Patches - The 'Patch King'
Some point during 2022, GAP seemed to vanish from the patch making world, leaving a big 'gap' (he he) in the hobby. Everyone suddenly started asking me where was the best place from which to obtain patches; nobody was making anything accurate... so everyone was at a loss. One guy stepped in to start making a version of the 101st Type1 patch, but then said he wasn't going to make them anymore. A company in the U.S. has started making them, but they are not considered 'cost effective' by us and others; and with shipping and taxes to go on top, it's simply not viable, no matter how good they are. So, getting fed up with this situation, I decided one day to tackle this issue once and for all. To solve this, I had nothing but determination and a load of really good books that I had purchased over the last year or so. I set out to a local embroidery company. I arrived unexpected and asked if they could make patches. NO, we don't make patches. I explained that these are not really patches, but embroidered on to a cloth backing and I didn't want them cut out - it is simple embroidery on cloth... exactly like the T-shirts that they were, in fact, doing in front of where I was standing! The guy went away and checked with someone else in the background, who I could see looking rather puzzled, but the answer was still a resounding 'no'. They did give me a different local company to try. I went straight away, walked in, spoke with a guy behind the desk (Ian) and he referred me to a young lady called Leanne and said she would look after me. I got out a few books, explained what I needed and wanted. I showed her a handful of original patches and said that what we need to make needed to look 'exactly' like my original samples. There were a few glitches in the design matrix in the beginning, with the designer doing things his way, but those quirks were soon ironed out. Leanne went way above and beyond on this mission, and I think learned loads of absolutely useless knowledge as a result of my invasion. What I discovered was not only how easy it is to sort this out (with Leanne's help of course), but how inexpensive it can be.
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So, the good news... they'll be as cheap as I can make them. They'll be as perfect looking and as close to the originals as I can possibly make them...
The bad news... don't go 'raving' in them, as you'll light up the room like a floodlight. I'm not creating fakes; these are to be used by re-enactors and living historians.
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HOW TO ORDER - As we have created these for everyone in the hobby, including ourselves, the prices are kept down. Click the link below to head to our STORE where all the patches are available for purchase. If you prefer, you can go on eBay and find us (username 'missdrop44'). Yes, they are more money... will they be shipped any quicker... NOPE! You'll simple pay more...
These three 101st patches are the first attempt! Compare them to the originals in the photographs and decided for yourself. All of our patches will be priced at between £3.00 and £8.00 with the majority priced at £5.00. The more you buy, the more discount I can give you. Remember, we do this for the hobby and to help support our group.
101st SSI
Top photo - The 101st type 1, original on the left and our repro on the right. Perfectly sized, the eye doesn't match that type 1 example perfectly, but if you look at a handfull of them, there are tiny varations between each of them. The border could have done with being a little thicker, but that could be resized later.
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Middle photo - The 101st type 3, my rare original white tongue example in the centre, flanked by our reproductions, available in white and red tongue. I can also do a pink tongue version as these did exist, albeit very rare!
Bottom photo - The 101st type 15 'Ugly Bird'. Oddly one of my favourite 101st patches (assides from the type 8 of course), it's strange and almost parrot looking in its appearance which just sets it aside from the usual looking eagles.
Eventually almost all of the WW2 101st eagles will be produced, they are all already allocated on the pdf at the top of the page. Just in various stages of the manufacturing process... that pdf will be updated each time a new change is made.
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(thanks John Jarrett and Sarah for the corrections!)
All 101st types that have Airborne Tabs £7.00 each
(except Type 8)
Check out THE PATCH KING Store for all the latest available types!
Above Left - The stitch files of the earliest 101st patch of this style. With an OD border, it shares an almost identical design/style of the Type 9, so these three are group together currently awaiting their first test sew out! As amazing as Leanne is, she has other work to do and doesn't sit waiting to fulfill my 'patching demands'.
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Above Centre and Right - The standard type 9 patch, all these are slightly larger than the standard size of 101st patches. An interesting thing to note is the early red 326th Airborne Engineers tab was fairly large when compared with other 101st patches, so it is assumed it was first designed to go with, and possibly made by, the same company who made the type 9 patch. So, we will pair it with that. All these three are awaiting test sew out. If interested in any of these, contact me now and I will bump it up the priority list
Left - The Type 7 is suspected of being one of the earlier 101st patches to be manufactured. This is very common within the 502nd and can be seen in lots of period photographs where identification of patches is possible. The tab on these should always be attached as they were never made as a 2-piece patch.
