The use of numbered Officer's Brass

[Carl W.]

This is a question that has been on my mind for some time.
I have a set of Officer's Crossed Rifles in my posession, and unit marked to the 423rd Infantry Regiment.



The wear of these numbered brass pins was non regulation, as they can be used to ID the regiment in case of capture. Were these pins actually worn in battle? I've never seen photographic proof of their use, maybe someone out here can confirm this story?
The only distinctive picture I've seen is this one of Colonel Charles Cavender made in 1946. Note the numbered brass on the lapels of his IKE jacket.



All the best
Carl

[mightythor99]

numbered brass has been used for many years previous to wwii, goes back into the 1870's on hats, 1890's for collar brass. during wwii, most of the time, if not always, it was switched to brass without numbers. before that, (pre 1941ish), even the enlisted men used numbered brass. just like germans not wanting to be captured wearing SS collar tabs and dot pattern camo..............numbered brass could also cause problems for captives.

[srpratt]

The only help I can offer is that my father's uniform has the artillery crossed cannons with 590 as part of the insignea. There are some old photos that show him with that brass on his uniform.

Stan Pratt

[dianekrollewis]

I know my father wore the crossed rifles of the 422nd reg, 106th Div on his
dress uniform. I still have several, so I'm thinking they were not worn into
combat, since they were left behind when he shipped overseas. Then,
again, some of his items were returned to us after he was identified. I
gave his dogtags to my son.

[floydragsdale]

Hello Diane:

They were used on dress unifforms only; for parades and the like.

The crossed rifles identified the uniform as "Infantry".

Floyd

[dianekrollewis]

Thanks Floyd, that's what I thought. I've never seen them on his fatigues.

[Carl W.]

Thanks for the info guys! Diane, I'd love to see a photo of your dad's pins. Do you have a photo of him wearing his dress uniform?

These were normally placed on the lapels of the dress uniform as Flyoyd noted, but I have seen photos of officers in other outfits that did wear numbered brass in the ETO. An officer would wear these too on the collar of his wool shirt, on the left side his branch of service (in this case Crossed Rifles of the infantry) and on the other side his rank device. If captured however, this would identify their unit to the enemy,that's why I doubt they were worn in combat. I believe they would wear the "plain" rifles, without the unit number.

Here's a 422nd numbered crossed rifles pin I have:

[connie]

There's a lot on this thread! When I hit this one today, I thought it was worth bringing to the top for another look. I have nothing new to add here, but this is interesting...