[johanwiegman]

Hi Jack,

The wing on my BD is the 1944 pattern wing. It is a bit deformed due to wear. This pattern was worn for some time after WW2, first by 21 SAS and then in Malaya, by British, New Zealand and Rhodesian squadrons. I guess the 1944 wings were used until stocks ran out.

Large numbers were produced in WW2 for the SAS Brigade, but I believe the pattern was also manufactured in smaller numbers after WW2. Of course, the post war SAS was always much smaller than the WW2 SAS Brigade.

I believe the padding material during WW2 was a length of rope (austerity measure) and some thicker felt padding was used after WW2.

Most of the 1944 pattern wings I have seen were padded with rope, which makes sense. I have a 1944 wing with press studs also, probably from the Malayan period.

Cheers,

Johan