Right - The Type 10, a much later patch, was made from very late 1944 onwards. It came on both a dark blue and a black backing cloth, unlike the tradition tan/khaki that most patches typically used. This patch was made for a long time post-war and, as a result, it is nearly impossible to tell the post-war version from the wartime version regardless of cloth colour.
These will be supplied on black cloth with uncut centres, as examples of this type have been found by collectors. It is possible that this is a patch that could have been specific to the 502nd, as all the ones identified on troopers have all been from that unit.
Above Left - The stitch file and patch of the Type 17. An interesting patch that shows some details from the type 4 and 7 yet different enough to earn its on 'type' classification. An extremely rare patch and one missing from most 101st patch collections.
Above Right - An interesting variation in a Type 17 was the one issued to Doc Lage, the regimental surgeon of the 2nd Battalion 502nd PIR. For those unfamiliar with the name, he is the guy in classes that many people like to show when people start discussing how right/wrong it is to wear glasses - despite him being a trained surgeon and not a combat soldier! He is known to have had a Type 17 that contained an error, the beak was sewn on out of position, probably a result of the patch being moved downwards on the frame somehow. How could we resist not offering our own "Doc Lage" version of this Type 17 patch!
Both now available!
Type 8
£15
Above - The unusual 101st type 8 'Angry Bird' with its 3d looking feathers and slight hole in the beak. Neither of these two patches show the background as they are sewn directly onto the correct material and do not have a FE background.
Below Left & Centre - The stitch files of the coming British Type 1 (B-1) patch design and the 'British Ugly Bird' patch (B-3) that are currently available for purchase.
Neither of these two British patches show the backgroup as they are sewn directly onto the correct material and do not have a FE background. (Space on the right reserved for B-2)
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82nd SSI
Spurred on by my number one super fan, Andrew Holloway! And with much laughter I've done several versions of the 82nd patch as well...
Left - The early OD-edged 82nd patch, very similar to the early 101st OD-edged patch. Very rare and unusual.
Right - The most standard type of 82nd patch we will probably do. The small trail of stitches going from the base through the tab is a track of stitches that would then lead to the next patch to be made on the same piece of material. If the centre piece is left uncut, these would be seen. If you cut them out, thats fine too. Better to include them, than to not.
Left - Now who doesn't love a British-Made patch! The colours will be slightly more 'washed out' that the regular patch; ignore the colours shown as they are just the software colours. The most interesting feature that we are adding to certain patches is the black backing thread. This British variant had that... so ours will, too.
Right - Rare beyond belief; in fact some don't even believe this was a patch! However, it appears in several high-quality airborne books. There was also a matching 101st patch (coming soon) with the number on it as well.
82-#
Parachute Cap Patch
At the same time as designing the first three 101st patches, we started to design all these parachute cap patches. If we found a photograph of an original, then it was to be included as an option. These were to be made in FE (fully embroidered onto backing cloth with the correct underlayers of stitching) and also offering those directly embroidered onto wool/felt (referred to as simply 'wool' from this point onwards) with a back material on the reverse. Only configurations that we have seen original examples of are ever to be created. In the wool the following examples are currently available, left to right.
Parachute on Wool C-PW-#
ON WOOL
Top row - Infantry sky blue - Infantry medium blue - Infantry dark blue
Middle row - Artillery - Medical - Military Police
Bottom - ummm either I've forgotten what it is, or we made that in error!!! *updated* - Leanne made that patch in error and as she has a sense of humor, included it with all the others and didn't say anything to me... resulting in it being photographed and included on here... I guess it can stay!
Parachute Fully Embriodered C-PE-#
Full embroidered
Top row - Infantry sky blue - Infantry blue - Artillery
Bottom row - Medical - Signals - Quartermaster
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Bottom laid over - Military Police
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See the PDF file for all the ordering codes and variations.
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Parachute on Twill C-PT-#
On cotton Twill
Parachutes on a coloured twill material with cheese cloth backing on the reverse, just like the originals. Available in 8 variations, including Artillery, QM, Signals and two unit-specific versions.
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464th PFAB - Parachute Field Artillery Battalion.
Yellow Border, White Parachute on Red cloth
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Available in multiple other variations...
