Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Share #1 Posted April 5, 2009 Patches were made for U.S. Forces in Germany immediately after the war by countless tailor shops and manufactures. All kind of variations of machine and hand embroidered patches were produced, especially in southern Germany. Some of these patches were made exactly like the U.S. originals, often with the same type of „Schiffli“ machines. Some of these patches have unique characteristics you'll find nearly exclusively with „German mades“. I would like to sum up some of these attributes, that are usually associated with patches made „over here“. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #2 Posted April 5, 2009 Let's start with woven patches. In WW II woven patches were widely produced for U.S. forces in Italy (e.g. 5th Army, 4th Corps, 88th InfDiv). These Italian made patches appear to have backs with reversed colors of the patch's design. There were also several uniform/insignia manufactures in Germany that continued producing cloth insignia this way after the war. One of them was „BeVo“. BeVo is an abbreviation used by one of the most famous German WW II insignia manufactures. "Be" is for "Beteiligung" (sharing) and "Vo" is for "Vorsteher" last name of Lukas Vorsteher and Ewalda Vorsteher, two insignia manufactures of Wupperal that merged in WW II. Today BeVo is a synonym for cloth insignia, woven with the so called "Jacquard-technique". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted April 5, 2009 BeVo's appear to have a plain surface and are executed extremely detailed. Attached a picture of a woven SHAPE variant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted April 5, 2009 BeVo type patches can be found with or without backing cloth material. The color of the backing cloth may vary. You'll find shades of grey, white, blue or brown. Often the backing cloth is stamped/hallmarked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted April 5, 2009 Fully embroidered patches were made by several manufactures in Germany over decades. Some of them – made on „Schiffli machines – are hard to differentiate from U.S. made ones. Some show unique characteristics and are easily to detect. These most common ones are embroidered in the so called „basket weave“ or „fruit/loop“ style. Some examples: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted April 5, 2009 f you examine these patches closely, you will recognize them by their „open wave“ structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #7 Posted April 5, 2009 The weave seems to run diagonally. Black and white spots are the reason why some people call these insignia „salt & pepper“ patches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted April 5, 2009 Harder to differentiate are the following patches. U.S. made patches usually were embroidered horizontally, that means the stitching/weave seems to rum from right to left. Many German made patches were embroidered vertically. The weave/stitching appears to run top-down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted April 5, 2009 A closeup of the patches exposes the different kind of backs you can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted April 5, 2009 Woolen German made patches are often confused with British (felt) patches which were widely made in WW II. In my opinion most of the German made wool patches werde manufactured over here not later than the 1960's. You'll find a couple of different types of wool patches. Most of the German made „woolies“ seems to have kind of thin embroidered border. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #11 Posted April 5, 2009 Most of my woolen German mades have a white so called „gaze back“ that was used to stabilize the patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #12 Posted April 5, 2009 Some patches were made by embroidering on a basic piece of cloth, e.g. twill. These patches were made by local embroideries all over the country, especially near to garrisons or training facilities. I bought some of these patches directly from the manufacture in the late 1980's so maybe they are produced the same style today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #13 Posted April 5, 2009 Most of these patches backs are covered with white, nearly transparent, cellulose. Colors of these backs may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #14 Posted April 5, 2009 Bullions were made for U.S. Troops since 1945. Tailor shops used material they used before, when manufacturing German uniforms. The variety of patches is countless but some of these handmade patches are easily to detect because of their „German uniform elements“. If you find a bullion patch, edged with a twisted silver or gold cord, you can be sure at 99%, it's a German made one. Silver and gold braid „Litze“ can be find at German uniforms of all eras, even today (I added a 1970's LtCol shoulder board for comparison). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted April 5, 2009 To avoid fraying of the patch's rear, they were covered with all kinds of paper, a technique, widely used by manufactures of modern reproductions. I would say the era of German made bullions ended with introduction of the new Army green uniform in the late 1950's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #16 Posted April 5, 2009 „But the unit wasn't over there!“ It's always good to know, where a unit served when you try to find out if their patch is the „real deal“. If you want to find out if a particular unit served in Germany you'll have to check this site: http://www.usarmygermany.com/sont.htm Please note that some German manufactures made patches for units that did NOT serve over here. One can only imagine that they did it for veterans or according to samples they have had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #17 Posted April 5, 2009 Regarding front and back of these patches you'll recognize the so called „basket weave“ again, mentioned here before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #18 Posted April 5, 2009 U.S. Patches are still made in Germany today. Mostly for collectors or surplus shops. These „computer weave“ made patches are not to be mistaken with the post war „private purchased“ items, made primarily for U.S. Military personnel. Attached a picture of a catalog of one of the all leading companies which produced patches over decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #19 Posted April 5, 2009 Another page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share #20 Posted April 5, 2009 Many many other variants of German made patches do exist. It was my intention to point out some attributes you'll find MOSTLY with German made patches. Maybe it's a little help for the new collector. Please feel free to add your knowledge about „German mades“ here. Thanks for looking! Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X_redcatcher Posted April 5, 2009 Share #21 Posted April 5, 2009 OUTSTANING LARS!!! Love that 2nd Cav one,,Well done.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattle Posted April 5, 2009 Share #22 Posted April 5, 2009 Great topic Lars Regards, Stephan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 5, 2009 Share #23 Posted April 5, 2009 Pin it!!! Well done Lars!! -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PATCHRAT Posted April 5, 2009 Share #24 Posted April 5, 2009 definatly needs to be pinned. Great info for everyone.. Good job Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriscoHare Posted April 5, 2009 Share #25 Posted April 5, 2009 Great job and an excellent resource, Lars. I wish I read this before I sold some of my German-made patches. Back then, I didn't know. ~Rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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