The parade is endless... another 1 Cdn Para Bn title...
 

Another example of a bad 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion shoulder badge. So many things wrong, starting with the colours, the extremely sloppy embroidery, and material. This looks like the heavy wool repros that arrived on the market about 15 years ago.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/WW2-1st-Canad...UAAOSw5cNYc2yA

As Is the Parade of Buyers
 

Sadly these things get manufactured and posted for sale because people buy them.

What do you think of the same seller's airborne tunic?

Mick

Tunic was parsed on a FB page. A couple of issues to note. First, there was a program called CanLoan, under which junior Canadian officers were "loaned" to the British. However, there were only infantry officers and ordnance officers sent through this program. There is no record of artillery officers serving in such a capacity. Second, the parachute qualification wing is identified as a Type 8 or Type 9 in Ken Joyce's book. Note the style of the maple leaf, the blunt tips of the wing feathers and the location of the shroud lines. (attached well in from the side of the canopy.) These are noted as not issued until 1949.

The composition would actually be correct for 2 Forward Observation Unit (RA) of which two-thirds were Canadian.

As Bill states, the wing is 1950s.

Roy, were they airborne? (I am not up on my Brit orbats.)

Hi Bill,

Yes indeed.

Here are some articles on Ken Joyce's website...

https://nebula.wsimg.com/944ab7c55e6...&alloworigin=1

https://nebula.wsimg.com/1c489bd79e2...&alloworigin=1

https://nebula.wsimg.com/c04d34d4483...&alloworigin=1

https://nebula.wsimg.com/0ef2f0867fd...&alloworigin=1

Sorry, I should provide the link to Ken's site...
www.airbornehistorycanada.com

If I may take the liberty of responding to Mick's query, I am uncomfortable with what I see and would want to examine it further.

1. The SSI is all sewn uniformly with the same thread and style (machine sewn)
2. The thread is black on the inside but khaki on the exterior?

The first thing I would ask for is a photo of the post-war wing stitching. If it matches the SSI, then it's definitely restored.

I checked out Ken's site for the first time, lots of good info there.
The section with the fakes is scary, all those canvas reproductions are spot on. The airborne patches are so exact it made me sick.

Mike I agree many of the repros are good, but there are tell tale give aways on all of them. I would recommend that anyone who is collecting printed titles download the images and create a personal reference file. The real issue is that these end up on uniforms and then they are represented as authentic. In the past year I have been asked to parse two different 1 Cdn Para Bn tunics for opinions. One had the Dutch repro titles and patches, and there is a very straightforward characteristic to id them. (So far.)

Lately, I have seen original 1st Can Para items being sold for GIFT prices! People almost pay that for a repro!

A Couple years ago, this same flash would have fetched $350-$450 u.s. :confused:

Epay is very unpredictable.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-1st-Cana...vip=true&rt=nc