Para Wing / Les Westerby - S.O.E.

[SHEARING-CROSS]

OK ..OK I KNOW SOME OF YOUR ARE `WELL STALLED` WITH US AIRBORNE COLLECTORS `BANGING ON ` ABOUT TATTY BITS `O CLOTH BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD SHOW THESE ...PLUS IT TURNS JACK ON
WORN BY LANCE /CPL LES WESTERBY 25TH DRAGOONS AND LATER
THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE.
HE WAS A RADIO OP WITH FORCE 133 AND SERVED FOR OVER A YEAR WITH TITO`S PARTISANS .

[SHEARING-CROSS]

photo of the rear .
The back of the badge is made in the typical ( as i call it )

war time economy style , no backing cloth or muslin ,the badge has been sealed with a glue ` dope ` wash .

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

Eye candy Michael, eye candy!

I love these types of bits, as you know!

Thanks for showing, from Jack.

[DJT]

Nice wing Michael I never saw one like that before so thanks for posting it.

[ROBB]

Very nice ,what does the back look like? Rob.

[P.Manoel]

Hello,

Since there is some discussion of SOE items I was hoping somebody could provide an estimate of what this jump suit is worth? It belonged to a Dutch national who belonged to Australia's SRD during the war. I am going to sell it and have no idea what its worth.

Thanks
Paul

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, the price can vary between £850 and £1,200. These are prices I have seen realised in the past couple of years.

Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Great wing Michael I love anything with the owners history behind it.


Cheers, Ade.

[P.Manoel]

Thanks Ade. That's great.

[Jaegermeister]

Nice wing

I've an identical that used to be on the Service Tunic of a Officer in No.10 Commando. I've heard they where made in India for members of the 156th Battalion. Is that correct.

[force136]

Brit Wings

Hi Guys

This is a standard UK made wing on black. The very first wings provided at Ringway were embroidered on black. This was when they affiliated parachute training more with the RAF. It was sewn to the same colour background as the RAF wing. The CO of the school being RAF. Once the ACI for wings was decided on, it was determined that parachutists were in the Army and that it should represent a trade / proficiency badge of the Army. The background was then quickly changed to khaki. There are tons of early photo's of Brit paras in 1940 wearing wings on black at Ringway.

However wings embroidered on black continued to be made in the UK throughout the war. I have yet to figure out why? I know some of the early dress/walking out tunics of the Parachute Regiment were dark navy blue bordering on black in colour. However this too was a very short lived practice.

In late 1943 / 44 I know that some Canadians of the 1st Cdn Para Bn who went through their para conversion training at Ringway were given Brit wings on black as souvenirs. Many still have these in their possession. These were stamped out so that the black cloth followed the edge of the wing.

As for the indian wings. Traditionally the wings of the Indian parachute units wore a wing on khaki as well. They, as well as SOE, also wore a colourful wing on black, however these are very easy to distinguish from a Brit made example.

It would be nice if someone could determine why so many variations of Brit wings on black appear from 1940-1945 in the UK? Were they Royal Navy? Royal Marines? Old Stock? For dress tunics? a variation made for a single unit. It is very odd.

It is a fact though that the first prototype wings were embroidered on black on a similar rectangular swatch as the wing pictured in this thread.

Ken

Nice wing

I've an identical that used to be on the Service Tunic of a Officer in No.10 Commando. I've heard they where made in India for members of the 156th Battalion. Is that correct.

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

The very first wings provided at Ringway were embroidered on black.

I thought they were embroidered on blue. I would love to see some evidence of them being embroidered on black.

However wings embroidered on black continued to be made in the UK throughout the war. I have yet to figure out why?

When 156th battalion moved over to the UK they had wings made exactly like this. Even though they were not part of the Indian Army they still wanted their own wings for some reason? I will get an image proving this.

It would be nice if someone could determine why so many variations of Brit wings on black appear from 1940-1945 in the UK?

Most of them were locally made so the designs are bound to vary.

It is a fact though that the first prototype wings were embroidered on black on a similar rectangular swatch as the wing pictured in this thread.

Blue!!! I believe the black background originated in India and has nothing to do with early wings!!

Thanks, from Jack

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

One more thing...

...I don't think at all it would be unusual to find these wings issued to an SOE agent?

I mean...why not?

[force136]

wings

[IMG]Brit Para 1940[/IMG] Dear Mr Roberts

In case you have not noticed my pass name is Force 136. I am very familier with wings made and worn in India, Ceylon and Malaya during the war. The black backed wings made in this theater were privately made. They are also made in a distinct way completely separate from British made wings.

No it would not be unusual for SOE to have been presented with these early on in the UK.

No it is not blue. it is black. The only wings made in the UK up until this time were embroidered on black. Why would they be dark blue???? Anyway they are black. There is one from a Canadian member of the first group of British paras here in Canada, his is identical to this wing although trimmed to the edge. Identical to the picture I enclose. I researched this at the PRO and have early pics of Ringway wearing black and khaki.

Regardless of whether they were made locally or not, they had to be on khaki in the UK after the switch from black. You would not be caught dead on the parade square wearing the black backed wing. Browning was a stickler for this, I have copies of all his dress regs to both Divisions.

Ken Joyce

[IMG]Brit Para 1940[/IMG]

One more thing...

...I don't think at all it would be unusual to find these wings issued to an SOE agent?

I mean...why not?

[force136]

Wings

Ok, how do you post images on this forum????

Ken

[IMG]Brit Para 1940[/IMG] Dear Mr Roberts

In case you have not noticed my pass name is Force 136. I am very familier with wings made and worn in India, Ceylon and Malaya during the war. The black backed wings made in this theater were privately made. They are also made in a distinct way completely separate from British made wings.

No it would not be unusual for SOE to have been presented with these early on in the UK.

No it is not blue. it is black. The only wings made in the UK up until this time were embroidered on black. Why would they be dark blue???? Anyway they are black. There is one from a Canadian member of the first group of British paras here in Canada, his is identical to this wing although trimmed to the edge. Identical to the picture I enclose. I researched this at the PRO and have early pics of Ringway wearing black and khaki.

Regardless of whether they were made locally or not, they had to be on khaki in the UK after the switch from black. You would not be caught dead on the parade square wearing the black backed wing. Browning was a stickler for this, I have copies of all his dress regs to both Divisions.

Ken Joyce

[IMG]Brit Para 1940[/IMG]