SF wing

[Paul Brennan]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone can help me.

I came into posession of this badge last week:



But unlike a normal SF wing its made from bullion wire.

It looks to be original, tatty around the edges, no backing and looks a mess, bullions worn.

Can anyone confirm if its original? If they have heard of these badges and give me any history, plus of any potential value in it?

Thanks

Paul.

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

Paul, I can tell you just from that one picture that it is a fake, most likely originating from Pakistan.

It's scruffy, inaccurate, lacks detail, crude and just isn't like the originals of these very rare badges.

Let's see the back if possible. I'm guessing it looks awfully messy with big thick threads going everywhere.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.

Jack.

[Tony Farrell]

Jack, who were these originally used by? They look more like something from BEA!

[Paul Brennan]

Hi Jack,

Heres a pic of the back:



what detail is it lacking?

Its not bad news, just allows me to put it on a uniform instead of locking it away took a chance on it at a militaria fair last weekend, I actually came home and tried to research it first (as a friend of mine wants me to do a jedburgh impression next year with him), sent out a few emails and sadly turned up nothing (not even a reply on email), but time was running out and thought I may kick myself if I missed out on something that was genuine.

Tony, the badges were originally used by Jedburghs during WW2

Think in this you win some you lose some, oh well

Paul.

[Gary Jucha]

Jedburgdhs

Tony,
A couple of units that I know that used them ..

1) Jedburghs
2) Polish Parachute Grenadier Company.

Gary J.

Jack, who were these originally used by? They look more like something from BEA!

[SHEARING-CROSS]

Hiya Paul , ( welcome ) sorry but the wings are copies for several reasons but the back is a big give away .These were worn by a unit called Jedburghs amongst others ,if you ` google` it there are sum good results,regards ,Michael.

[ROBB]

Looks like a Pete Hall special , you need Peter Taylors book on allied special forces insignia.Rob

[Paul Brennan]

I tried to google it on the day before I bought it but could find no reference to any bullion wire type sadly, I even emailed one guy later in the evening who runs a Jedburgh website (still not recieved a reply), plus badges arnt my speciality sadly but didnt look like an obvious copy to me

Whos Pete Hall?

Paul.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum!

A case of nothing ventured, nothing gained. I think we have all been there.

Pete Hall is a dealer who sells on E Bay. He has lots of rare badges for sale most weeks A search here will bring up more info.

Cheers, Ade.

[Gary Jucha]

Hall

Whos Pete Hall?

Paul.[/quote]

Some say ...... he's from the "Dark side" .... the E-Bayith Empire.. and prey's on the unfortunate ...

[Paul Brennan]

Thanks Ade

Exactly, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I paid £30 for it, ok I was burned but knocked the guy down before I bought it

Ahh, never had the pleasure of buying from him, then again i usually only buy repros for my uniforms as i usually throw my money into hardware, but I'll watch out for him.

Paul.

[SHEARING-CROSS]

HIYA Paul , once you get a feel for the copy special forces cloth that comes from the far east they are quite easy to spot , u will soon pick it up ,the big thing is they nearly all have a heavy untidy back /finish , that is a big clue , as for the SF wings u bought at ******163;30.00 it was worth a gamble , many may not admit it but there is not one of us who was not caught out when these badges first appeared, regards Michael.

[Paul Brennan]

Ahh, ok, well I learnt something new today
Even though I've been stung (least I didnt pay real real badge money for it ) do you think its good enough to go on a uniform?

Michael, Im still in the early stages of researching Jedburghs, do you have any pointers in an impression and the direction I should take my research specifically? As I'd prefer to get it right first time, as I've done special forces before, was when I realised how picky a small few reenactors can get sadly.

Thanks

Paul.

[Gary Jucha]

Books.

Paul,
Try these books for some Jedburgh background.

1)Steel from the Sky - Roger Ford ISBN 0-297-84680-9

2)The Jedburghs - Lt.Col. Will Irwin ISBN 1-58648-307-2

Gary J.

[JONNY P]

The SF wing was also worn by O.S.S. Operational Groups. I have a simple rule of thumb when buying insignia, if it's not cheap, leave it, that way you may miss the odd original piece but at least you don't get burnt so badly buying 'rare variations', and if it turns out to be pukka then you have a bargain. We are getting to the point with Allied insignia that we reached with Axis stuff a few years ago, it's getting too easy to be fooled, fakes are getting as good as originals and entering the main-stream, sometimes even accepted by collectors as original and use as a basis of comparison. That's why I moved away from insignia and awards and into fieldgear and weapons, their simply harder to fake well.