Light Infantry Wing

[Phill Lockett]

Hi Team

I received coloured cloth Parachute wings and after going thru the forum , wiki and Oliver Locks Airborne book, I'm confused and dont know the history of there uses and or if they are legit or still worn today as the Regiments have been almalgamated.

I used Alain Conradi's thread as a starter.
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...coloured+wings

I will start a thread for each one:

Light Infantry:

Oliver Locks book has a document outlining coloured wings only has pg2 and no date of issue.

How is this awarded, is it based on individual within a light Infantry Regt or the Regt as a whole?

When would this wing have been issued/used?

Whatt dress uniform would this have been used.

Is this a variation as there is a solid dark Green on Maize.

cheers

Phill

[Royal]

From memory it was worn on shirts OG/Hairy, Wooly Pullies and No 2 dress. There was a TA LI unit in the south west that had quite a few ex-RM and airborne types who wore them in the 80s/early90s.

I suspect there were more TA/HSF wearing wings than there were regulars.

Yours however looks 'wrong' to me. The normal type I remember (& have in my collection from that period) is shown by Tim ( grey_green_acorn ) here

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...25&postcount=4

[Farang]

To support Royal's information the attached uniform was worn by WO2 Rochy when attached to LI ACF as an instructor after RM service. WO2 Rochy was a Cliff Leader in the 1950's and a member of the RM Commando rope display team.

Andy

[bess55]

A WO.2 wore No.2 dress with the wings sewn on in that state? . . . blimey

[Royal]

Originally Posted by bess55

A WO.2 wore No.2 dress with the wings sewn on in that state? . . . blimey

You've got a point. Rock Apes always were known for being scruffy but that's taking the biscuit...

[grey_green_acorn]

I posted this partial answer on the RGJ / KRRC wings thread:

In all British Forces, parachute wings are awarded to the individual following successful completion of selection and training. They are not, and never have been, awarded to a unit.
Once awarded to the individual they may be worn in perpetuity and in various forms worn on most uniforms including combat, Full Dress, No 1 Dress, No 2 Dress and Mess Dress.
The number of qualified personnel and airborne units has reduced year on year from the 1970s to date. Most parachute wings have been reproduced and sold to collectors for many years.

Tim

[54Bty]

Light Infantry Parachutist Wings. All parts Dark Green on Mazie sealed 11-7-1957, pattern number 17491, COSA number CB 7982. It was later changed to CB 8455-99-973-9142, which was listed in the 1973 COSA.
Marc

[Phill Lockett]

Thanks again team

And as per previous email, this is a valuable education on coloured wings.

Andy thanks for posting an image of light Infantry wing in use.

Tim ,Marc much appreciated for the replies and a better understanding of the back ground of reproduced coloured wings.

Tim may I ask why put reproduction wings with legitimate wings in your collection.

The reason why I ask is that I dont have reproduction wings in my collection and if known repro, I take them out and put in "the box of ill repute-with disdain."

For myself it adds confusion.

I do hope other collectors learn from this and thanks for all the input.

cheers

Phill

[grey_green_acorn]

Phill,
My collection of Trade, Skill at Arms badges and Proficiency Badges
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...hp?albumid=588
was originally mounted on black A4 cards for display back in 1986 and the majority of the badges were collected in the 1970s or earlier. Making a badge display is often a compromise to complete and then along comes another example. However, there are indeed a few reproduction items amongst the parachute wings although often not easy to identify with certainty and there are manufacturer’s variations of genuine badges Also cloth badges with true provenance tend to have been removed from uniform and consequently are often tatty or mothed!

Tim

[Phill Lockett]

Thanks Tim

Appreciate the reply.

I do understand your logic at times you can only get fillers until an original example comes along and then they might not.

However thats what I found confusing when I saw your display, I could not find any information on what was a legitimate wing which started me thinking.

I have found both of these threads really interesting and educational.

For my collection if I come across a reproduction cloth insignia , I remove it as I dont want any confusion however saying that ,there are 3 examples (US side) that I use to show specific faker traits , these are marked on the reverse REPRODUCTION and not part of the collection but are in my database as a reminder to me caveat emptor!!

cheers

Phill