Thanks for your input and observations. Did a little more digging and found this guide:
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...ighlight=guide
I also found another left facing example:
https://www.emedals.com/north-americ...er-s-cap-badge
In the guide, the preamble on page 2 says that the the book documents "...badges and emblems
used by the Royal Air Force..." (emphasis mine). On page 39 there is a left facing eagle badge (which is basically identical to the first example above and the emedals example) noting that the manufacturer is unknown and that the eagle faces the wrong direction. I find this somewhat ambiguous relative to badge authenticity.
So, despite the eagle looking "dreadful" and facing the "wrong" way, with three basically identical examples the question is, were these actually used in service? Might these just be prototypes rejected for using the wrong eagles or did someone unknown happen to make a batch of fakes hoping to cash-in?