CAF Officers Peaked cap hat and badge
 

It has been my experience that is it incredibly difficult to find any high-quality period pictures illustrating the early (circa 1920-24) Canadian Air Force (CAF) insignia. Generally, most available photos are of insufficient quality to illustrate any detail required by Collectors.

I recently acquired a few early prints from this era and attached is a blow-up to illustrate AVM (S/L at the time) A.E. Godfrey in his peaked hat. I’ve spent hours cleaning up scratches, rips, etc. on the image, then enhancing contrast, saturation and gamma to come up with the attached image. Note the horizontal band design on the hat. I have a similar cap, from the Godfrey estate, but the hat band has oak leaves (suggesting it came from Britain perhaps) for the band pattern plus an enlisted version of the badge. It was something Godfrey owned but acknowledged as not issued to him. Note too that badge in the attached image is the proper badge for the peaked cap and it is the more common variant of the two, very similar peaked-cap badges. (See edition 271 of the MCCoC Journal). I have many other images where the smaller cap badge, specified for the field sidecap badge, is used on the peaked hat. It’s my theory that the badge designed for the peaked cap was just too large and the crown would often break so the Officers choose to use the smaller, three-point attached Field Cap badge on their Peaked Caps. Note the twisted crown in the 2nd photo of the unconfirmed Officer, circa 1923, plus or minus one year.

Regards,
Wayne Logus

S/L Basil Deacon Hobbs
 

Just a note. Based on writing on the back of a photograph, the Officer in the 2nd attachment above may be a rare image of S/L Basil Deacon Hobbs, circa 1924. I haven't been able to locate another contemporary image of him to confirm this.

Hobbs was awarded the DSC on 22 June 1917, the DSO on 20 July 1917, a Bar to his DSC on 30 November 1917, and Mentioned in Despatches on 17 November and 19 December 1917. He hailed from Sault Ste. Marie, On. and was one of the most decorated pilots in Canada at the time. He was later appointed to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 1987.

If anyone wishes to correct or expand on this information, please do.