UNIS Tactical Markings WW2

[@degerton2]

In addition, UNIS markings were used on crates for shipping. If they used White lettering then the regiment was Infantry, Red was for Artillery and Yellow for all others. However, black was often used in place of color because it was the paint most available.

[@EagleEyeM4]

Outstanding shedding some light on this topic.

[@MilitariaReviewed]

Thanks!

[@jaygonztx]

From my understanding, Iwo Jima and Okinawa were the only battles that had 3 Marine Divisions take part in at once. For Iwo Jima, that is a lot of logistics for A LOT of Marines, and logistics needed to know who was landing where. The Marine Corps leadership had learned from previous battles such as Peleliu and Tarawa how chaotic the beaches could be on the first day; with a battalion/regiment's ammo/supplies being deposited where it wasn't supposed to be, in addition to Marines from different regiments overlapping and veering off from objectives. (The Army was able to wear shoulder patches on their jackets to distinguish them, the Marine Corps didn't). The Marine Corps still kind of operates this way. During big exercises where there is overlapping Battalions or Regiments, one unit will wear woodland cammies and the other desert cammies to tell who is who. The Army will just wear a patch.

[@Panzer_Runner]

I have always wondered why Marines don't wear unit patches

[@Millennium7HistoryTech]

I had no idea these things existed....

[@MilitariaReviewed]

They are pretty neat! You can learn a lot about the marine that carried the item from these markings

[@tetekofa]

...as far as the the top # outside of the symbol, 2 would be Private First Class...

[@chandlerwhite6529]

I know it's a slim chance, but I was hoping that someone knew what the marking codes for the 1st Marine Division would be. There seems to be a lot of variation between Divisions, and I've found varying sources. Unfortunately a lot of the Forums about UNIS marking have been archived or are gone.

[@usmcgrunt_1944]

I only know of markings for the 4th Division, but I would assume that it would follow a similar scheme: the horizontal diamond would mean 1st Division, with numbers on the inside meaning regiment, battalion, and company. But, considering the 4th used them extensively it would be hard to tell if the 1st used the same marking scheme or a different one.

[@kecurroj]

The 1st MarDiv and 3rd MarDiv unis markings are actually flip flopped. Horizontal diamond is 3rd and vertical diamond is 1st. I have several unis marked items with the horizontal diamond and they are all ID'd to the 3rd MarDiv.

[@MilitariaReviewed]

You are correct. For a very long time it was believed that the opposite was true. Most references, including the one in my video, showed 3rd division as a vertical diamond. The debate over that has been going on for quite a while but it seems to have settled on your explanation. I should probably go back and update this at some point, the audio is awful too. If you don't mind, could you email me some photos of your 3rd division markings? Anything other than 4th division is rare to come across and I would love to see them.

[@kecurroj]

@@MilitariaReviewed Email address?

[@MilitariaReviewed]

[e-mail]

[@prestoncostanzo549]

Do you know how they applied them?

[@MilitariaReviewed]

They would normally have been applied with the help of a stencil but I have seen quite a few that are hand painted as well. It seems that some divisions like the 4th Marine Division made more extensive use of stencils than others.

[@prestoncostanzo549]

@@MilitariaReviewed oh ok. Did they use just normal black paint or some kind of ink?

[@MilitariaReviewed]

It really just depended on when they applied them and what was available. I’ll send you some links with more info later today.

[@prestoncostanzo549]

@@MilitariaReviewed that would be awesome thank you!

[@MilitariaReviewed]

@@prestoncostanzo549 No problem! Here are some links with some good info and photos. As you can see UNIS markings were applied with a wide variety of paints, colors, and methods of application. Its been a while since I did the research for this video but if you have any additional questions let me know and I'll try to dig up the info for you!