Myth or Fact?

Pathfinder kit was highly personalised, some jump suits were painted with camo. As there were very few Pathfinders it's not a loadout that's regularly done. I've seen some reenactors at Beltring in Pathfinder kit though.

As for eagle patches, they vary wildly with different sizes and colours and some amazing field improvisation including one drawn on (see below). Have a look at Mark Bando's superb Trigger Time site for more info and head for Eagle Patch Corner:

http://www.101airborneww2.com/eaglepatchcorner.html

Thanks for that info really interesting, reason i asked is that my jump uniform came with a 101st patch where the eagle had a white tounge, i assumed it was a mistake, and then came across the comments about it being just for pathfinders, which appears to not be the case. So i guess that means that if i use the patch it will still be right for my kit.

Do any of you other 101st guys have white tounged eagles on your jump uni's, or are they all red?

Thanks again Phil

Have a look here for some pics of Pathfinders: http://www.aapathfinders.co.uk/42217.html

Looking at pics it appears that pathfinders didnt have unit markings on their helmets, was this the norm, as i guess the fact they covered their helmets with paint it would have covered any markings.

Painting unit symbols on helmets wasnt that widely done, I think its more of a holywood thing. Pathfinders jumped in hours before the main paratropper landing to set up the beacons, having a great big white symbol on their helmet would have given them away! hehe

The white tongue eagle badge has nothing to do with whether a trooper was a pathfinder or not, the white tongue were simply a mistake made by a British company that was contracted by the US Army to make insigina. White tongue badges cropped up throughout the 101st AB.

Did pathfinders have any identifiable patches, ie a patch on their jump uni's that the rest of the airborne wouldnt have had?

Or were they pretty much indistinguishable to other paratroopers?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... finder.gif

thats the pathfinder insignia from memory. but not sure if it was worn on uniforms

from SOF's site(ie take it with a quarry of salt)

This is the first version of the pathfinders sleeve badge it differs from the standard pattern by having a blue background.

That is based on a genuine badge but it was not authorised for wear on the combat uniform due to security concerns if men were captured given the nature of the equipment used by the pathfinders. (Such as the AN/PPN-1A and later PPN2 "EUREKA/REBECCA" beacon system)

Thanks tarnish, thats what i wanted to know, saves me some sewing.

can always wear it if you want mate. remember this is airsoft I have a OSS patch that I occasionaly use for certain games. officially 2(i think) OSS patches were put forward for acceptance, and both were rejected, but who knows what was used unofficially in situations. thats the fun of airsoft you can bend the mold a bit.

thats the fun of airsoft you can bend the mold a bit.

mould or u using American English

shut it spelling nazi the fact I can type after this much ciders a miracle

not sure if I should take that as a compliment or congratulate you on your cider consumption

congratulation of course

I'll take the compliment

Where would the pathfinder patche has been put, right upper sleave? Also does anyone have links for the black backed version?

cheers

The badge would have been worn on the lower left forearm of the service coat of the "Class A" uniform.