RFC Collection
 

Hello,
I recently acquired this RFC collection and would be interested in any observations/opinions. I purchased it from a person in the UK who was selling his father's collection of military items. These were his RFC items. I was told his father collected these in the 1960-70 period. The cloth items had been glued in a frame at one time. I have not seen RFC wings of this style before.

There are two cloth items:
Royal Flying Corp Shoulder patch
RFC Wings

Other items are:
Cap badge - unmarked
Collar badge - Firmin/London
Button - J.R.Gaunt & Son Ltd. London Engd

Any comments/evaluations of these items would be helpful and appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

Personally I don't like the RFC shoulder title and definately the Pilots wing which is a total fake. The collar badge being silvered is also concerning. Although it may be a genuine item it may have been silvered for a sweetheart badge.
Dave

Hi
Totally agree on Dave's observations .
Regards
Steve

Dave,
Thank you and Steve for your comments. I certainly had doubts about the "style" of the wings, although they certainly appear old. What pointers could you provide on the shoulder title.....what should I look for in an original shoulder title?
Also, does the "Firmin" backmark appear original on the collar badge? If it's an original item that was made into a sweetheart badge, I'd still keep it in my collection.
Thank you again for your observations. At least I didn't spend a lot for this grouping. If the button & cap badge are correct, I may have broken even. :)

Dan

Hi
Cap badge and collar are correct , though I suspect collar was silver washed as a sweetheart badge for a partner.
Not all genuine badges are rear marked.
Best
Steve

..you need to study the rear materials used in patches of WW1 and look at the weave originals ..eventually it becomes easier to spot the good from the bad !!

Here are some examples of genuine items. The main bad feature of yours is the backing material which is obviously covering a mess of embroidery. I agree with Steve that the cap, collar and button are genuine.
Dave

Dave & Steve,
Thank you both for your comments and for the photos of original shoulder titles.
I very much appreciate your evaluations and assistance.

Dan

Firmin made a great many die cast cap and collar badges for RFC officers to wear upon SD, but, their plate is a rather unusual thing to see on the reverse of a collar badge.

Dan, Another thing to keep in mind is that real RFC titles were always serif lettering. There were some sans-serif ones made by Hollywood, who did it for one of the early 30's movies - Dawn Patrol. You can just get a quick glimpse in this trailer at 47 seconds in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U409HIwikoQ


I had a pair in my collection and you can see them on the bottom left here.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...F_Wings_1_.jpg

I was also able to find one still that might let you see it better. The on ins this picture is cut half-moon shaped, but I recall others being more traditionally cut. Since he movie centers around he pilots, and only the ORs wore the titles there are not a lot of scenes with them.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds

There are quite a few real German and French planes in the movie too. The main one seen is a Pfalz D.XII. Dawn Patrol is my all time favorite WWI flying movie.

Terry