Insignia, 88th Infantry Division, Italy

Genuine WWII US should sleeve insignia of the 88th Infantry Division 'Fighting Blue Devils' or 'Clover Leaf Division'.

The 88th Infantry Division was one of the first all-draftee divisions of the United States Army to enter the war. The division arrived at Casablanca on 15 December 1943, and moved to Algeria for training. The 88th Division arrived at Naples, Italy on 6 February 1944, and concentrated around Piedimonte d'Alife for combat training. An advance element went into the line before Monte Cassino on 27 February, and the entire division relieved the battered British 46th Infantry Division along the Garigliano River in the Minturno area on 5 March. A period of defensive patrols and training followed. The 88th formed part of Major General Geoffrey Keyes' II Corps, part of the U.S. Fifth Army of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark.

After many battles, the 88th Division was driving through the Dolomite Alps toward Innsbruck, Austria where it linked up with the 103rd Infantry Division, part of the U.S. Seventh Army, when the hostilities ended on 2 May 1945. The end of World War II in Europe came six days later. Throughout the war the 88th Infantry Division was in combat for 344 days.