SF wing

[Adrian Stevenson]

8

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

I reckon number 2 is the one with provenance.

Go on Clive, let us know which one has the provenance?!! Or ermm that actually might be a bad idea. Infact don't let us know if you don't want to.

Jack.

[force136]

SF Wing

Hi Clive

Nice assortment of wings. Geeze if the bulk of these are repros ( I am not saying they are ) but if so, who is making all these varieties? Is it so profitable? I thought SFHQ collecting was not so wide spread? I guess I was wrong. The problem I note with bullion is that it does not take much for it to tarnish and look old. As for the tinsel looking bullion on some of these wings. While I cant say whether they are good or bad, dont be fooled by the shiney nature of it. There are one or two known Canadian Parachute Badges made in London during the war that have this exact tinsel like bullion. Unfortunately the guy I knew that had them from officers sold his collection before I could get photos for the book. They were not a very common style but interesting. The photos I do have of bullion wings worn by Canadians include really really high quality examples to cheaper looking ones.

Ken

I reckon number 2 is the one with provenance.

Go on Clive, let us know which one has the provenance?!! Or ermm that actually might be a bad idea. Infact don't let us know if you don't want to.

Jack.

[seebee1]

SF Wings

Only one of these bullion wings are 100% original WW2 manufacture Des, there is one other that I am 99.99% sure is ok. The others I am fairly certain are post-war copies. There are quite a number of collectors of WW2 Special Force Insignias, however as these items are scarce, expensive and hard to locate, you can not add too often to a collection. The reason for there being quite a quantity of fakes-copies about is due to fairly high prices that they can obtain. As with all such Insignias it is the handling of original pieces that knowledge is gained. Provenance is perhaps the best, but not always, if you see my previous posting. Though those who make fakes are sometines quite accurate, when viewing the front of a cloth badge, usually it is the back and method of construction, as most collectors will know, that will tell if an item is right or not. Regards,Clive.

[Paul Brennan]

is this guy is having a bit of a joke?
i've seen repros very similar to this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WW2-SPECIAL-OP...QQcmdZViewItem

then theres these,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PATCH-OSS-SF-W...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jedburgh-Team-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Special-Forces...QQcmdZViewItem

Paul.

[seebee1]

SF Wings

Perhaps I was not clear enough in my posting Paul. Of the eight bullion patterns of the SF Wing that I posted I mention that only one of them is completely original WW2 manufacture, this is the first wing of the eight. It belonged to a member of the OSS Norso Operational Group. After his mission to France he then went onto China. He could not tell me if this was from his time in England or in China, to date I do not know where it was made but I do know it to be 100% genuine. The second wing that I posted I am fairly confident is also an original of WW2, however it has no provenance and I can not prove its authenticity. On a visit some years ago to the JFK Special Warfare Museum there is an identical one on display that belonged to an American Jedburgh, he also went to China after his time in France. As for the other six wings I posted I am certain they are all post war copies or replicas. Apart from original SF Wings I also collect all of the various copies for my personal interest. You posted links to four copy SF Wings, only one is bullion, the topic that I was commenting about. Hope this clarifys my posting, I was not having a bit of a joke. Regards, Clive.

[Paul Brennan]

sorry clive, i wasnt too clear in my posting, wasnt calling you or your last posting into question at all.

was asking if the first ebay link was someone trying to sell a repro as a real wing, then posted the rest for peoples opinions on if they were repro or real, and if they are repros are they any good? because as ive proved already i know nothing about them

sorry for the confusion

Paul.

[seebee1]

SF Wing

Fully understood Paul, no problem. A real benefit of a forum such as this is that we all can learn. it does not matter for how long anyone has collected. I would never ever think of myself as an expert, however with some items I am on safer ground than on others! I tend to think that collecting WW2 material is a never ending apprentiship, I do not think you ever get your completion papers. Regards, Clive.

[Paul Brennan]

yes, fully agree there, you can never stop learning about these things, trying to cram at the moment about jedburghs for the up-coming season to get it right, so fingers crossed

Paul.

[seebee1]

SF Wing

Interesting about the Jedburgh subject. This may be of interest to the forum, perhaps a new thread dealing with Jedburgh Uniforms and Equipment may be worthwhile. If you are ever in Northamptonshire you may care to visit our Musem at the former RAF Harrington. We have a number of neat displays there on the Jedburghs, both in France and with Force 136. The website link is www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk this will give you information about the Museum and some good links. Also a location map and opening times. All the best, Clive.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, I have brought this thread back up as last night a friend of mine sent me these two pics of a pair of wings to look at. They were purchased from a flea market in the UK for the price of a repro pair. He has blacklighted it and nothing glows. He has yet to burn test any threads. I know nothing about these wings, so I would welcome your help.

Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

The reverse.

[seebee1]

They look fine to me Ade, the SF is a little thinner than usually found, but see no problems with them. great find Clive.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Thanks Clive. I was hoping you would see this thread. I did like the look of the back of the wing where the "SF" was embroidered, the bobbin thread looked good. But as I say, I have no experiences of these.

Cheers, Ade.

[Dudley]

Gentlemen, in addition to the units that wore the Special Force wing. Some Dutch agents of the 'Bureau Bijzondere Opdrachten' (translated as Office of Special Assignments, the Dutch equivalent of SOE) to which the Dutch Jeds also belonged, wore these wings.