JULY, 2016

ISSUE NO. 1

TOMMY
FOR THE WWII BRITISH LIVING HISTORIAN

INSIDE THE
INTELLIGENCE SECTION
A study of the section's activities and role
in and out of combat.

FOUR-EYES ON
THE FRONT LINE

THE AIRBORNE
STRIP MYTH

A look into the use of eye wear in the

British army

Debunking the most recent trend of

shunning the airborne strip

Inside
YOUR GUIDE TO ISSUE NO.01

03
Intelligence Section

What was the intelligence section, what

did they do, and how did they do it? A
study into this little known element of
every infantry battalion

05
Four-Eyes

Looking at the use of eye glasses by

front line soldiers, the preferred styles,
and the limited evidence of sunglasses.

07
The Airborne Strip

When was this small patch worn and by

who? A fight against today's hatred of
the insignia by many reenactors
02

Inside the
Intelligence
Section
WHO WERE THESE MEN
AND WHAT DID THEY
DO?

By: Daniel Murphy

According to the official

table of organization, a
parachute battalion's
intelligence section consisted
of one officer who did not take
part in combat jumps, one
sergeant, and nine privates. As
with many examples of
military policy and procedure,
the actual war-time makeup of
each battalions intelligence
section widely varied. For
example, The 3rd Parachute
Battalions 1944 intelligence
section photograph, shows a
strength of thirteen men. There
is one officer of unknown rank,
two sergeants, two lance
corporals, and eight privates.
Despite 3rd Battalions
intelligence section having two
more men than prescribed, the
intelligence section of the 1st

Parachute Brigade was less

than a third of this size. As
recalled by L/Cpl Norman
Harris, the section only
consisted of a captain, a
sergeant, a corporal, a lance
corporal, and one private at the
start of Operation Market
Garden.
One explanation for the
wide array of rank within
intelligence sections could be
the need for men with
specialized skills. The
intelligence section actively
sought out men with language
and document interpretation
skills. If these individuals
happened to be NCOs, it is
reasonable to believe that the
intelligence section would still
accept them despite their
elevated rank.
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The varying size of each battalions section

remains a mystery. Most likely it is explained by
individual commanding officers determining
where replacements were needed and
which elements of the battalion could afford to be
under strength.
Regardless of size, the intelligence section was
responsible for a wide array of activities. As an
element of the battalion's Headquarters Company,
the section remained with the battalions
administration during combat. L/Cpl Harris
recounted that for the flight to a combat jump,
the section would be split into multiple aircraft.
This would prevent the entire section being lost if
the plane they flew in was downed. Once on the
ground, the section would form with the rest of
HQ Coy and begin their unique role.
Lt. Joe Brown was an intelligence officer in the
Royal Scotts serving in Northwest Europe. Taking
extensive notes on his sections role, he
summarized their mission as having the,
responsibility to know as much as possible about
the arms, equipment, formation and unit
identities of the German Army. In order to
become efficient in this task, Lt. Brown gathered
and ingested as much literature on the German
army as possible. This was often in the form of
classified British training manuals concerning
enemy units and tactics which were employed by
the Germans in North Africa and Italy. In addition,
the section studied German uniforms and insignia
so they could be proficient in identifying the
branches of service of enemy soldiers they
encountered in the field. Beyond training manuals,
the section also studied captured German
documents in order to recognize which would be
most valuable to the battalion once in combat.
In action, the section was responsible for
establishing forward observation posts. While
manning these positions, the intelligence section
would create detailed sketches of the area to be
used by the battalion. For major operations, the
battalion would create sand tables to prepare the
rest of the battalion for the action. Beyond this, the
intelligence section was tasked with maintaining
the battalions war diary and documenting each
engagement it was involved in.
The sections responsibilities continued to
expand, though. In addition to studying the
enemy and preparing the battalion for combat,
the intelligence section was responsible for the
intake and interrogation of German prisoners.
Every division had a different policy for what
exactly was needed from each prisoner; however,
the standard was as follows: name, time/date of
capture, place of capture, direction of travel, and
the size of the unit the prisoner was coming from.

Also, any documents carried by prisoners were

confiscated and analyzed for valuable
intelligence.
Despite this wide range of duties, the
intelligence section was still an element of an
infantry battalion and expected serve as such.
In his account of Operation Market Garden,
L/Cpl Harris spoke to the intelligence sections
employment as a standard rifle section.
Countless members of various intelligence
sections were killed in combat due to their
engagement of enemy forces. Regardless of
rank, members needed to be proficient
academics, skilled navigators and interpreters,
and fierce infantrymen to survive in an infantry
intelligence section. Likewise, in our pursuit to
accurately portray the intelligence men of the
7th Parachute Bn, we should make an effort to
be familiar with German tactics and unit
composition as well have a basic
understanding of land navigation and map
interpretation. It is essential to preserve the
history of small units such as infantry
intelligence sections which are often
overlooked in living history and the study of
WWII.

