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  #1  
Old 06-09-20, 09:03 PM
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Default Early Para Wings

It is well accepted by collectors that the early parachute wings were manufactured by Lewis Falk Limited. A true characteristic of early wings is split or detached feathers.

The first wings were issued in Jan 1941 after ACI 1589 dated 28/12/1940 was published describing the badge itself and the qualifying conditions.
From the photos available in the IWM collection, we can get an idea about the way these badges were worn at the very beginning.
H6490 Lt Col Jackson General Brooke visit Jan 1941.JPG CH2617 Lt Col Ivor Jackson ca Jan 1941.jpg
These two photos were taken in early January 1941 during a parachute demonstration before General Brooke (C in C Home Forces). Lt Col Ivor Jackson, CO of 11th SAS (the only British parachute force at the time) is pictured wearing his Para badge uncut in its full rectangular original form (I’m wondering who the officer, likely his 2nd in C, was standing next to him). Note also the parachutists in the background emplaning with their gear and newly issued smocks. They don’t wear any wings as the badge was at the time only permitted on BD. This was changed on 12 Feb 1941 (ACI 204) when wearing para badges was authorized on smocks (called officially ‘gabardine jump jacket’).
C Troop 11 SAS circa Feb 1941.jpg
This photo (source: ParaData) shows members of C troop 11th SAS wearing badges on their smock. Interestingly, the second individual from the left first row (Cpl A. Phillips) was tragically killed in a parachute accident on 16 Feb 1941. We can just assume that all parachute members were eager to wear their badge once permitted.

H7415 early badge in rectangular form Feb 1941.jpg Rectangular Front.jpg
A photo of the recent issued badge was taken on 21 Feb 1941 (IWM) with its typical rectangular form. The split of feathers is clearly visible on both period and modern photos.

It looks like the practice of wearing the badge in an uncut form was shortly discontinued on BD as can be seen in this snapshot of a movie taken in Feb 1941 (source: IWM ‘The Service Takes to Silk’).
AYY99 Parachute Training Feb 24 1941 2.JPG

Lt Col Jackson himself wore trimmed wings when he presented his unit to the King in May 1941.
H9971 May 1941.JPG

These type of wings although issued first, continued to be worn well beyond late war years. They are not particularly rare and the collector has to be aware that uncut (unissued) or oval shape wings don’t make them any earlier than they are.
I have added a couple of photos of trimmed examples of the same wing type that could have been issued during mid or even late war.
Split wings.jpg Wings on stripes.jpg

In conclusion, these wings were widely distributed during the war and don’t have to be confused with the early and brief practice of wearing uncut badges.
I’ll be posting later a few details on another early badge that is much scarcer: the “cloud” type parachute canopy.

Happy to hear other opinions.
Cheers
Pierre

Last edited by tcrown; 10-09-20 at 11:56 PM.
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  #2  
Old 07-09-20, 10:11 AM
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Pierre,
Very interesting information and photos.
I am waiting for more!
Regards
Rafal
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  #3  
Old 07-09-20, 10:56 AM
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Interesting thread - like Rafal, waiting for more - including the early 'cloud canopy' pattern
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  #4  
Old 07-09-20, 11:54 AM
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Thanks Pierre,

An easy to understand guide.
I like it

regards
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  #5  
Old 07-09-20, 09:18 PM
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Great information and I thought I would share these photos of how a bundle of these wings came from the factory "pre-trimmed" that I kept the photographs from an insignia dealer's website called Flying Tiger Antiques. I am assuming this style wing was initially hand trimmed from the original issued rectangular piece and later the factory trimmed them for maybe uniformity. Do you know if these factory trimmed wings were provided during the war or after?

B Bundle Flying Tiger Antiques (3).jpg

B Bundle Flying Tiger Antiques (2).jpg

B Bundle Flying Tiger Antiques (4).jpg

B Bundle Flying Tiger Antiques (1).jpg
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  #6  
Old 07-09-20, 10:43 PM
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Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm glad this is of interest to the community.

Great photos, Tonomachi. This reminds me of a post by Jon (Postwarden) some time ago:
“It is worth noting that not until January 1945 did the Ordnance Depot issuing the parachute badge suggest that cloth could be save by supplying the Badge, Arm, Parachutist cut to shape instead of bring rectangular which clearly proves the issue badge was rectangular and must therefore have been trimmed to shape locally - which explains the numerous versions that exist.”
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...1&postcount=40
From that, we can assume that factory trimmed wings were issued after Jan 1945.
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  #7  
Old 08-09-20, 12:12 AM
Tonomachi Tonomachi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrown View Post
Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm glad this is of interest to the community.

