Italian 82nd woven?

[Bill K]

If you compare the back of the Para/Glider to the 17th tab you'll see an obvious similarity. As Kadet correctly stated the motif is done with thread not the typical mirror image on the back of an Italian made SSI. There are many long unattached sections of thread for this Para/glider and the 17th tab. This is probably because these were made on a Dobby Loom not a Jacquard loom. Dobby looms are easier to set up, which is important considering the amount of time the 17th was in France. If you look at the samples posted here:

 

http://portfolios.risd.edu/gallery/Dobby-Samples/8225599

 

You'll see how the reverse of designs made with Dobby machines are not mirror images of the front and can have many long unattached threads.

 

Jacquard looms typically produce much flatter appearing designs both front and back with little or no loose threads. They are commonly used for upholstery due to the snag free (flat) design. I have heard that the Italian woven patches were made by a company that made furniture upholstery.

[Bill K]

And as a final comparison, here's the para/glider merged with the 17th tab. If you look specifically at the border, you'll clearly see the base material is the same. Greyish, with a salt and pepper look. Does anyone have a beat up 17th with loose / missing OD border thread to see if the base material is the same?

 

Bill

[Kadet]

Thanks for adding these pictures. IMO they prove that the maker of the woven 17th patches is the same as the maker of he woven paraglides. If the paraglides are indeed French, then so are the 17th patches. No Italian connection whatsoever.

[Desertrat]

Just read this thread, I figured I would add my Paraglider patch to the mix. This is the way I found it when my Dad passed his collection down to me. The mesh backing was either never applied or it was removed by the soldier.

 

 

 

 

 

[philliephanatic]

 

The 82nd was in Sicily for one month (Jul 43-Aug 43)...left Sicily for N Africa and the 504th was in Italy Sept 43 - Mar 44.

 

That's why learning div hx is important. The likelihood that Italian woven patches were made for the 82nd would be remote at best. Geographically and demographically, Sicily is not Italy.

 

 

The 82nd Airborne Division also participated in the Salerno Invasion. My great uncle was near the post office in Naples when the German Bomb destroyed it, and articles from a local newspaper have a letter from him stating that he toured Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius after the fighting moved away from those areas.