04

F O U R - E Y E S
T H E

O N

By: Daniel Murphy

F R O N T

L I N E
A common reenactor
misconception is that British front
line combat troops were not allowed
to wear glasses. Now this is true in a
strictly by the book definition,
especially for paras. An entrance
requirement for the airborne was to
pass a vision test without any
assistance. This raises the question:
why do we see more than a few
paratroopers wearing specs? Well to
begin with, if there is a system, there
is a way to beat it. In one notable
case, a paratrooper memorized the
eye exam before the test in order to
pass. It is also likely that the need for
recruits, especially at the beginning
of the war, led to recruiters and
medical examiners overlooking less
than perfect vision. One of the
earliest photographs of British
paratroopers shows a man wearing
issued, wire frame glasses. In a unit
photograph of the 7th Parachute
Battalion taken prior to the
Normandy campaign, three
members are wearing privately
purchased spectacles. Pte. Bertram
Roe of the 225th Parachute Field
Ambulance even wore privately

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purchased glasses in Normandy while bring awarded the Military Medal from Field Marshall
Montgomery. This shows two key facts helpful to todays reenactors. First: British front line troops did in
fact wear glasses; and, two: these soldiers did not hide the fact that they had eye wear, displaying them
in formation and in professional studio photographs.
This leads to the reenactors next question: what style is the most accurate? Once again, this is a
question with multiple answers. To be in full compliance with regulation, the preferred style would be
the issued glasses. Designed to be worn under a gas mask, these spectacles were wire frame with
flexible arms. Like the majority of issued items, it seems like these were an unpopular article. Instead,
the vast majority of photos show soldiers wearing privately purchased glasses. The most popular style
were circular, plastic framed glasses. Either style is perfectly authentic.

On a final note related to eye wear, it seems that sunglasses for males were never popularized
during the war years in Britain. This is true for both service members and civilians. One photograph
from the mid-1930s shows the future King George wearing circular sunglasses. Another photograph
from the same period shows a young man in a suit wearing a similar style pair with white frames. There
are, however, several photographs of British woman wearing both wire and plastic framed sunglasses.
For this reason, reenactors should be somewhat conservative with their use of sunglasses.
Unfortunately, British living historians do not have the luxury of American units who can outfit an
entire platoon with Ray-Ban aviators.

06

EVOLUTION
OFAIRBORNE
INSIGNIA
THE RAVINGS OF AN AIRBORNE
STRIP APOLOGIST

By Daniel Murphy

In the past few years there has been a

mysterious push to erase the airborne strip
from the history of the parachute regiment.
Resolute extremists will scoff at any
attempt to justify wearing the strip. This
stems from the fact that when it was
originally designed, the policy stated that it
was only for members of airborne divisions
other than those in the parachute
battalions. In other words, glider troops,
airborne engineers, police, RAMC and the
countless other support units within the 1st
and 6th Airborne Divisions. In typical
soldierly fashion, those in the parachute
battalions completely disregarded this
order and thousands of paratroopers sewed
the rectangular patch onto their battledress.
In a photograph of the 7th Battalion taken
in May of 1944, every member, officers and
other ranks alike, were wearing the airborne
strip under the divisional Pegasus patch. It
was not until December of 1944 which
British airborne command began to strictly
enforce
NOMADIC
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07

the airborne strip regulation and the men of the parachute battalions un-stitched the patch from their
uniforms. This widespread confusion on airborne insignia has made me want to make a comprehensive
chronology of parachute regiment insignia.

The first airborne specific title was a simple tab that read AIRBORNE in blue on a maroon field. This was
worn with the parachute qualification wings. In the spring of 1942 the famed Pegasus patch was added
below the airborne tab. With the Pegasus patch, the airborne strip was also designed and issued to those
soldiers in the airborne divisions but not in a parachute battalion. For paratroopers, the "AIRBORNE" title
was changed in 1943. AIRBORNE was replaced by PARACHUTE but the color scheme remained the same.
Before the end of 1943, the PARACHUTE tab was replaced by an entirely new design. A sky blue arc with
dark blue lettering which read PARACHUTE REGIMENT now replaced its two predecessors. At this point,
the men of the parachute battalions began to widely use the airborne strip under the divisional Pegasus
patch. This combination was worn throughout the Normandy Campaign and through the fall of 1944. It was
not until the final months of 1944 that divisional commanders instated strict adherence to the airborne strip
policy and the patch was removed. This is why it is all but impossible to find a photograph of a paratrooper
at the end of the war wearing the airborne strip.
What it comes down to for todays reenactor is deciding what exact campaign you are looking to portray.
Wearing the airborne strip while putting together an Operation Varsity Impression is absolutely inaccurate;
however, it is just as farby (regardless of how obnoxious I find that word) to not wear the airborne strip if you
are putting together a Normandy impression. So to the dismay of airborne strip deniers, its a simple case of
knowing your unit and knowing your time period.

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