Right you are David. Time was that the insignia was far more interesting than the uniform. When I first started collecting about 30 years ago, many uniforms were simply garbaged, sometimes after the badges were removed and unfortunately, sometimes without them being removed.
Today, it is quite a dilema. So few uniforms of WW2 and WW1 vintage remain, that they are important artefacts in themselves. Even more so with the appropriate badges and patches on the tunic, as they were worn.
The only time that I remove insignia any more, is when the tunic is beyond salvage or repair. The epaulettes in this case were traded for from another collector. Guilt free, I guess.
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