US Army 4th Armored Division shoulder sleeve patch with tank and red lightning bolt

Identifier
irn35144
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2004.749.6
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) | Width: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm)

Archival History

The badge was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Scope and Content

Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 4th Armored Division, United States Army, known as the Name Enough Division, of the type used during World War II. The patch design was used by all Armored divisions, with the division number, in this case 4, at the apex of the triangle. The colors represent the military branches that form an armored division: yellow for cavalry, blue for infantry, and red for artillery. The symbols represent the characteristics: the tank track, mobility and armor protection; the cannon, fire power; and the red flash of lightning, shock action. The 4th Division landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on July 11, 1944 and entered combat in France. The division commander refused to sanction an official nickname, saying the 4th was name enough, leading to the unofficial nickname, Name Enough. Their role in the breakout from the Normandy beachhead and the liberation of France in 1944 earned them a second unofficial nickname, Breakthrough. They fought their way through Germany. On April 4, 1945, they liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp, a subcamp of Buchenwald, the first concentration camp to be liberated by American troops, and visited by General Eisenhower on April 12. When Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, the Division was in Czechoslovakia. The 4th was placed on occupation duty until inactivated on April 26, 1946.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Equilateral triangular patch machine embroidered on white netting with an evenly divided, 3 color field: the top is yellow; bottom left, blue; bottom right, red. Embroidered in black on the center is an Arabic numeral 4 at the apex above a 2-wheeled cannon within a circle of chain link tank track. A red, jagged lightning bolt is embroidered diagonally leftward across the cannon. The patch has a light green border. The patch appears to be unused.

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.