Patch Puzzle Questions

[eindecker2]

I jsut recently started collecting American militaria so I am quite new at this realm of the hobby. I just picked up an Ike jacket that was produced in July of 1944. Its for a Technical Corporal and has a 'Iceland' patch on the right shoulder and a 1944 ETO patch on the left - it has infantry collar disks. My question is,

What did this soldier do? (plausably) Was he a radio operator or other profession, since he does not have any 'division' patches, I assume he was rear eschelon and probably never saw combat. (no ribbons on the jacket)

Does anyone know the criteria for getting a ETO patach and not a division patch?

Since he was stationed in Iceland - would he have qualified for the ETO patch? Or did he freeze in the balmy weather in Iceland and then get sent to the ETO sometime after 1944?

Any help with these questions woudl greatly help me in my new region of interest - many thanks

[VerKuilen Ager]

The guy would have rated a ribbon or two, so they were probably removed. Sounds like the collar brass is missing too. That would have indicated the branch (infantry, artillery, ordnance, signal, etc.) and maybe given you a better picture of what he might have been up to.

[eindecker2]

Hi - the tunic has infantry collar discs, so he had something to do with that branch. Anyone else have soem thougths - what were we doing in Iceland anyhow?

[NavyFCO]

The jacket seems quite plausible. I'm assuming by "Iceland" patch you mean the Iceland Base Command patch. We first started stationing large amounts of troops in Iceland prior to WW2, having two objectives: 1) defend Iceland in case of a German attack and 2) free up the British troops (about 25,000) defending Iceland to fight Britain's battles. By the end of 1942, we had 38,000 US troops in Iceland, and a little earlier in 1942 (June) Iceland became part of the HQ, European Theater of Operations (your other patch). Iceland's role in our conduct of the War became considerably valuable over time, as it became an essential asset to our troop and equipment build-up in Europe. Iceland was placed under the command of the Eastern Defense Command in July 1944, so it looks like your guy was transferred before then.

Now, if your HQ ETO patch has the star in the middle of the lightning bolts (the most common variation) it was actually only the patch for the HQ ETO for a month before becoming the patch for the Communication Zone Personnel, European Theater of Operations (COM Z ETOUSA) in March 1944.

This command was in charge of overseeing EVERYTHING (just about) for Operation Overlord and later, for the entire European Theater. As of D-Day, the command counted 381,500 personnel, broken down into 20 special staff and 11 base sections. Attached to COM Z were the chaplains, supply personnel, transport personnel, military police, ordnance department, railroad troops, signal corps, chemical units, medical corps, special engineers and more! Quite a few of their units were in direct combat, starting from Normandy all the way through VE Day.

This info came from a book I highly recommend: Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the US Armed Forces 1941-1945 by Richard W. Smith.

Good luck!

Dave