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Tank Company, 18th Infantry Rgt. Armor triangle


lamarhooten
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As the title asks. By construction. this would be after WWII. I never have really put an ID on it. Have had it for at least 10 years myself.post-3643-0-23180800-1574061968_thumb.jpg

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This is for the tank company of the 18th Infantry Regiment. It is German made and will make some armor collector's heart go pitter-pat.

 

Allan

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FWIT - as per an Army Manual 1947, attaching tank companies to infantry regiments - there were numerous tank companies that had "armor triangle" patches. Some feature elements of regimental DIs (or the entire DI in this case), or have lettering "Tank Co" in the yellow apex w/ regt ID in the base. There are also tank company pocket patches that do not resemble armor triangles.

 

This particular tank company patch exists in both an OD and black border.

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OR SOMETHING ELSE!! Tank Co, 18th Inf Regt c Aug 1951

 

At this time, my dad was 4th tk platoon ldr, tk co 16th Inf Regt. Note insignia front slope of the M-26 - this crew won "Best Drilled Tk Plat Crew in all of 1ID, Aug '51".

 

 

post-1580-0-49170000-1574212031.jpg

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Thanks for all the input! I had talked to Dave K. about this one a few years ago and he gave me the same info as he has given here. Someone recently brought up the idea that this could be the unit as mentioned in the title of the thread. I felt they were wrong and just wanted to get the right answer from respected collectors out and about!

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Man, did I screw up that post. Sorry!! My message was...... this patch was for Tk Co, 18th Inf Regt, c Aug 1951. Let's try this again. In those years, my dad was the Tk Plat Ldr for 4th Plat, Tk Co, 16th Inf Regt. The attached pic of the Tank Crew was for the best drilled M-26 Tk Crew in the entire 1st Inf Div - if you look carefully - you will see the Tk Co 18th Inf Regt Tk Co/18th on the lower center of the M-26 front slope. The photo came from the attached 1 ID annual Photo history, dated Aug 1951.

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Hey CapCav!

 

I always wondered why if the 18th IR and the 16th IR were both serving in Germany as part of the Big Red One, why there wasn't a corresponding 16th Infantry Regiment Tank Co. patch? Did the 16th Infantry's Tank Co wear anything to distinguish themselves?

Allan

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My Dad.... Jun 1950. Note 16th numbered armor insignia and 16th Inf DIs (BIG size). Unfortunately, my dad passed away in '99. No more good first hand info Re: "tank paint ups" - 26th Inf, 18 Inf and 16th Inf - all had the YELLOW 1 ID on upper front slope (OD patch blended in with OD hull color). Each Inf Regt had the Rgt DI painted below the 1ID patch, in full colors.

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Herr Lars!!

 

Danke, for editing my input. WE are having terrible, nation-wide weather here in the SW US - dreadful, HEAVY rain from El Paso, TX to Bangor, ME. Every time we get heavy rain like this, input to the internet system goes nutso.

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Hey CapCav!

 

I always wondered why if the 18th IR and the 16th IR were both serving in Germany as part of the Big Red One, why there wasn't a corresponding 16th Infantry Regiment Tank Co. patch? Did the 16th Infantry's Tank Co wear anything to distinguish themselves?

Allan

 

Allan -

 

We don't know yet if the 16th Inf Regt tank company had a patch like the 18th. None have been found yet (or for the 26th Inf Regt tank co - and I would like to know about both) . It is possible they wore an unadorned armor triangle, as did other regimental tank companies. There were a lot of pocket patches in the 1st ID, that's for sure. FWIT Dept - both the 16th and 18th Inf Regt's I & R Plts had patches (see AJ 2003 Trading Post - Rag Clippings and back cover). The 18th Inf Ranger Co had a tab, but to date, one has not shown up for any Ranger unit in the 16th Regt.

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Tred-

 

What I find most interesting about your info on the Ranger Companies is that the 18th Inf Ranger Co had a tab and the 16th did not. The unit motto of the 16th Infantry is "Rangers!" They are the only non-ranger unit in the US Army that has the right to use the name Ranger without having earned the tab.

 

Allan

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I know this is a little bit off-topic but I would like to add one more picture to this topic. I’m proud to be the safekeeper of some of CaptCav dad’s cloth and metal insignia. CaptCav forwarded these insignia to me. They will become part of a project preserving the memories of our allied partners who served over here shoulder to shoulder with us during cold war times.

 

Top: 16th Inf cloth DUI, center: 18th Inf DUI, bottom: 26th Inf cloth DUI , all German made.

 

DUI.jpg

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