A nice issued example of an original
World War Two British Army
HQ VIII Corps
Battle Blouse Shoulder Patch
1939-45
From its formation in The Great War,
Headquarters VIII (8th) Corps
found itself assigned to Home Defence
at the outbreak of WW-II and during the Autumn of 1940
was based down in Cheddon Fitzpaine
and tasked with the defence of The West Country.
However after the D-Day Landings in Normandy on June 6th 1944,
it was despatched to France where it took part in
'Operations Jupiter, Goodwood & Bluecoat'
in
The Battle of Normandy
and then played a supporting role on the flank of XXX Corps
'Operation Market Garden'
the ill-fated airborne drop on Arnhem.
Crossing The Rhine in March 1945,
it advanced into Germany, the principal formations of the Corps now being
11th Armoured Div, 6th Airborne & 6th Guards Armoured Div
Fighting its way across Germany, it crossed The Elbe River
on April 30th and took the City of Plon in Schleswig-Holstein.
With the German surrender on May 7th 1945
HQ 8th Corps formed
VIII Corps Administrative District
to oversee Schleswig-Holstein,
ahead of its being disbanded in 1946
Measuring approx 3" x 2" unfolded and screen-printed, this
Divisional patch was carefully unpicked from a battle-blouse and is
part of a small group of 15 such British WW-II Army shoulder patches
collected by a veteran of the Normandy Campaign during
the later years of the Second World War.
+++ Please note this sale is just for the HQ VIII Corps Patch only! +++