The Tale of The Often Misunderstood "Italy" Patch Used by The Italian Service Unit of World War II

Prisoners of War, a term known by almost everyone as it's a pretty universal concept that obviously goes hand in hand with conflict and nations at war. But apart from international law requiring sufficient clothing be supplied, there is no standard or universal policy regarding how they are clothed or identified. However, a unique instance seen during the Second World War, which broke the standards of how they were treated and employed, blurred the line between prisoner, soldier, and worker, which converged around these two straightforward, yet often misunderstood patches. It's June 1940, and after seeing the French government flee Paris for Bordeaux due to the German invasion, Italy, or rather more specifically Benito Mussolini, felt that now was a good time to enter the war feeling that it would be a quick one, guaranteeing a seat at a peace conference. From there the country would look to southern France along its western border, but more broadly to the Mediterranean as well as Northern Africa, in hopes of acting upon and expanding its colonial ambitions. Already in control of parts of Africa such as Eritrea and Ethiopia, as well as Albania, it didn't take long until large sections of Greece and Yugoslavia would fall under their influence too. However, Italy would quickly be engaged by British and Commonwealth troops in Africa, seeing a sort of back and forth in and around Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Somaliland. But come November 1942, that would all change with the start of Operation Torch. Though the United States entered the war in December 1941 after the Pearl Harbor attack, it had taken a bit of time to get its forces combat capable, at least for the western theater of war. And so, come November of 1942, Allied forces landed in Morocco and Algeria with the goal of securing North Africa and eventually the rest of the continent from Italian and German troops. It was during this time fighting was seen all across the region and as a result saw the capturing of hundreds of thousands of Germans and Italians. From there the Allies would continue north landing in Sicily and eventually Italy, where even more POWs would be captured. However, things started to change in September of 1943 when Italy discreetly signed the Armistice of Cassibile, which essentially led to Italy's surrender to the United Kingdom and the United States. Though this in a way caused Italy, the Kingdom of Italy specifically, to be taken out of the war before switching sides and declaring war on the Axis, in actuality it fractured the country and its armed forces. Germany was swift to take control of as much of the country as they could, as well as rescue Mussolini, who had been removed from power and arrested a few weeks earlier, promptly putting him in charge of the Italian Social Republic in the north, which continued to fight until April 1945. So, this inevitably led to many seeing Italians as both friend and foe after September, which led to some interesting developments back in the United States. Up until September of 1943, Italian POWs sent stateside were more or less treated the same way all other POWs were, sent to prisoner camps sprinkled all over the country. Now, because many American men went off to fight, a work shortage occurred. To try and fill the gap, many women took their places in various jobs. However, POWs were often used as well, though usually in much more localized and low security roles, such as in the agricultural sector, physical labor, and things of that nature. Oftentimes, prisoners would either continue wearing their own uniforms, assuming they were in good condition, or were issued a mismatch of U.S. pieces that often had haphazardly applied painted markings, such as PW, for prisoner of war on them while at camp or outperforming duties and work. However, after the armistice, the idea of Italians being the enemy began to diminish, and after the kingdom declared war on the Axis, this sentiment grew. Apart from the obvious, this shift in perception was the result of a few other things, mainly the large Italian population. Between 1880 and 1914, a period known as the Italian Diaspora, some 4 million Italians had made their way to the United States, with many more continuing up to Mussolini's ascension to power in 1922 and the first engagements between U.S. and Italian forces 20 years later. So, needless to say, there were quite a number of Italian Americans by the time Italian POWs began arriving on U.S. shores. This large number of more recent immigrants did help play a big part in what was to come, but it is also worth noting that upon Italy's declaration of war against the United States, some 1,500 Italian nationals residing within the country were arrested and detained, with a number of others being restricted to what they could do and where they could go. In addition to this, many Italians living within the country had pro-Mussolini and pro-fascist sympathies, but of that number, most kept it in relation to the country of Italy rather than pro-fascist movements to change the U.S. government, and as the war raged on, these beliefs began to wane. Because of this, the United States Army decided it would begin to recruit Italian POWs to help with not only the work shortage but also as a way to free up American troops who could be used for either combat or more critical roles for the war effort. This first came in the form of paroled prisoners working on military installations or on certain war effort-related projects, but quickly evolved into labor companies which eventually, after passing through some initial hurdles, turned into the Italian Service Unit Program, or ISU for short. This detachment fell under the United States Army Service Forces, then one of the three components making up the Army, the other two being the Ground Force and the Air Force. Originally formed in 1942 as the Army Services of Supply, the Service Forces were essentially in charge of more logistical and technical