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Zofo
15-03-04, 23:32
Which Regiment has as part of its official badgework a glider and why?
Bombardier
16-03-04, 12:04
Do you mean a british regiment :?:
HighlandSniper58
16-03-04, 12:57
Presumably it's not one in the current ORBAT
Zofo
16-03-04, 13:45
Hi folks, still in the ORBAT and is a British Regiment.
HighlandSniper58
16-03-04, 14:56
Ah..........but is it a Regular Regiment or TA? Can't see any glider on Regular Infantry badges - would have thought the Stafford were an obvious candidate.
Bombardier
16-03-04, 15:00
The only one i can think of that has anything remotely like wings is the Parachute Regiment badge.
Zofo
16-03-04, 16:28
Highland Sniper - You have it just about - 2nd Btn South Staffords were part of 1st airlanding Brigade and were glidered into the battles in Scily and at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden.
A bronze glider patch is now worn on the right sleeve by all ranks to commemorate the Scily landings.
HighlandSniper58
16-03-04, 17:04
Well, nearly - I had assumed you had meant cap badges. Of course the Staffs are famed for their performance at Arnhem - Maj. Robert Caine VC.
Zofo
16-03-04, 17:42
SRI, should have been a tad clearer.
Frisco-Kid
23-03-04, 01:15
When I was in the U.S. Army [JAN66-JAN69] as a paratrooper our dress uniform was different from the rest of the Army. One difference was that we could wear our jump boots [highly polished] with our pants bloused. The other was our hats. We wore our garrison cap [the one that opened like an envelope] while everyone else wore the round one that looked like a bus driver's hat. On our garrison cap was a "Glider Patch." This was a round patch with a glider super-imposed over a parachute. It represented the Airborne troops of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions that were inserted into battle by gliders in WWII.

Sometime in the late '70s, I believe, paratroopers dress headgear was change to a maroon beret. I was sad to hear this, and glad that I was out by then. When they did away with the garrison cap, they also did away with the Glider Patch. This was our only link left to those brave paratroopers of WWII. I, for one, was sorry to see it disappear.