8th GHQ Troops Engineers. A rare matched pair. Screen printed on cotton.This is a good example of a hard to find matching set of printed Beach Groups Royal Engineers & 8th GHQ Troops Engineers formation patches. These Beach groups were composed of specialist units of the Army, Navy, and R.A.K. formed in a complete amphibious formation. The naval element was made up of R.N. Signals and R.N. Commandos; the R.A.F. provided a balloon barrage section for the defence of the beaches and specialists who prepared the way for the R.A. F.'s airstrips; the Army provided an infantry battalion for the seizing of the beach and the defence of the beachhead perimeter, Royal Engineer Field Companies, Mechanical F.quipment Platoons, a Stores Section and Transportation units, R.A.S.C. general transport companies with D.U.K.W.'s, a D.I.D. and Petrol supply unit, an R.A.M.C. unit, C.M.P. traffic control, and an R.E.M.E. Recovery Section and Pioneer Companies. Beach groups first operated in the landings in Sicily. On 6th June 1944, D Day, on the Normandy beaches beach-group troops landed with the assault troops and distinguished themselves in the establishment and maintenance of the beachhead.