(447) ORIGINAL, HAND-EMBROIDERED
BULLION, SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA ( SSI ) FOR AN OFFICER ATTACHED TO THE WW II ( ETO ) US ARMY'S 6860TH HEADQUARTER'S DETACHMENT
INTELLIGENCE ASSAULT FORCE ( "T" FORCE ).
This WW II US Army sleeve patch ( SSI ) is probably
THE RAREST "official " US SSI to actually be worn in the ETO before the end of the war in Europe ( May 8, 1945 ). The US Army's 6860th
Headquarter's Detachment, or "T" Force, was created in late 1944, for the purpose of gathering valuable intelligence, and technological data, in
areas overun by the advancing Allied armies, often within only minutes, or hours, after their capture. The patch ( SSI ) itself is intended
to represent the five different Allied military units, or organizations, from which the "T" Force was raised: viz., the 5TH and 7TH US Armies, the
British Eighth Army, the French 1ST Army, and the US 6TH Army Group, and, therefore, the final approved design of the "T" Force's UNIQUE SSI is
a rather ingenious "amalgam" of those units' insignia. This AUTHENTIC specimen is the the so-called "OFFICER'S" version, or "dress" patch, which
is meticulously, and tightly, hand-embroidered, on a white felt backing, and piped with twisted gold bullion ( photo ). The verso still has much of
its brown tissue-paper backing still present ( photo ). The SSI shows some natural age-toning, or tarnishing, of the gold bullion components, and
the white felt background is slightly "greyed", but the overall condition of this RAREST-OF-THE-RARE ( only three known surviving hand-embroidered specimens ) WW II
US shoulder sleeve insignia is "Used; slightly aged, low-EXCELLENT".
N.B. It is estimated that, all together, less than three-hundred "T" Force patches, including the machine-embroidered patches, were produced prior to VE Day; making
ANY, authentic, PERIOD-MADE, "T" Force SSI argueably THE RAREST "official" WW II USA sleeve patch.
N.B. To learn more about the history ( and various insignia ) of the "T" Force, I highly recommend the following
website: www.insigne.org/T-Force-I.htm.
AUTHENTIC, HAND-EMBROIDERED "DRESS" VERSION, WW
II US ARMY ( ETO ) 6860TH HQ DETACHMENT ( "T" FORCE )SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA.
$4,995.00. ORDER