Description
Original Item: Only One Available. Extremely rare American World War Two WWII 462nd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion Airborne Pocket Patch that measures approximately 4 5/8″ in diameter. Offered in very good to excellent condition. Finely detailed cotton embroidery on a cotton base material. Does not glow under a black light indicating genuine pre-1945 manufacture.
The 462nd Field Artillery Battalion was constituted on 25 February,1943. On 15 June 1943, the 462nd was activated by General Order No. 44 Headquarters Airborne Command at Camp Mackall, NC. The activation order did not designate parachute but under TO&E it was essentially the same as the one developed by experimentation in the Parachute Test Battery under the Airborne Command. This remained the same for all PFA battalions throughout WW II with only one small change in 1945.
The cadre for the 462nd, including the original Commander, Lt Col Forrest R. Armstrong, came from the 458th PFAB which had been activated at Fort Bragg only four months previously. There were originally 55 officers and 285 enlisted men assigned to the 462nd PFAB. The surplus officers were formed into a “pool” of parachute qualified Artillery officers who subsequently were used in the activation of several new Battalions. For a…
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