Modern SAAF wings

[Alex Rice]

Hi All
A question about the wings which were used 1994 - 2003 (I think those are the dates). There are suddenly a bunch of tupperware (plasticised) ones on the market, as per attached picture, which I don't remember having seen before. Did they actually do them or are these being made by some enterprising dealer?
Cheers,
Alex

[Frank Kelley]

"Tupperware"

Originally Posted by Alex Rice

Hi All
A question about the wings which were used 1994 - 2003 (I think those are the dates). There are suddenly a bunch of tupperware (plasticised) ones on the market, as per attached picture, which I don't remember having seen before. Did they actually do them or are these being made by some enterprising dealer?
Cheers,
Alex

[Traist]

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

"Tupperware"

that is what all these style of badges and flashes were called by us...

[Madziro]

My modest collection of SAAF wings. The gold embroidered wing indicated that the wearer had achieved 2000 hours flying time. I left the military in SA in 2006 and up to that time had never seen the Tupperware type in gold, only embroidered.

[Alex Rice]

Nice collection Dudley, thanks for showing them.
Cheers,
Alex

[sturm]

Madziro,

The pics with the wings were very useful. Helped me to identify 3 wings I have. Thank you.

A few questions of you don’t mind.

1. What does ‘Commando’ in the context of wings mean?
Does it indicate pilots trained for SF and para related sorties?

2. “Radio operator ‘R O M”. I’m guessing the ‘R O’ is for ‘radio operator’. What’s the ‘M’ for?

3. Flight engineer ‘F E B T‘. If the ‘F E” is for ‘flight engineer” what is the B T’ for?

4. Do you know the exact decade ‘Tupperware’ (rubberised) shoulder flashes were introduced by the SADF? I’m guessing late 1970’s or early
1980’s? They were also used by South West Africa but never by Rhodesia.

[sturm]

Madziro,

The pics with the wings were very useful. Helped me to identify 3 wings I have. Thank you.

A few questions of you don’t mind.

1. What does ‘Commando’ in the context of wings mean?
Does it indicate pilots trained for SF and para related sorties?

2. “Radio operator ‘R O M”. I’m guessing the ‘R O’ is for ‘radio operator’. What’s the ‘M’ for?

3. Flight engineer ‘F E B T‘. If the ‘F E” is for ‘flight engineer” what is the B T’ for?

4. Do you know the exact decade ‘Tupperware’ (rubberised) shoulder flashes were introduced by the SADF? I’m guessing late 1970’s or early
1980’s? They were also used by South West Africa but never by Rhodesia.

[Madziro]

Hullo Sturm

Glad they were of use. The Commando wings are for part time volunteer aircrew who flew their own aircraft on military duties within their local area of responsibility. Commando in this context is from the original Boer war Commandos implying a part time volunteer as opposed to the British use of the word nowadays.

RO is Radio Operator as you correctly said. In Afrikaans M stands for Marconis (a little used name for a radio man).

FE is for Flight Engineer and the Afrikaans BT is for Boord Tegnikus (literally translated as on board technician).

SAAF rubberised badges were introduced in the 1980s. I do not have an exact date but believe that it was around 1983-4.

Hope this helps a bit.

Regards

Dudley

[Alex Rice]

Hi All
I think I have found the answer to my question in the first post. If I am correct, the wing style changed slightly in 2003. Prior to that the wings had a split in the uppermost feather on the wing, as per the LM wing posted here. After 2003 the top feather becomes a continuous line, so I think these tupperwares are post-2003 and not 94-03 as I had thought..
Cheers,
Alex