Great photos, Tonomachi. This reminds me of a post by Jon (Postwarden) some time ago:
“It is worth noting that not until January 1945 did the Ordnance Depot issuing the parachute badge suggest that cloth could be save by supplying the Badge, Arm, Parachutist cut to shape instead of bring rectangular which clearly proves the issue badge was rectangular and must therefore have been trimmed to shape locally - which explains the numerous versions that exist.”
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...1&postcount=40
From that, we can assume that factory trimmed wings were issued after Jan 1945.
Thanks for the follow up information.
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  #8  
Old 16-09-20, 01:05 AM
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More on the early way of wearing wings:
A few early shots taken ca spring 1941 with an uncut pair of wings on a NCO's BD helping other para members preparing what appears to be the early type of parachute equipment container.
AYY99 Container first type 2.jpg AYY99 Rectangular Wings.jpg
Another interesting document below proves that uncut wings could be worn on jump smocks. This was not common practice though particularly late in the war. This particular photo was taken in April 1944 during a major airborne exercise (source IWM).
H37719 22 April 1944 Uncut Wings.jpg

Last edited by tcrown; 16-09-20 at 07:18 PM.
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  #9  
Old 16-12-20, 02:48 AM
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Default The “cloud” Pattern Canopy Type Wings

Very soon after the release of the official Parachute Wings Badge, several variants appeared on the market due to strong demand from the soldiers themselves.
It was not uncommon for new qualified paratroopers rushing to get private purchase wings for their walking out BD before the official parade when they would receive their ordnance type wings.
Source: https://www.paradata.org.uk/article/...d-ringway-1940
As an example of non-official wings, this particular variant was issued as early as 1941 (source Ken Joyce ‘Into the Maelstrom’ p 51). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any period photo supporting Ken’s information.
Cloud Type.jpg
A trimmed version
Cloud Type JD.jpg
This one with an half moon shape

Feather detached as well as special rigging lines design can clearly be seen which makes this type very recognisable. Also the canopy is sometimes split in three parts and for that reason has been designated ‘Cloud type’ by collectors.
These wings were made with more refined material and better embroidery quality. They usually have a cotton backing to the rear.
Early Type Foster.jpg
This particular wings were discussed here https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...1&postcount=27

I believe the vast majority if not all of these wings were privately purchased and as with the official detached feathers type of wings that was subject to my previous post, this variant continued to be issued until the end of the war.
It is a challenge to find undisputable period photographic evidence of this type of wings being wear.
The best photo I found was one showing a Belgium para taken in July 1942 I believe shortly after their Independent Parachute Company was formed (source IWM)
AP 9733C circa July 1942.JPG
As with the ordnance standard wings that were issued in the early days, the badge could be worn trimmed close to the embroidered design or with a half-moon shape, the latter being immediately recognizable in the photo below (source: Library and Archives Canada)
Gunner JR Purser 2 FOU Oct 1944.jpg
A photo of Gunner J.R. Purser (No. 2 Forward Observation Unit, RA). The parachute cord strands hanging from his Denison smock zipper represent every jump he made up until the photo was taken in Oct 1944.
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  #10  
Old 16-12-20, 04:24 AM
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Thank you for this excellent, concise guide, Pierre—well done!

Jay
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  #11  
Old 16-12-20, 09:51 AM
Mike B Mike B is offline
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Thanks for adding information on the 'Cloud' pattern canopy ... much appreciated. Regards - Mike
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  #12  
Old 16-12-20, 01:21 PM
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Two more half moon shaped wings.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Picture156.jpg (66.2 KB, 64 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_1768.jpg (63.0 KB, 53 views)
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  #13  
Old 30-09-23, 06:38 AM
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I missed this thread, great details
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  #14  
Old 06-01-24, 02:36 PM
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Default Operation Anthropoid - Cloud Canopy Badge Type

An interesting photo of the two famous SOE agents, Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik (from left to right), who led Operation Anthropoid, both wearing “Cloud” Pattern Canopy Type Wings.
SOE agents 1941 bis.jpgClose-up on badge.JPG
The photo was taken on Dec 18th, 1941, in the courtyard of the Porchester Gate Building in London, site of the Command Section of Special Group D. This is another indication that this particular type of badge was issued in 1941, concurrently with the ordnance issued “split feathers” wings discussed here https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...48&postcount=1

On the night of 28/29 December 1941 SOE agents Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik along with seven soldiers parachuted into German occupied Czechoslovakia to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office, the acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
After Heydrich was killed, seven of the paratroopers – Jan Kubiš, Jozef Gab?ík, Josef Val?ík, Adolf Opálka, Josef Bublík, Jan Hrubý and Jaroslav Švarc – took refuge in the basement of the Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Prague, hoping to be evacuated by the resistance.
They were betrayed by an eighth paratrooper, Karel ?urda, and tracked down by the SS on June 18. The seven were killed or committed suicide in the siege that involved over 750 attacking soldiers. Bullet holes can still be seen on the wall of the church. ?urda was given a reward by the Nazis and a new identity but was arrested after the war for treason and executed in 1947.
After the death of Heydrich, a state of emergency was declared and thousands of people were arrested. In total, 1,590 were executed. The villages of Lidice and Ležáky were destroyed, and the occupants either were executed or sent to concentration camps. A large memorial including statues of the executed people can be seen in Lidice.

A detailed account of this fascinating story can be found here https://www.army.cz/images/id_7001_8...ination-en.pdf
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