colored border. Officials and employees of the organization wore a larger version of the pin to indicate their status. War The RAD was classed as Wehrmachtgefolge (lit. Defence Force Followers). Auxiliary forces with this status, while not a part of the Armed Forces themselves, provided such vital support that they were given protection by the Geneva Convention. Some, including the RAD, were militarised. Just prior to the outbreak of World War II, nearly all the RAD/M's extant RAD-Abteilung units were either incorporated into the Heer's Bautruppen (Construction troops) as an expedient to rapidly increase their numbers or else in a few cases transferred to the Luftwaffe to form the basis of new wartime construction units for that service. New units were quickly formed to replace them. During the early war Norwegian and Western campaigns, hundreds of RAD units were engaged in supplying frontline troops with food and ammunition, repairing damaged roads and constructing and repairing airstrips. Throughout the course of the war, the RAD were involved in many projects. The RAD units constructed coastal fortifications (many RAD men worked on the Atlantic Wall), laid minefields, manned fortifications, and even helped guard vital locations and prisoners. The role of the RAD was not limited to combat support functions. Hundreds of RAD units received training as anti-aircraft units and were deployed as RAD Flak Batteries. Several RAD units also performed combat on the eastern front as infantry. As the German defences were devastated, more and more RAD men were committed to combat. During the final months of the war, RAD men formed 6 major frontline units, which were involved in serious fighting. Operation Market Garden During Operation Market-Garden in September 1944, RAD troops were used as reinforcements. Losses for these troops were in the hundreds. Some RAD troops were assigned to the 9th SS Pionier Abteilung ("Engineer Battalion") under SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Moeller as part of Kampfgruppe Moeller. The understrength unit was made up of 90 Pioneers armed with flamethrowers and extra machineguns, which Moeller divided into two assault companies. On 17 September, SS-Kampfgruppe Moeller advanced from the railway station but were blocked just east of the Arnhem town square by the British 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions. They engaged in intense house to house fighting, which allowed their parent formation SS-Kampfgruppe Spindler to dig in and form a defensive line. The 2nd Parachute Battalion under Col. John Frost snuck past and took