Quote:
Originally Posted by oc14
Thanks for the reply, I've never seen another khaki RFC slip on before (either genuine or known fake) hence my question. If it's not Royal Flying Corps what could it possibly be ?
Paul
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I don’t think that it’s necessarily a fake Paul. As you might well know the woven worsted titles with off-white lettering on a drab patch were pattern sealed in the early Summer of 1916 and gradually issued through the supply chain. They went through a few modifications in use. The first type had two tapes on the back to slip over the shoulder strap but these did not prove resilient enough and were replaced by a second pattern with a full sleeve. Finally an order was issued in 1917 that they should instead be stitched to the upper arm just below the curve of the shoulder seam. There were some small variations in the supply such as e.g. plain block letters without serifs and the KRRC had one in red letters on rifle green as well as that in drab. In the last 18-months of the war there were a variety of brightly coloured stitch on versions for such as the London Regiment battalions and the Guards Machine Gun Regiment. Looking at your RFC example the lettering is slightly curved and so would have been yet another variation that would work well appearance wise both as a slip on and when stitched to the upper arm. However, the fact that variations existed didn’t necessarily mean that they were issued and used. Disliked badges could often remain in their boxes on the shelves in quartermaster’s stores and remain there for years. Something that I’ve experienced personally. If it were a fake intended for collectors I’d expect it to follow the standard pattern.