SAS badge - genuine WWII or post war?
 

Dear All,

Could it be a genuine WWII SAS badge?

Thanks for your help!

Wkr,

Peter

Hi this is a ww2 pattern badge worn by French and Belgian SAS. An identical pattern was worn post war in Malaya but with a particular shade of blue wings. The ww2 ones have a light rather softer blue. See an example from my collection.

From your example could you share a day light picture?

Cheers
JB

Hopefully adding to this thread, please see attached images of one that came my way recently. I'd assumed it was a fake as it came with a mixed group of very dirty WWII era metal badges and wasn't particularly mentioned by the seller.

However, I was heartened to see HamandJam's last post. Perhaps I'd made a completely wrong assumption and it's in with a chance. If it is genuine it will make a welcome addition as I've, in my ignorance, mainly shied away from Special Forces insignia as too rare, too faked and very expensive to collect.

It does have some brown staining to the thread though which might have come from the manky badges it was kept with.

Any opinions?

Mark

Hi this is a good late ww2 British SAS beret badge also seen worn by ww2. French SAS,


Cheerio
JB

I'm a happy man, Thanks JB

Dear JB,

Thanks for your advice. In annex some day light pictures.

Wkr,

Peter

Hi Peter,
I think this is the Malayan era type different shade of blue but clearly based on the ww2 pattern. Still a very desirable badge. Cheerio, JB

just to open up the discussion, WHY is this pattern thought to be of the Malayan period ? is there evidence to support the theory ? assuming these badges were made by various cottage industries during WW2 is it not fair to say that collective idiosyncrasy crept in. my musings that's all.

Hi Silverwash,

This always has been a bit of a mystery. I do collect only ww2 SAS but I am always told by fellow SAS collectors that the different more fierce colour was worn during the Malayan era. I can ask my fellow collectors for more info. If these were produced post war based on the war time example or “left over stocks of ww2 is not clear. I have a mintbadge with provenance to Belgian ww2SAS and it has the lighter shade.

I am sure Johan Wiegman can add more on this.


Cheers

I appreciate your comments. however, in the past I experienced the same issue with other collectible items where " I was told by other collectors " . no actual proof followed.

I would think it all depends upon, where so ever, the particular other collectors concerned, actually got the information from in the first place, if, for example, from yet, more, other collectors, then a game of Chinese whispers in the primary school playground presents itself.

Hopefully theory that more vivid darker blue SAS badges, which includes the wings, is based on observation of enough known dated examples to allow such a statement to be made.

I wonder if such observations in the end take place subconsciously and it is hard for a long term collector to express such to the novice who has not spent 10 or 20 or more years looking at such items. Spending years looking at dated examples allows long term collectors to spot such subtle variations but without sharing endless images that they might not possess makes proving such statements difficult.

From my few years observing such badges, malayan period examples do often appear more vivid and darker than wartime exames. Luckily as so many more Images are on line, here and elsewhere it is possible to search for and compare enough examples to support such statements imo.

The trouble is Jerry, if you get 2 or more experienced collectors views they can differ, an experienced collector may well have a dubious item he has convinced himself over the years is totally genuine and to a certain period because at one time he was told that was what it was and that can be passed on to others, something I have seen quite often.
Paul

Of course Paul, and when I used to collect the dark side it was sad to see some older collections with more than a few fakes among them.

My point was merely about the tendency for 50's badges to be a darker more vivid blue than wartime which was based on my own personal observation of a lot of badges, as well as comments posted by experienced long term collectors.

I think in this hobby, you can garner a lot from more experienced collectors, but always remember that we all get it wrong some of the time and ultimately it is our own responsibility to research, research and then do more research.

I certainly don't think that it is unfair to make any educated assumption as long as it is based upon solid facts and seeing them in good groups with a provenance from the original soldier.