Black Beret - Original or Not?

[Marc Sherriff]

These a lot of work gone into that badge, removal of the Royal Crest, remove and then replace lugs all for what?

[Adrian Stevenson]

£1.50 Marc. I know the guy who sold them. That was his wholesale price 10-15 years ago. Labour in India is cheap.

Cheers, Ade.

[seebee1]

Beret 2

Thank you for the comments. Marc it does seem a lot of work to alter this badge, in fact I was certain this was original and the beret may not have been. Lee G neat image of the Tank Regiment beret and badge, I will be leaving mine as it is though. Gary J you are quite right about the use of the Black Beret by the Free French. I know for certain that the French Jedburghs used them and with the clipped British Parachute Regiment's badge. I think that the French SAS may have used them as well, but not certain.

I am posting another Beret which I feel confident about. Based on previous comments on the Beret I am sure it is an original, and this time I am sure about the clipped Parachte regiment Badge as well Clive.

[seebee1]

Inside Beret. Made by Kangol Wear Limited and dated 1944

[seebee1]

Owners Intitials

[seebee1]

Lable

[seebee1]

Fastening for Cap Badge. This time just one of the vent holes have been used and the lugs are not repositioned or altered.

[seebee1]

Clipped British Parachute Regiment Cap Badge

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Clive, again a nice beret.

But sorry to say I have a horrible feeling that the badge is fake. Have a good look at it via a loupe. Are you sure it is not a "Blob" fake that has been worked on? Aside from that, have a look at some originals posted on the forum and note the shape of this set of wing feathers. The fakes are very angular whereas the originals have a mored rounded and flared look to them. I have marked the pic to show the area, (actually on both sides) which you need to look at.

Cheers, Ade.

[seebee1]

Now that is disturbing Ade. As I recall this beret is veteran aquired and I have not touched it, nor removed the Wing. I have never had any reason to doubt its authenticity. At the moment I will resist removing the badge to check the back, really as it is well fastened and the badge and cotter pin are shaped and curved. Will post two more images, the shape of the wing and a possibly better picture of the front taken in natural daylight. Regards, Clive.

[seebee1]

Image taken in daylight. I can see no evidence of this being a worked on version of the pattern with the die fault "blob". As for the shape of the wing feathers I do not see any fault with them.

[JEROEN1944]

That`s correct, its indeed the French badge. They weren`t loyal to the British King, so the crown had to been removed.

Jeroen


ps A foam head is very bad for caps, beret, etc etc. It hurts my eyes...

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Clive, that is a much better pic. I think it is OK now.

Cheers, Ade.

[seebee1]

Thanks for that Ade. Out of possible interest I will post part of page 159 in Peter Taylor's Allied and Special Forces Insignia 1939-1948. Overall this is a very good book, but there are a number of errors, as most will know. The SAARF Wing on page 185 is a definite fake, also the embriodered Title on the folowing page and so are the Jedburgh items on page 182, there are others as well. Anyway, back to page 159. A "clipped" Parachute Regiment Wing with the die flaw "blob" mentioned on the reproduction thread. Not in any way trying to defend Taylor's image, but is it possible that an original could have been made with this flaw. Whilst it is credible that reproductions demonstrate this, why not an original as well, who can prove this conclusively? Regards, Clive.

[FABBOND]

re

Hi,

After november 1944 french SAS are with maroon beret. But it's possible that french Jeds continue to have black beret.
Your black kangol beret seems good.

Regards,

FAB