Army Pilot Wings
 

Does anyone have reliable info on when(if) the various patterns of SA Army pilot wings were worn?

It appears in 1950s the winged grenade was worn. Then in the 1960s the springbok head on a sort of shield with protea leaves.

I've seen photos of the above so know they were worn but not sure of the dates.

There is another pattern with springbok head on a blue oval within a wreath. I know of at least two varieties.
Any info on these welcome. Thanks

Not sure of dates but here are some photos of them. For some reason I haven't got a photo of the grenade version....?
I would be very interested to see the second variation of the last one with the bokkop in the blue oval and wreath.
Cheers,
Alex

May I ask if anybody has provenance that the thin material printed army type wing is original? I ask because the printed type on very thin cloth for all wings was only issued from about 1983 and the metal wing with springbok head and red title was worn in the 1950s - 1960s. The implication is that the thin printed one is spurious or strangely, made in the 1950s (highly doubtful). It may be that somebody is being enterprising and trying to make a fast buck out of us collectors!

I wondered about that as well. I think it is probably either fake or a mistake made when the wings were manufactured. It isn't unlikely that the makers used the worn pattern.
Cheers,
Alex

The other bokkop version has the outlines in gold but the rest in blue i.e. not all in gold. Not sure if genuine variation or a fake though.

I do wonder about the thin screenprint wings. I suspect if genuine some supplied an old pattern wing to be copied in 1980s. The only folks that IMO would be entitled to wear the army wing would have been ex Army pilots who for whatever reason did not transfer to the SAAF in the late 1960s when AOP became SAAF responsibility.
I've never seen any of the thin wings worn by anyone so would be keen to see if anyone has any photos of them being worn.

https://www.samilitaria.com/SAM/prod...-ref-dw1-9-25/

Note winged grenade on 2nd image. This photo would be from after 1975 (based on uniform) yet the gunner general is still wearing his 1950s winged grenade