Insignia

[Johnny Canuck]

Hello Mr V

Geoff Truscott here, we met briefly at the resent Kingston show.
I'm getting to a stage with "Les Boys", "Sand Dust and Gravel" RRR's and the Kangaroo crews that I need to consider adding badges, insignia etc. They're looking pretty generic.
The units are all Canadian ETO 1944-45.

3rd Cdn Inf. Division

Regina Rifle Regiment 7th Brigade
Le regiment de la Chaudiere 8th Brigade
SDG 9th Brigade
7th reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars)
Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa MG Battalion

1st CACR
Royal Canadian Artillery


I have a copy of Canadian soldier which outlines the basics of layout but doesn't cover what actually happened in the field.
In actual combat the colourful parade finery would just attract a piece of lead. What insignia, badges, etc were worn?
Heard reference to some Canadian officers ditching their Officer caps for a helmet and Sten for an Enfield rifle that always worked. German snipers loved those hats.
I seem to notice that less and less is visible as the war progresses through to 1945. Divisional patch (3rd French Grey) and rank come to mind as being visible late war (?) the rest seems to have removed or never attached.
Armour is a good example of this change, D-Day Big White Stars all over everything and no camo. By 1945 the Big White Star had been eliminated except for ontop of the turret for Allied Air Recognition. The hull had serial number, unit crest and perhaps a Pet Name. Sand bags, tracks, logs or whatever; used to defend against Hollow Charge weapons, obscured most of the visible hull anyways. Also camo seems to have been employed to a higher degree by late 44.

Anyways back to my original thought. What is your take on the changes if any, in the use of insignia by 3rd Cdn Inf. Div ETO 1944-45.

Geoff

 

[Ron V]

Hi again Geoff,

I took the opportunity to look my info on the Canadians after the Normandy campaign and indeed, you're observations are correct. It seems as the war continued on, the front line soldier worn fewer badges or patches. Save for rank insignis, often complete units were devoid of unit flashes or divisional patches.

To my mind, there were three reasons for this:
1. Such insignia could have been ordered to be removed for security during operations. This wasn't uncommon in Italy but I think less so in NWE.
2. As the combat soldier who landed on June 6 was getting rather ripe by the end of that campaign, Laundry and Bath Units were set up to ameliorate the situation. A soldier turned in his uniform of several months wear and received a fresh one oafter his shower. This was most unlikely to have the badges of his unit unless he had cut them off his old uniform. Even if he had done so, it wasn't of utmost impotance for these insignia to be sewn on promptly (if ever).
3. Lack of such insignia could have been another factor. There are numerous accounts of shoulder flashes being produced in Europe. It could be expected that replacements wouldn't have any to sew on.

In any event, one has to read a great number of unit histories to get the full sense of what went on. However, by September 44, one might consider that perhaps only 50% of a unit might have full insignia and as time passed, this could have dropped further.

It might be noted that the further behind the front lines one got, the more prevalent were uniforms with full insignia. But now the subject wasn't the infantryman; rather those in support of him.

HTH!
Ron V

When in doubt, try to find photos of the unit you want to feature and base it on that