aspects, with seven technical services falling under it consisting of the Corps of Engineers, the Quartermaster Corps, Signal Corps, Transportation Corps, Ordnance Department, Medical Department, and Chemical Warfare Service. Technically a part of the Army, ISU members would be screened and essentially asked if they had any pro-fascist, be it Italian Republican or German Nazi Party, sentiments or beliefs, and if not, they could join up. Any who said they did or didn't want to participate would simply remain in POW camps until the war's end. Units were formed and sent all across the country at first, working on various bases, installations, ports, and hubs of transport, among others, doing tasks ranging from medium and heavy automotive and engineer maintenance, quartermaster duties such as laundry, depot, salvage, and repair, dump truck duties, general services, harbor craft, petroleum distribution, mail and property duties, and headquarter-related duties. It is also worth noting that some 1,000 members were also sent over to Europe to assist with the invasion, but that is a bit of a different story, as there actually was another version of the ISU formed recruiting from Italian POWs held in North Africa, of which many directly supported Allied forces within that region, as well as the invasion of Italy and France, and subsequent push into Germany. There was also the ITI, or Italian Army Service Units, which were made up of non-captured active Italian troops, but all of that is a completely different thing. Anyway though, back to the US-based ISUs. Once units were formed, they often would be commanded by Italian officers, though one American officer and five enlisted would be attached to each unit as well. Upon joining a unit, forces mostly adhered to the same standards regular Americans joining the army were, granted in a slightly altered manner and coming at different points, such as organization, training, pay, and even uniforms. Most of the time, many of the same uniforms issued to American soldiers would be given to Italian forces. The most commonly seen were the khaki cotton summer uniforms, though also the M1942 Herringbone Twill, HBT for short, ones for more physical and possibly dirty tasks, were also used. The main difference seen for ISU wearers? The insignia, specifically the one shown earlier. Two standard patches incorporating the colors of the Italian flag were used, a green with green border oval-shaped patch approximately 5 and 7 eighth inches wide by 3 and 5 eighth inches high, or about 15 by 9 and 1 fifth centimeters, and a much smaller green with red border circular one measuring 2 inches, or roughly 5 centimeters in diameter, both of which simply had Italy written out in white. Unlike most US unit patches of the time, these only see embroidery in the lettering and the border rather than the entire patch, instead opting to have the bulk of them composed of the coarse base fabric, making them much flimsier and lighter, and likely cheaper, easier, and quicker to produce. The much larger oval-shaped one would be either stitched to the left sleeves of uniform tops, or attached to a piece of elastic to be worn as an armband, while the smaller circular one would be sewn to side caps, also known as garrison caps. Now these weren't only seen on US uniforms, as they were also sometimes placed on Italian ones, as well as general clothing. Italian uniforms would often be worn by officers during more formal or ceremonial events, or just for a night on the town or at a celebration, while general clothing would be used or worn for other tasks, jobs, or just for casual wear. What's interesting about these apart from their unique origin and usage is how they've been interpreted and collected by many in the decades since. If you go and type in Italian POW patch, or some derivative of that on Google or eBay, or any other relevant website or search engine, or better yet just type Italy patch World War II, you'll find yourself with a number of results marking them simply as Italian POW patches, with very few actually referencing them as Italian service units. Very few correctly title them or reference it, with any being sold as such often being listed for a bit more money. In fact, when the two highlighted in this video were picked up at a surplus store many years ago, the owner made a comment along the lines of, their World War II prisoner patches used to identify the wearer's nationality. I have no idea why German or Japanese ones weren't made, but due to the sheer number produced, with large amounts going unused, many are still readily available today. So you get the idea. These somewhat common pieces have sort of had a peculiar history after they were no longer used, often having their significance being simplified at best or completely misidentified at worst within the collector's market. However, their story is of one that essentially took forces captured during a war and recruited them into another army while also staying within their original. And yes, members were actually paid by both the US and Italian governments during that time. As for the ISUs in general, once the war ended, forces were sent back to Italy and repatriated with the unit disbanding come October 1945. However, because there were so many Italian Americans, some of which were actually directly related to prisoners, in many cities that saw large amounts of ISU members stationed in them such as Boston, New York City, New Orleans, relationships grew pretty strong which led to quite a few marriages with soldiers ending up immigrating to the United States. But with that, we've pretty much come to the end of this video. Patches and insignia have been talked a bit about on this channel before, but so far only from an actual physical shape or symbolic angle, so this one was a bit of a change of pace. Hopefully it was informative and entertaining, and if you enjoyed it, perhaps leave a like and subscribe if you haven't done so already. If not, no worries, just be sure to check back soon for more The History of videos right here on Uniform History.