Confirmation - brevet ID and period
 

THIS Half-brevet came to me with the medals of a South African WWII artilleryman - which means nothing as in my experience as a very long time medal collector, it was quite common for men to exchange/collect insignia, etc at the time - most of which ended up with other badges, buttons and sundries in an old cigar or chocolate box. Anyway, from what I know, this appears to be R.A.F. and obviously an air gunner. BUT whereas most such brevets are embroidered silk or cotton, this badge is bullion wire - as can be seen. It is in excellent condition - virtually pristine. Here is both the Obverse and Reverse in the illustrations. So what I would like to know from an EXPERT is the exact details of the brevet, please - including when, where and how it was used. Thank you.

Welcome to the Forum David.
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It looks like it's probably Mess Dress, and WW2.

David

Thank you for that opinion. And obviously RAF.

ww2

Confirmation - brevet ID and period
 

Hi there guys

At around 8cms (if I am reading the tape measure correctly), wouldn't this be too big for mess dress?

Kind regards

Doug

It is definitely NOT WW2 Mess Dress. Why? Because mess dress was abolished in early 1940 as the AG wing was brought in and not reintroduced until 1946.

There was no call for bullion wings during the war as the full dress was also discontinued, and the size would preclude mess dress of any date.

Bullion badges of regulation size and in gold on an raf blue/grey backing were introduced in 1947 for the new pattern of uniform introduced that year. These were abolished in 1949 and the RAF reverted to standard pattern aircrew wings.

This may have been made for someone who later transferred to the army and who wore it on the navy blue No.1 dress. I've seen a number like this over the years, pilots wings and O wings often for the RFC navy full dress. However, as mentioned, the AG was introduced in December 1939 and with no reason to wear bullion during WW2 it's almost certainly post war.

Air Gunner badge.
 

Thank you all for your input so far. From what I have seen - those who have replied don't seem to know FOR CERTAIN what this brevet is, and when it was produced or used. This suggests that the brevet is possibly scarce / rare ????
I wonder,,,,,,,,,,,, ????

Hi Chaps

I'm certainly not an expert on RAF brevets but several years ago I had the opportunity to view an extensive collection put together by a knowledgeable collector.

The collection included at least one half brevet of the type in question, possibly more than one although I can't remember which designation they were.

The story behind them which I was given was much the same as "SAS1" has outlined above. I can't remember the exact dates but, basically, they were worn for a brief period just post WW2, possibly on a trial or experimental basis. Either way they were short-lived and the "normal" wings were reintroduced. I can't vouch for the accuracy of this information but it's what I was told anyway.

It was around the same time that NCO aircrew were given a new range of badges and these were also withdrawn in favour of the previous brevets. These short-lived NCO badges, whilst scarce, are well documented.

David