1st Canadian parachute uniform, medals, badges and vinyl patches!

[capbadge]

Hey all,

I recently purchased a rare lot belonging to a member of the 1st Canadian parachute battalion, I thought I would share some of the pictures with you guys as there are some varients I have never seen. There are 5 wings, 2 cloth airborne and 1 vynal patches, as well as the uniform which still has the original patches on it. The best part I think is the medals with his two original cap badges, one in brass and another in bakelight.

I will post any pictures you guys need, I was wondering about the vinyl patch myself and the differences in wings.



Enjoy!

[jim a]

Stuart... Great find ... you've been turning up some really exceptional stuff lately... keep up the good work... Jim

[capbadge]

Thanks Jim! Hopefully I can get the wings identified, would be nice to know what varients I actually have!

[barriefield-brian]

No expert on these, just going by my books. The 2 on the right appear to be type 1 in use from 1943-1953; top left is type 2 in use from 1953-1957; bottom left type 3 in use from 1957-1971. Could only find one reference to the bottom wings in that someone has trimmed them down. Cheers Brian
P.S. Dont know what is going on with this post. It disappeared with my original reply, then reappeared only to surface again with my original reply missing?

[Bill A]

Hi Stuart, Clarification, by vinyl, do you mean the printed canvas AIRBORNE strip?
Additional to Brian's wings id, I would suggest obtaining a copy of Ken Joyce's Into the Maelstrom for identification of Canadian airborne insignia. It is a wealth of accurate informtion, including sections on badges, titles and wings. (Available through Clive Law's Service Publications).

[capbadge]

Thanks Bill, I certainly need a good reference on the badges! Yes I was refering to the canvas airborne patch, for some reason I thought they were called vinyl. Brian, I checked out the wings with another collector and he said they were all WW2 issue.

Anyway thanks everyone and I hope to post some more neat stuff up here soon!

[barriefield-brian]

Originally Posted by capbadge

Thanks Bill, I certainly need a good reference on the badges! Yes I was refering to the canvas airborne patch, for some reason I thought they were called vinyl. Brian, I checked out the wings with another collector and he said they were all WW2 issue.

Anyway thanks everyone and I hope to post some more neat stuff up here soon!

According to my books the ww2 issue have the clean edge on bottom and later issues have the merrowed edge on the bottom. Anyone else have any info? Cheers Brian

[Bill A]

Hi Brian, Merrowed edge on the wings?
The Canadian parachute wings pre 1968 issue I have seen are all borderless, eg non-merrowed edges.

[barriefield-brian]

Maybe I am using the wrong terminology. By merrowed I mean the bottom edge is wavy not clean cut. Cheers Brian

[Bill A]

Hi Brian, Here is an image of some titles. The top two have merrowed edges, the heavy embroidered edge. It prevents fraying and strengthens the patch. The bottom image shows a cut edge, on a melton wool title.

[capbadge]

Er thanks guys! I've been getting conflicting information but Im pretty sure they are 1940's since he retired shortly after the war Guess its time to plunk down for a good book !

[barriefield-brian]

Originally Posted by Bill A

Hi Brian, Here is an image of some titles. The top two have merrowed edges, the heavy embroidered edge. It prevents fraying and strengthens the patch. The bottom image shows a cut edge, on a melton wool title.

Thanks for clearing that up Bill. Cheers Brian

[Infanteer]

Originally Posted by capbadge

Er thanks guys! I've been getting conflicting information but Im pretty sure they are 1940's since he retired shortly after the war Guess its time to plunk down for a good book !

I agree that some of those wings look post war vintage. Just because the vet retired shortly after the war does not mean that he couldn't have obtained some of the wings at a later time. People have been building collections since the beginning of time and WW2 vets are no exception. My advice would be to study the wings and compare them to known original examples and make a decision based on that information alone.

[SRDJUG]

For comparison, this is a Jump wing my JM gave me (as a gift) after I qualified at CABC (serial 7712, summer of 1977) that he had left over from the Korean War. They've never been sewn on, and he had a half-dozen of these crisp, never-issued at the time.

I jumped in May 1988 at IDF base Palmachim with Reg Walker; Reg had been a private in 1 Can Para and went in on both the Normandy and Rhine crossing jumps, and brought with him (to Israel) his original Denny smock and wings...they looked very close this wing, but that doesn't say much.

[Infanteer]

Those last wings actually have all of the characteristics of 1960's vintage wings.... for what it's worth...