Airborne, embroidered, straight title Dating
 

I would appreciate comments and date-of-issue from the Forum please, on these two embroidered Airborne straight titles on Melton wool. I would guess that the top item is late war issue (44-45) based on the heavy letter stitching and paste-back reverse. The lower patch, I'm not sure but perhaps post war due to the linked letters and black backing? Does the method of letter-linking provide any clues? All of the others I can find which are post war, link the letters in a slightly different manner, noticeably at the mid point on the right side of the "O" rather than the bottom as the one illustrated. Also, the thread on the bottom example appears thinner in diameter. Neither show any signs of florescence.

top is a text book glue back from WWII. Not sure on the other

I agree with Jerry the top one is a nice WW2 hand embroidered. The other is a reproduction for me with synthetic thread.
Normandie18

Don't claim to be an expert but I would say both are good.

The majority of these were private purchase items bought by both officers and ORs so they could vary greatly depending on who made them.

Jon

The top one is indeed a proper glue back badge. The bottom one is a current replica; the stitching is synthetic and the angle is not consistent with most WW2 period shoulder badges.

Letter-linking is found on some, but not all, airborne strips.

Thank you to everyone for your input. I guess 50% original is better than zero. Your comments will help me (and others, I’m sure) in some of those small details we need to be aware of in these titles. Luc, I look forward to your comments on a Pegasus patch that I’ll post shortly in this Thread Category.