Self Hibernation Campaign - A New Star Rises in the West?

By Hardy Kenwright

Farewell to the Crescent Moon

M.G. Paul De Krackere has overseen the re-badging of 2^nd Division, brought about as a consequence of the merging of XI and XII Corps into the new XX Corps under M.G. Joseph Hooker. Seeing that M.G. Hooker had introduced the badging scheme to the whole of his Army when commander of the The Potamac, M.G. De

Krackere was not having our Division seen to be slow in adopting the new XX Corps identity.

This is a bigger task than one might initially assume. Even I, a regular resident in the camp, rather took the White-on-Blue Crescent for granted not appreciating how widespread the use of the badge actually is or how useful it was to help find my way around.

The General Officers positional flags immediately come to mind, but every officer and every soldier has the Division badge sewn onto their uniform, normally on their hat/kepi. The badge has been stencilled onto all the wagons and ambulances, appears on many Kit and storage boxes and even some of the furniture. It is a useful aid to reducing petty pilfering from less honest members of ‘other’ formations as well as being a unifying source of pride to all.

In Comes ....

Out Goes....

                                            

A New Star is Born

Major Byron Getwonphrey has supplied extra blue and white blankets, which supplemented by remnant material of those cut up for the initial Crescent badging last spring, have been distributed to the units, together with some helpful Star templates. I can imagine what a mess the templates have helped avoid!

The new XX Corps Star is the badge of the old XII Corps, now merged with XI Corps.

There is a small saving of effort where old 2^nd Division XII Corps personal have joined us, while most of our new intake is actually new draft which would have needed badging regardless of the merger.

Re-badging was completed this morning when Secretary John Dupryting took delivery from a rider from Federal Express Couriers of new 2^nd Division stationery produced by Etchaprint of Batimore. M.G. Paul De Krackere then dictated a letter to M.G. Hooker, written on the new stationery.