Complete a British Commando or Royal Navy impression with this cloth 30 Assault Unit shoulder patch. The rectangular insignia features a dark navy to black background with a light blue-white embroidered number 30.

The patch is designed to be sewn directly onto the uniform and provides a distinctive finishing detail for a British 30 Assault Unit impression. Suitable for reenactment, living history, museum displays, collectors, theatre and film productions or the restoration of a British WWII uniform display.

This item is a modern reproduction and is not an original Second World War insignia. The supplier also describes the item as a reproduction British Royal Navy Commando 30 Assault Unit cloth shoulder patch.

Specifications: Type: sew-on cloth shoulder patch | Design: embroidered number 30 | Colour: light blue-white on dark navy to black | Unit: 30 Assault Unit | Service: Royal Navy / Royal Marines Commandos | Country: United Kingdom | Period: WWII | Use: reenactment, display, collecting and uniform restoration | Condition: newly manufactured reproduction

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The 30 Assault Unit, formerly known as 30 Commando, was a specialist British intelligence and commando formation. Its teams moved ahead of advancing Allied forces or infiltrated enemy territory to secure documents, codes, technical equipment, weapons technology and specialist personnel. The Royal Navy records that the unit was formed in 1943 and played an important role in capturing secret German technology.

The unit included personnel from several military services, including members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Imperial War Museums records identify the 30th Assault Unit as a combined Royal Marine and Royal Navy Commando formation and document members of the unit operating in Germany during 1945.

30 Assault Unit was closely connected with the British Naval Intelligence Division and Ian Fleming, who later became known as the author of the James Bond novels. The unit carried out secret intelligence-gathering operations during D-Day and the Allied advance through Northwest Europe.

Historical uniform references describe the unit insignia as a light blue number 30 on a dark blue rectangular background, making this reproduction a small but distinctive element of a specialist British Commando impression.