C-PT-464
101st Glider Cap Patch
At the same time as designing the first three 101st patches and all the parachute cap patches, we also did all the versions of the 101st glider patches! We've been bloody busy!!! Again, sticking to our guns, we only made configurations of examples for which we have seen original photographs. We are not here to make farby-weird items that might not have ever existed. Like the parachute patches, these came in both FE (fully embroidered onto backing cloth with the correct underlayers of stitching) and also directly onto wool/felt (referred to as simply 'wool' from this point onwards) with back material on the reverse.
Glider on Wool C-GW-#
ON WOOL
Top row - Artillery - Infantry sky blue
Bottom row - Medical - Military Police
Glider Fully Embriodered C-GE-#
Full embroidered
Top row - 801st Ordnance - Signals
Bottom row - Medical - Infantry sky blue - Artillery
Above Left - MP Military Police Above Right - QM Quartermaster 426th Airborne QM Company
Glider Fully Embriodered C-G2-#
Next on the cap patches being made are the more generic fully embroidered glider patches. Available in left and right facing, and in 20 different variations, including different branches of service like Medical, Signals, Artillery and QM.
C-G3-7
Glider patches are also available on a twill base, with cheesecloth backing just like the originals. Available in both left and right facing and in 12 different variations, including different branches of service like Medical, Signals, Artillery and QM.
Glider on Twill C-G3-#
Para/Glide Cap Patches
On Black Base
508th PIR, 82nd Div.
Red Border, White Details on Black cloth
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C-PGs-#
~~~ There are lots of variations of the Para/Glide patch, including 'No Skis', 'Bomber', 4 versions of the British made types, too ~~~
Unit Specific cap patches
325th Glider Infantry Regiment Garison Cap Patch
C-325-1
pics coming soon
88th / 326th Glider Infantry Regiment Garison Cap Patch
C-88/326-1
Other Airborne Patches
505th Un-Official Bazooka Patch - Sicily Veterans
£6
A request that came in by a couple of guys (Cheers Alex Birch and Max Murray). This was a fun thing to do and only took about 30 minutes once I got around to sorting it. Although it did involve all sorts of strange things, like measuring medal ribbon bars, measuring the distance between pockets... then considering the original is faded to hell and back, working on the original colours was fun!
It can be seen being worn on the left front pocket flap of the top pocket on the M42, as well as other positions like on sleeves.
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The test sew out was amazing, even showing a variation with a gap between the 'pipe' and lightning flash.
Regular Infantry Patches
29th Division
Along with the many requests for airborne patches, came this nice oddity. The 29th Rangers 'title' or 'flash' or whatever else people want to call these things. Sewn to the same size, scale, same direction of thread and matched almost perfectly to the example we copied. This is the result! Very pleased... albeit not something I need myself.
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£4.50 for a single, £7.50 for a pair, or £10.00 for the runs of three as they came out of the machine. Why 3 you ask... it just fits nicely; that's the only reason!
£7.50 a pair, or 3 (as above) for £10.00
29th SSI are done, too!
USMC Patches
Well, something I didn't account for when I started this patch project was the random things that people might ask for and what is lacking in the hobby. Apparently almost all USMC raider impressions are using the wrong type of patches... well we can't have that, can we!
USAAF Patches
Army Air Corp / Air Force! OK, so technically not army... although neither is the USMC! So when I got a request for a 602nd Bomb Squadron pocket patch with a giant Goofy on it, how could I resist the challenge!
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We also have the rare OVAL 8th Airforce patch.
Aircraft & Engine companies
So these random patches are my fault! I discovered one and thought... HMMMMM that's interesting and rare and I wonder if anyone would be interested. I pinged a couple of messages out there and YES! Definetly an interest. So these entered the que and are available.
Mustang P51
Clarkson &
Startz
Boeing
Allison Engines
Patch King
As soon as we mentioned patches on FB, I could hear 'ping', 'ping', 'ping', 'ping', 'ping'..... as the questions and interest... sorry, 'excitement' of messages started to flood in.
A new Facebook group was setup as an easy method of sharing all the patches, manufacturing and other things related. We are working on doing all of the infantry divisions... not only one patch of each but several versions. Including World War One, the interwar years as well as World War Two. And WOW do some of them look amazing!!!
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Click the banner below for a link to the Facebook group.
