101st Airborne Helmet Markings [Explained]

this video is brought to you by our patreon supporters playing card suits on combat helmets are iconic symbols of the 101st airborne division and motifs that have often been used in popular media to represent us infantry as a whole probably the most iconic were the spades of the 506th parachute infantry regiment which was featured prominently in the hbo miniseries band of brothers but why is this a thing in this video we're covering the origins of playing card helmet markings in the 101st airborne during world war ii giving key context including the divisional organization and details on the airborne landings they were designed for i'm your host brendan and this is battle order [Music] playing card markings on paratrooper helmets dates back to late world war ii as the 101st airborne division was making its final preparations for the invasion of normandy unlike the 82nd airborne d-day would be the 101st first action of the war contested airborne insertions especially at night were risky affairs not only would aircraft be subject to ground fire but the operation being at night increased the chance of navigational errors it made the prospect of reassembling on the ground a challenging one these risks were not lost on divisional leaders at the time a couple weeks before d-day history suggests that the 101st airborne's staff and regimental commanders assembled for a meeting to brainstorm ways to make regrouping on the ground easier helmet markings were one of the solutions each subunit of the 101st airborne would get a distinctive marking on the side of their helmets to aid in friendly identification john o'brien historian at the brigadier general john f pratt museum claims that the division's infantry regiment commanders drew playing cards at that staff meeting which cemented their regiment's distinctive markings other subdivisions got their own helmet markings with more symbolism additional tick marks were added around the symbol to denote either battalions under regiments or separate companies or battalions and support units in the infantry regiments a tick at the 12 o'clock position denoted a headquarters and headquarters company and service company one at the three o'clock position denoted the first battalion six o'clock was the second battalion and nine o'clock was the third battalion on d-day the 101st airborne had four infantry regiments the 501st 502nd and 506th were parachute infantry regiments while the 327th was a glider infantry regiment divisional fires were provided by the division artillery a flexible command with several artillery battalions these were the hq and hq battery the 81st airborne anti-aircraft battalion the 321st and 907th glider field artillery battalions and the 377th parachute field artillery battalion the division was further supported by the 326 airborne engineer battalion and 326th airborne medical company this all came under the purview of the division hq which had some of its own sub units given the nature of the objectives which had to be completed at night the ability for units to quickly reform was crucial in came the helmet markings the 501st infantry regiment callsign klondike was denoted by a diamond the 502nd callsign kickoff had hearts the 506th callsign kidnap had spades and the 327th glider regiment callsign keepsake had clubs this included the first battalion of the 401st glider infantry regiment which acted as the 327th 3rd battalion as part of the divisional reserve one interesting quirk of the 506 specifically is that for d-day due to confusion their tick marks were applied incorrectly so they had the first battalion's 3 o'clock tick mark on that day although this was corrected after the operation the division artillery received a white circle symbolizing a cannonball devarti hq and hq battery call signed kingfish had a tick mark at the 12 o'clock position the 321st glider field artillery battalion callsign kansas had one at three o'clock the 377th parachute field artillery battalion called sun kite was at the six o'clock position and the 907th glider field artillery battalion callsign kilogram was at the nine o'clock position the 81st aaa battalion received a triangle perhaps symbolic of its anti-tank anti-aircraft mission which was higher velocity than their field artillery counterparts not relevant for d-day but the 463rd parachute feel artillery battalion callsign keynote was hastily attached to the 101st through unofficial channels when it was getting ready to deploy to bastogne during the battle of the bulge at this time it received the div already circle with two tick marks at the six o'clock position the division's medical company callsign kindergarten received the geneva cross while the engineering battalion callsign kiwi received an e and lastly the division hq received a square the hq and hq company callsign clacson and recon platoon callsign king had 12 o'clock tick marks the signal company callsign kilowatt had a three o'clock tick the 426th airborne quartermaster company called sign kitchen had a six o'clock tick mark and finally the 801st airborne ordnance company had a nine o'clock tick a little more esoteric was the division band received the lear a string instrument not unlike a harp in terms of where the 101st airborne was meant to drop their area of responsibility was east of root national 13. it consisted of drop zones a c and d for parachute drops as well as landing zones e and w for glider landings the latter of which was shared with the 82nd airborne's area the 82nd airborne division had an additional three drop zones o n and t drop zone a west of saint martin de varvil was designated for the 502nd regimental combat team which was the 502nd parachute infantry regiment reinforced with a 377th parachute field artillery battalion this dz was aimed at seizing causeways 4 and 3 off utah beach and securing the 101st northern flank although dropping with the parachute field artillery unit the 377th lost all but one of their 75 millimeter pack howitzers so that unit fought mainly as infantry until eight days later when they received replacement howitzers from utah beach drop zone c near heville and saint marie dumont was for the first two battalions of the 506th in the third battalion of the first aimed at causeways 1 and 2. positioned away from the bleeding edge of the division's flanks this area would be the 101st divisional reserve and would also be where the divisional hq landed it shared space with landing zone e which could receive glider resupply and reinforcements two anti-tank batteries from the 81st aaa battalion equipped with a total of 16 57 millimeter at guns and elements from the airborne engineering and medical units landed via glider at landing zone e the engineering units that did land included a bulldozer to clear glider landing zones of obstacles however the division's glider infantry regiment and the rest of the glider field artillery landed amphibiously on utah beach beginning with the second assault wave lastly drop zone d south of verville was designated for two battalions of the 501st and one battalion of the 506th who are charged with securing saintcombe dumont and bridges over the duve river on the division south flank charlie company of the 326th airborne engineer battalion also jumped into drop zone d to blow bridges crossing the river of course the airborne units on d-day were misdropped and scattered often a far distance from their drop zones but this is how it was planned out drop zone d probably had the most accurate drops of the division drop zones and now i just want to thank our patreon supporters especially our producers if you want to support us directly and get a bunch of perks including early access to videos and scripts merch files and access to our patreon only chat on discord you can support us on patreon linked in the description we also have a poster featuring the 101st airborne division's helmet markings during world war ii you can pick that up at our shop linked in the description thanks for watching everyone and i'll see you all in the next one

Channel: Battle Order

Views: 851,155

Keywords: airborne, paratroopers, ww2, dday, 506th, helmet, unit, marking, battalion, regiment, army, history

Id: ZRTWwjv1fnI

Length: 8min 24sec (504 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 14 2021