Air Defense Armor Patches History1

Activated at Camp Beale, California.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number thirteen.  The word "Cat" in the nickname on the tab denotes caterpillar tractors, and a black cat is a sign of bad luck to anyone crossing its path.  In sixteen days of combat, the "Black Cats" suffered over one thousand casualties.  Historic re

cords tell us that in the battle for the city of Braunau, Austria, the victorious Thirteenth set up its headquarters in Adolf Hitler's birthplace.

Campaigns:  World War II (Rhineland, Central Europe).

14th Armor Div  Worn from: 15 November 1942 - 16 September 1945.

Activated at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number fourteen.  The tab refers to the hundreds of thousands of POW's and slave laborers liberated by the  division from Nazi concentration camps.

Campaigns:  World War II (Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe)

 15th Armor Div

The Fifteenth Armored Division was not active before or after World War II.  The patch was manufactured in anticipation of activation, but the end of the war eliminated the necessity.

Activated at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number sixteen.  The Sixteenth had no nickname since they arrived in Germany toward the end of the war and participated in only three days of actual combat.  Perhaps this fact, with all due respect for the unit's courage and skill, justifies labeling them the "Lucky 16th."

Campaigns: World War II (Central Europe).

Not active before or after World War II.

The insignia was manufactured in anticipation of activation.

Not active before or after World War II. The insignia was manufactured in anticipation of activation.

Worn from:  1 July 1946 - 20 August 1947.

Activated at Los Angeles, California.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number nineteen.  

Worn from:  15 March 1943 - 23 March 1953.

Activated at Camp Campbell, Kentucky.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number twenty.  With the final surrender of Germany just weeks away, this fine unit took responsibility for crushing organized enemy resistance in the Bavarian city of Munich where, years earlier, Adolf Hitler had planned for the enslavement of Europe by the master race.

Campaigns:  World War II (Central Europe).

Worn from:  12 November 1946 - 1 March 1952.

Activated at Detroit, Michigan.  The division's

Worn from:  4 June 1947 - 1 March 1952
Activated at Houston, Texas.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number twenty-two..

he unit was activated in 1955 from elements of the Twenty-seventh Infantry Division.  The division's designation is shown by the arabic number twenty-seven.  The tab "Empire" signifies the unit's association with the New York Army National Guard.  New York is the Empire state.

Activated inn 1954 from elements of the Thirtieth Infantry Division, the Thirtieth Armored Division was reorganized in 1968 and absorbed elements of the Thirty-first Infantry Division.  The Alabama elements of the division wore the "Dixie" tab.  The Tennessee elements of the division wore the "Volunteers" tab.  Tenessee is the Volunteer state.

The arabic number forty is the unit's numerical designation.  The sunbursts on the "Grizzly" tab allude to the unit's origins in the Fortieth Infantry Division.

Campaigns:  World War II (Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe).

Decorations:  See under fortieth Infantry Division.

The unit was activated in 1955 from elements of the deactivated Forty-eighth Infantry Division.  The "Hurricane" nickname derives
from the large number of these storms that strike the state of Florida,  where many of the troops are stationed.

Reactivated 1973 - Current.

Organized June 1917 in the Texas National Guard at Houston as Headquarters, First Brigade, and drafted into federal service in August 1917.  Re-designated in July 1946 as Headquarters, Forty-ninth Armored Division.  The arabic number forty-nine is the unit's numerical designation.

Campaigns:  World War I (Meuse-Argonne).

Organized as the Forty-fourth Division in March 1924 at Trenton, New Jersey, and re-designated in July 1946.  The arabic number fifty is the unit's designation.

Campaigns: World War I (Champagne- Marne, Aisne-Marne, St.-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Isle-de-France 1918, Lorraine 1918), World War II (New Guinea, Northern Solomons, Luzon).

The sword wielding, ever alert, knight in armor alludes to the nature of the unit's personnel -- prepared to fight.

The tiger design alludes to the unit's nickname, the Tiger Division.

12th Armor Div 2  Worn from:  1942 - 1945 (Unauthorized)

A devilish cat alludes to the division's nickname, Hell Cats.

 13th Armor Div Pocket  Worn from:  1942 - 1945 (Unauthorized).

The design symbolizes bad luck in its myriad forms (the broken mirror, walking under a ladder, an open umbrella indoors), or all the evil the black cat brings to its enemies.

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