WWII and/or military buffs...

[pyonir]

I noticed in my viewing of Band of Brothers that the back of the helmets the US soldiers wear have a white stripe on the back. Some are horizontal and some vertical. Is there a significance to the way the stripe is, or the stripe itself?

 

During WWII in Europe the US Army had wide white stripe(s) on the back of leaders helmets to help soldiers identify their leaders from the rear. One stripe was a plt cmdr and 2 stripes was a company cmdr, if I remember correctly.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Roger
During WWII in Europe the US Army had wide white stripe(s) on the back of leaders helmets to help soldiers identify their leaders from the rear. One stripe was a plt cmdr and 2 stripes was a company cmdr, if I remember correctly.

But multiple soldiers had stripes if i remember right...

maybe vertical was a plt cmdr and horizontal was a plt officer or sgt? or visa versa?

hmmmmm

 

You must remember that it's only a movie

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Roger
You must remember that it's only a movie

They are pretty historically accurate with most of that series. A lot of the soldiers that were there were technical advisors, if you will, for the shooting of the series. I can't imagine that something like that would be something they would leave out or not have historically accurate.

But...you may be right. That's why I asked the question.

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: Roger
You must remember that it's only a movie

Ya, but it IS pretty accurate. They even got the spade, clubs, diamond and hearts-symbols correct.

Here is some info

All units participating in D-Day used a simple system of white bars to identify officers and non-commissioned officers. Officers wore a white vertical bar on the backs of their helmets, and non-commissioned officers wore a white horizontal bar. (The exact position of this bar often varied from soldier to soldier). Some officers painted their rank insignia on the front of their helmets, while others removed most or all traces of their rank from their uniforms to avoid sniper fire.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Nemesis77

Originally posted by: Roger
You must remember that it's only a movie

Ya, but it IS pretty accurate. They even got the spade, clubs, diamond and hearts-symbols correct.

I've only noticed the spades....what do they signify?

 

Hey, my memory is probably just as bad as the soldiers who advised on the movie

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: pyonir

Originally posted by: Nemesis77

Originally posted by: Roger
You must remember that it's only a movie

Ya, but it IS pretty accurate. They even got the spade, clubs, diamond and hearts-symbols correct.

I've only noticed the spades....what do they signify?

From the link I posted

The parachute infantry regiments of the 101st Airborne Division marked the sides of their helmets with distinctive symbols from playing cards. The 501st PIR used a diamond, the 502nd PIR a heart, the 506th PIR a spade, and the 327th GIR a club. Most used a system of small dashes around their regimental helmet insignia designed to indicate which battalion a solider belonged to. Headquarters was marked at the 12 o'clock position, 1st Battalion at the 3 o'clock position, 2nd Battalion at the 6 o'clock position, and 3rd Battalion at the 9 o'clock position. On D-Day itself the 506th's 3rd Battalion had their helmets incorrectly marked with the dash representing the 1st Battalion. Outside of the parachute and glider infantry, the 101st Airborne utilized other combinations of symbols and dashes to identify unit affiliations.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Nemesis77

Originally posted by: Roger
You must remember that it's only a movie

Ya, but it IS pretty accurate. They even got the spade, clubs, diamond and hearts-symbols correct.

Here is some info

All units participating in D-Day used a simple system of white bars to identify officers and non-commissioned officers. Officers wore a white vertical bar on the backs of their helmets, and non-commissioned officers wore a white horizontal bar. (The exact position of this bar often varied from soldier to soldier). Some officers painted their rank insignia on the front of their helmets, while others removed most or all traces of their rank from their uniforms to avoid sniper fire.

:Q thanks for the info man!! awesome!

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: pyonir

Originally posted by: Nemesis77

Originally posted by: Roger
You must remember that it's only a movie

Ya, but it IS pretty accurate. They even got the spade, clubs, diamond and hearts-symbols correct.

Here is some info

All units participating in D-Day used a simple system of white bars to identify officers and non-commissioned officers. Officers wore a white vertical bar on the backs of their helmets, and non-commissioned officers wore a white horizontal bar. (The exact position of this bar often varied from soldier to soldier). Some officers painted their rank insignia on the front of their helmets, while others removed most or all traces of their rank from their uniforms to avoid sniper fire.

:Q thanks for the info man!! awesome!

You're welcome