PAINTED AIRBORNE PATCHES
Hi Guys,i posted these pics on the forum before,and before O Locks book came out when there was a forum debate about them.I would just like to say that i bought these from Gary Howard author of America's Finest who stated that he got them from the tailors shop many years ago when it was closing down and he cleared it out and also acquired US patches including Pathfinder patches.Both the Pegasus's and the Airborne strips were stuck together in solid blocks[not rolls] where the oil from the oil cloth had fused them all together and i was actually with him when he was separating them by heating them with a hair dryer.Many pairs were badly damaged in the process and unsaleable.The ones in the pics are some of the better ones.I have seen the copies and they are entirely different to these which are printed on a stiff genuine oil cloth,all the others are just printed on thin soft cotton cloth.It is quite possible they were not used as they were not popular which the troops.the ones Gary got from the taylors aiso have the ghost outline on the back where they were stuck together which all the copies do not have.i am convinced these examples date from the WW2 era although it is entirely possible that they were not sold or even used.
Steve.
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