A nice wartime issued US 505th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment) 82nd Airborne Division Officer's collar badge

This is a nice and issued wartime US 505th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment) 82nd Airborne Division Officer's collar badge. Under the command of Colonel James M. Gavin, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia on 6 July 1942, during World War II, as part of the U.S. Airborne Command.[1] Colonel Gavin, then just 35, was an early airborne pioneer, who led the men of the 505th through some extremely grueling training. In early 1943, for instance, he noted in his diary, "In 36 hours the regiment had marched well over 50 miles, maneuvered and seized an airhead and defended it from counterattack while carrying full combat loads and living off reserve rations". In February 1943, the 505th was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway, then stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In April, in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky), the regiment was moved to Tunisia, in North Africa, where they completed six weeks of training. The 505th (organized into a regimental combat team with the addition of the 3rd Battalion of the 504th, along with the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and 'C' Company of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion temporarily attached) made its first combat jump behind enemy lines into Gela in the early hours of July 10, 1943, which was the first regimental sized combat jump in the history of the United States Army. Soon afterwards, the 505th was pulled back to the United Kingdom, together with the rest of the 82nd Airborne Division (minus the 504th PIR) where they began training for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.[2] Originally sent to Northern Ireland, the 505th went to the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire region of England in February 1944.

In the American airborne landings in Normandy in June 1944, the 505th PIR actually jumped before its scheduled "H-Hour", thus earning their motto "H-minus".[1] Upon completing operations in the Ste. Mere-Eglise area, the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. In September 1944, the unit then participated in Operation Market Garden,[2] in which the regiment received a second Presidential Unit Citation.[2] The 505th later, in December 1944, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle fought on the Western Front during World War II. By the end of the war, the 505th was awarded three foreign distinguished unit citations: the French fourragère, the Netherlands Military Order of William, and the Belgium fourragère. Following the German surrender in May 1945, the regiment served as part of the Allied occupation force in Berlin. The badge is in a nice and issue condition and comes with it's two orginal butterfly clasps.

Code: 51098