R.A.F VOLUNTEERS PHOTO NICE INSIGNIA

[NEMO]

Whilst at work Sunday , the job was a bit slow being mothers day with very few customers so to pass the time away I spent the day trawling through the tons of old papers, documents and postcardS that are brought in to be recycled, amongst other I found this superb photo in an old news paper.

It was a feature on an American born guy who had joined the Canadian Air force then the R.A.F .
6 individual items of insignia been worn including TWO nationality titles .

Photo was taken very early 1942

Would you have bought this B.D at a fair if you had seen this combination stitched on ???? I would have walked away laughing - this is why I love period photos .

Hope this is of interest .

[SAS1]

The insignia is pretty standard. The rank is of course Flight Sergeant, while the fist and sparks badge denotes a qualified wireless operator and can be worn by both air and ground trades, and women.

The shoulder eagle is standard for all ranks below Warrant Officer.

The two titles denote an American serving in the RCAF outside Canada. American volunteers in the RCAF wore the USA title from joining to denote their status. If any member of the RCAF was posted outside Canada they added the Canada title too - so a Canadian in Canada would have worn nothing but 'Canada' abroad. An American in the RCAF would wear 'USA' in Canada and 'USA' and 'Canada' abroad. The badges are usually combined into one with the Eagle.