Thoughts on this ebay item

[ROBB]

Thankyou Jack and Ade ,I didnt know Canadian webbing was a more yellowy colour ,but I do now .Rob.

[DJT]

Maybe a couple of eBay stories too far?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTHONY-HOPKIN...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTHONY-HOPKIN...QQcmdZViewItem

[JEROEN1944]

Maybe a couple of eBay stories too far?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTHONY-HOPKIN...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANTHONY-HOPKIN...QQcmdZViewItem

Hello Des,

It's looks very nice isn`t it, a real story, i met Mr Hopkins then..Do you believe it...

Jeroen

[Adrian Stevenson]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Hi Guys, Luc very kindly sent me this link yesterday evening knowing my interest in the XXI Indep. Para. Coy.

I was very excited to click on the link to see the auction: then British Telecom had a big failure and we lost our interenet connection for three and a half hours. I had only just glimpsed the photo. I was really excited about it.

I telephoned one of the Vets and asked if he recalled anyone with the name "Chapman" serving with the unit? He is not listed within the book "First In" or in the privately published history of the unit or the Vets magazine. Solly recalled a man with this surname.

My internet connection restored I went straight back to the auction for a proper look. Imagine my dissappointment. The wings are modern and the titles appear to be Indian mades fakes. "Privatly engraved" medals always worry me. So what do we have here? Personally I think the whole lot is a "put together" at best?

Cheers, Ade.

[lnijherald]

Hi Ade,
It is hard to tell from such bad pictures but these titles are quite similar to the ones at the Hartenstein museum.
If they are Indian made copies they look like the best on the market!

Cheers, Luc

[Adrian Stevenson]

Museum photo

Hi Luc, checkout this pic. Note the undersized "A" and the shape of the "R" in the suspect ones.

Cheers, Ade.

PS. Same seller has a "blob" die flawed fake PR cap badge for sale.

[lnijherald]

checkout this pic

Haha, I have taken a picture of the same display! Yes it is not identical, but far better than common reproductions.
Would it be likely that such a small unit had its insignia made by various manufacturers?

Cheers, Luc

[Adrian Stevenson]

I can only say all the ones in the hands of the Vets are identical to the ones in the museum photo.

Cheers, Ade.

[lnijherald]

Well, in that case I'm pretty sure they are not ok.
It seems someone has taken such reproductions seriously!

Cheers, Luc

[lnijherald]

Winning bid 970GBP , it seems some people disagreed Ade!

Cheers, Luc

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

Hello guys,

I'd been following this group for a week and waking up in hot sweats every night thinking about it!

Of course, the group could have been put together and the naming on the medals did worry me, but the pair of "Parachute XXI" shoulder titles and the qualification wings were fine original wartime examples!! Now I don't know what you lot think but I hardly think anyone would bother putting a group together for the sake of adding hardly anything to what are already very rare and expensive bits of cloth.

I took my bid, which I thought would be enough to get these items but it seems someone wanted them even more! Looks like I've missed an opportunity to own a nice group! I am gutted to say the least!

Thanks, from Jack.

[lnijherald]

Hi Jack,
Yes I saw you were one of the bidders. Shame you didn't win, but that's ebay!

The titles look fine, better than any reproduction I have seen sofar but I have to agree with Ade they differ from the ones at the Hartenstein museum. As I pointed out I think it is unlikely such a small unit would have had different manufacturers for these titles.
Let's agree to disagree.

Cheers, Luc

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

Hello Luc and Ade,

With all due respect for your knowledge, I simply couldn't disagree with you more on the authenticity of these badges.

Firstly, you have both quite correctly pointed out that it is very unlikely that these badges were made in the more than one place. This is something I don't dispute. However, the shoulder titles in the auction are identical to all original known examples including the ones on the BDs in the Hartenstein, as I will prove. In addition to this, whether the shoulder title manufactured was "Parachute 3", "Parachute XXI" or even just "Parachute" the exact same style of lettering was used, as I will also prove.

I have some close up pics of the badges in the auction in my email account but it won't let me access them for some reason! (Bloody typical )

First pics up are my best attempts at enhancing the images in the auction.

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

The wings.

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

My own "Parachute".