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World War Two Insignia and Ranks of the 13th DBLE
As with the vast array of mixtures of different uniforms and equipment presenting a countless number individualized configurations, so did insignia of the 13th.
13th DBLE Insignia on French Uniforms 1940
With the formation of the 13th DBLE, the unit was fitted out with mostly current French army uniforms of the time, Model 1935 and 1938 tunics with greatcoats. Insignia for these uniforms was for the most part very consistent when the 13th departed for Norway. The most prominent attribute was the collar insignia, which consisted of a trapezoidal shape, callled an "ecusson" with an embroidered unit designiation of 13, colored in either green for lower enlisted or gold, set against brown wool matching the uniform. The mountain uniform did not feature any insignia, though officer's and some NCOs occassionally buttoned their rank designation along the center chest buttons. Officer's collar patches were often rendered in bullion with the flaming grenade emblem of the Legion, and the addition of the unit number, 13, embroidered into the open eye-let of the grenade. The officer's collar patches were often set against a black background, rather than the brown wool color of the uniform. Both officer and enlisted collar patches featured additional chevrons on the top two sides of the trapezoid, which consisted of two stripes, and, again, was rendered in green for enlisted and gold for officers. Officers also occassionally wore rank slides on the epaulettes. For additional information on rank patterns, see below.
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Headgear presented a more varied assortment of insignia for the 13th in Norway. The 13th was issued with "Garrison" style berets and Bonnet Du Police, overseas caps. There was no enforced set of guidelines for application of insignia to either of these. In some instances single embroidered wool Legion flaming grenade emblems were embroidered into the caps, in either green of gold, depending on rank. In some cases the number of the unit was also added, occassionally without the flaming grenade emblem. Collar patches were also sometimes sewn onto to the headgear. There is particular evidence for this in terms of officers, as examples can be seen of gold bullion officer collar emblems being sewn onto the headgear. Brass insignia of the same configuration was also occassionally added to the headgear. Stripes in green or gold denoting rank were also worn on berets and overseas caps. Helmets were also open to variation, with Model 1915 style insignias sometimes placed onto Model 1926 helmets, and vice versa.
Insignia on British Uniforms 1940-44
With the issuing of the British kit in England, in the summer of 1940, a somewhat "free for all" period was begun in terms of the application of insignia, which was often left up to the individual, and resulted in a countless array of different personal aesthetic configurations.
The insignia chosen for the newly formed Free French Forces was the Cross of Lorraine. In the early period of the war, these were virtually all hand made, and susceptible to numerous variations. The basic pattern called for a red Cross of Lorraine, with a white shadow, against a blue background. There are countless examples of variations in terms of degrees of color, in addition to the over all shape of the patch, which ranged from a triangle, to a shield, to a square, with a few other shapes in between. The patch was usually worn on the left sleeve. Rank insignia was often worn above the Cross of Lorraine, sometimes with the addition of French style collar patches. The Cross of Lorraine patch was predominantly worn on the wool P37 and P40 Battle Dress and greatcoat, and not on the khaki drill.
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Ecussons (collar patches) were also sometimes added to the British battle dress or overcoat in French fashion. This collar insignia was often handmade "on the campaign". Examples of this insignia show a single Legion grenade, either green or gold, depending on rank, set against a brown wool trapezoid placed on the uniform, devoid of unit or rank designation. Officers often retained their French Bullion collar insignia for application to the British wool uniform, the same was true for some NCOs. Ranks slides were also sometimes worn on the British wool uniform on the epaulettes. Rank was also denoted in the French fashion with single stripes along the lower sleeves.
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Khaki drill insignia was largely limited to rank slides with appropriate chevrons for enlisted or officer worn on the epaulettes. Officers and NCOs in bush jackets sometimes wore collar insignias, thought this was for the most part minimal.
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Headgear Insignia also greatly varied. The same array of configurations for beret insignia carried over from the French uniform into those worn with the British kit. Wolseley or French Model 1931 pith helmet insignia usually featured a French tricolor embedded onto the front of side of the helmet. The tricolor was sometimes in the shape of diamond or a rectangle, and either pinned or wedged into the out band of the helmet. Officers occasionally incorporated bullion flaming grenades or rank insignia alongside the tricolor. The same mix of Model 1915 and Model 1926 Adrian helmet insignias was present. British Helmets worn by the 13th, as well as the other Free French forces often featured a painted Free French flag with the Cross of Lorraine embedded into the tricolor. These were painted on the front or side of the helmet.
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Insignia on American Uniforms 1944-45
When the soldiers of the 13th DBLE were outfitted with American uniforms, they were issued US HBTs (Herringbone Twill), US Wool shirts and trousers, US khaki shirts and trousers, as well as M41 and assumingly some M43 jackets, as well as US wool greatcoats. Cross of Lorraine patches were worn on the left sleeve of all of these items, with the occasional exception of the US khaki shirt. The rank and collar patch configurations present above the Cross of Lorraine patches on British uniforms, carried over to the American issue. However, on the American uniforms, unlike the British wool battle dresses and overcoats, insignia on the collar was usually not worn. Rank slides were often applied to the M41 and M43 jackets, as well as wool overcoats. NOTE: For our living history unit, we use HBTs, with M41 jackets, and insignia applied to these items is done so in the relevant manner described above.
French Foreign Legion Ranks
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The following is a list of ranks of the French Foreign Legion in World War Two. * The term "Legionnaire", which is loosely used to refer to any member of the legion, is also used to refer to all those with the rank below corporal. The list below consists of the French Ranks, their equivalents in English, and their designation. The French Rank System does not precisely equate to the US system, so British ranks or other notations are in some cases included.
General Officers:
General d'Armee - General of the Army - Five Silver Stars
General de Corps d'Armee - General of an Army Corps - Four Silver Stars
General de Division - Divisional General - Three Silver Stars
General de Brigade - Brigadier General - Two Silver Stars
Superior Officers:
Colonel - Colonel - Three Gold Bars, With Two More Slightly Seperated
Lieutenant Colonel - Lieutenant Colonel -One Gold, One Silver, One Gold Bar, With Another Silver Bar and Gold Bar
Commandant - Major - Three Gold Bars, With One Additional Gold Bar Slightly Seperated
Officers:
Capitaine - Captain -Three Gold Bars
Lieutenant - Lieutenant -Two Gold Bars
Sous Lieutenant - 2nd Lieutenant -One Gold Bar
Aspirant - Acting Officer or Officer Candidate -One Gold Bar, Broken Horizontally in Two Points
Sous-Officers (Sub Officers):
Adjudant Chef - Warrant Officer 1st Class (US Sgt Major) -One Gold Bar, With Red Stripe Down the Middle
Adjudant - Warrant Officer 2nd Class (US 1st Sgt) -One Silver Bar, With Red Stripe Down the Middle
Sargent Chef - Senior Sergeant (US Staff/Platoon Sgt)-Three Gold Stripes
Sargent - Sergeant -Two Gold Stripes
Enlisted:
Caporal Chef - Senior Corporal (British Corporal) (Section Leader) -Two Green Stripes, With One Gold Stripe
Caporal - Corporal (British Lance Corporal) (Asst. Section/Team Leader) -Two Green Stripes
Soldat de premiere classe -Superior Private -One Green Stripe
Soldat de deuxieme classe / Prive - Private -Plain