Dear forum members,

I'm looking for information on the tactical vehicle marking below. Has anyone ever seen this marking? It's on a helmet but supposedly related to a WWII US armored division. If so I'd like to know which one.

I'd also like to know if the 775th tank battalion (1st armored division) used color coding in their markings in the pacific prior to august 1945 or if it was only done in the MTO (Italy).

I figured you'd be more knowledgeable on the subject than the guys over at usmf.

Thanks in any case!
Best regards
Ken

It looks like the remnants of a stick or, possibly decal.

According to warhats.com (not a primary reference) the triangle represents the 81st Airborne AA Battalion from the 101st Airborne Division. The site also says stick-on 81st AAA decals were NEVER used during WW2 they were all stencils.

The 775th Tank battalion was never a part of the First Armored Division. Its service was with MacArthur not in Italy. Being a world away it developed its own marking practices. Many of their after actions reports are available as pdf files online. As are the unit lineage and honors which currently are with the 109th armor.

White triangle can also be seen on the tanks of the 68th Armor Battalion of the 6th Armor Division.

Scroll down to 68th in Vatimont.

http://www.6tharmoreddivision.com/

Cheers,
Joe

Thanks to all for your replies

I know for sure the marking is not related to the 101st airborne division as it's painted on the rear of the helmet.

Triangles seem to be typical of armored divisions, and from what I heard from others it's possibly related to the 20th armored division, but I can't seem to figure out what unit or battalion it's from.
The 6th did indeed display similar markings but without the holes, the 1st displayed similar markings to, but without using full triangular shapes for the most part.
I tried to register at Steven Zaloga's forum but I'm not getting any verification e-mails. I'm hoping someone here knows a lot about markings used by armored divisions. It probably has something to do with the 3rd battalion of an armored regiment, but which one is beyond me.


@ Stephen C. Willoughby: I'd have to disagree, the 775th did indeed fight in the Pacific but was part of the first armored (the bigger part of the division was indeed sent to Europe). I can show you almost identical markings from both Italy and PTO if you're interested, in fact it's got me confused and I'm trying to work out where a particular marking was used (it's a blue triangle in a white circle without the tac mark to the upper right). Typical of the 1st armored division command, but also of the 775th.

Thanks and best regards
Ken

Cadre may have come from the First Armored Division and the similar tactical markings were used but the 775th appears nowhere on any TO&E of the First Armored Division. Similar markings in no way implies organizational affiliation.

It was a separate independent battalion under Army or corps command. In the Philippines they often operated with to the 37th Infantry Division.

Triangles are typical of armored formations because the bumper insignia of armor is a triangle which is from the tricolored armor triangle insignia.

And I have a comprehensive US Armored Division decal sheet that has all the 1st Armored, 6th and 20th tactical markings on it. I used it to build one of the 1st AD early M4 .ca. 1944.

Steve

Will try to send you a PM

Best regards
Ken

I read the official US ARMY history and after action report of the
775 tank batalion was a seperate tank battalion and was never assigned to the 1 st armored division. The 775th was formed in September 1943 by redesignating the 1st battallion 36th tank regiment as the 775th tank battalion
by that time the 1st armored division had been over seas for almost a year