Para patches real or fake ???

[arrestingu]

....can anyone more knowledgeable please advise me on these flashes ..thanks steve

[tcrown]

Steve,
my advice is to stay away from these (lack of details on the figure, no "ghosting" on the back). Cheers
Pierre

[arrestingu]

Hi Pierre,
Thanks for the reply , bought this pair a while back...couldn't find similiar copies , so I wondered if they were issued or private purchase ..or yes simply junk !!
Thanks
Steve

[Arnhemjim]

Hello Steve,
Once more into the breech. Hope that the following article from my blog will provide the information you're looking for. See: http://arnhemjim.blogspot.com/p/british-militaria.html and http://arnhemjim.blogspot.com/2017/1...aria-wwii.html. It may be even more than you ever wanted to know.
Best regards,
Arnhem Jim
Arizona Territory

[tcrown]

Originally Posted by arrestingu

Hi Pierre,
Thanks for the reply , bought this pair a while back...couldn't find similiar copies , so I wondered if they were issued or private purchase ..or yes simply junk !!
Thanks
Steve

Steve,
I’m not sure printed pegasus for private purchase ever existed, only embroidered patches in my view.
I believe yours are copies, unfortunately.
Pierre

[Luc]

These are indeed replicas, possibly from Pegasus Militaria.

[Harry Katyn]

I have a pair of Pegasus similar to those posted initially. I have always been dubious of their authenticity as again they have no ‘ghosting’ on the rear, the cloth is thinner and stiffer (almost like they had been starched) than the original WWII patches. They came with a pair of genuine L/blue on maroon Para Regt embroidered shoulder titles and post war wings. I was told that the Pegasus patches were post war issue which tied in with the accompanying insignia.

Did printed post war issue Pegasus patches (if they ever existed) have the same characteristics as their wartime counterparts?

I have also uploaded images of a single printed Pegasus patch which came in a mixed lot of genuine and reproduction airborne insignia I picked up a number of years ago. I held on to it because, apart from the glaringly obvious colour difference, it was a reasonable facsimile of the originals and as I have never seen another one like it I thought it may have been a manufacturers’ error - or is it just a really poor attempt at a reproduction?

[jdr]

The pair is reproduction

The single is good, I have seen this variation before

[Luc]

Originally Posted by Harry Katyn

Did printed post war issue Pegasus patches (if they ever existed) have the same characteristics as their wartime counterparts?

From what I understand is that post-war made Pegasus patches had the fabric reversed for reasons unknown to me, see attached pictures.

The pair of Pegasus you show are indeed replicas, the single one is a genuine example of an uncommon variation.

[tcrown]

Originally Posted by Luc

From what I understand is that post-war made Pegasus patches had the fabric reversed for reasons unknown to me, see attached pictures.

Luc, do you have any specific information to support this?

As for the single patch, it looks indeed genuine. This uncommon variation was presented by Jerry in here https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=64777

[Old Smelly]

Originally Posted by Luc

From what I understand is that post-war made Pegasus patches had the fabric reversed for reasons unknown to me, see attached pictures.

The pair of Pegasus you show are indeed replicas, the single one is a genuine example of an uncommon variation.

There are other formation signs that use reverse fabric but these generally seem to be earlier, c1943, 47 and 49 Divisions spring to mind. I have always thought the reverse fabric Pegasus to be of a similar period
Lee

[Harry Katyn]

Thanks for all the comments, links and additional information. I look forward to hopefully reading more on the reverse fabric debate.

Despite searching I hadn’t found the Pegasus thread hyper-linked above. I see this thread also makes mention of the India Pegasus patches and the variation in quality and styles but doesn’t given any indication if these examples typically showed any ‘ghosting’ to the rear.

I haven’t got around to doing any forum research on India Pegasus patches yet but since we are on topic I have a pair of the small version India’s that show no sign of ‘ghosting’ to the rear (see photos) whereas the large versions do.

Does this indicate they are fakes or is this typical of this size of India Pegasus?

[JerryBB]

India Peggies have variants without the ghosting as far as I am aware, which makes it all a bit more difficult.

I believe they are locally produced. They are covered in the Airborne insignia book mentioned in the linked thread posted previously.

[Harry Katyn]

Thanks for that Jerry. That gives me some hope. I'll put the book on my Christmas list.

[Luc]

Originally Posted by tcrown

Luc, do you have any specific information to support this?

This type was found mounted on a P49 battle dress blouse, see attached picture.