the embroidery pattern is pretty much the same. We know from photographs that the 506th PIR received their oval early on as many photos show them still wearing the GHQ Reserve SSI. This corresponds to the time when the ID'ed uniform is from. It would make sense that both units ordered insignia from the same manufacturer. A quick note on the "German" look of the embroidery, almost all US WWII patches were manufactured on Schiffli embroidery machines which were made Switzerland and Germany prior to 1938. The size differences can be attributed to laundering which makes them shrink. Hope this helps. Regards, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill K Posted April 3, 2015 Share #15 Posted April 3, 2015 Here's a grouping that was on eBay many years ago from a 326th AEB trooper. The resolution isn't the best but it shows the connection. The photograph may show the straight tab being worn. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocsfollowme Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share #16 Posted April 4, 2015 The tabs must be rare as I have not seen many of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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