Canadian Para Group

[Adam H]

It would seem that the recipient DID serve post war judging by the post-war type wings as Geoff points out. Providing that the insignia that accompany the medals were all indeed his. His service could not have been for very long mind you as he would have soon qualified for a CD...unless this is missing from the group but somehow that seems unlikely...possible too that he was denied one for misconduct but again this is not that common an occurence so the odds are against it.

By the way, Geoff, can you think of other units within the CF with which service would earn the "white wings"? What about the Skyhawks? Might have to look in the CFAOs or something for a definitive answer.

Cheers,

Adam

[Greeves]

Adam, yes the Skyhawks (Canadian Forces Parachute Demonstration Team) would earn you the white maple leaf - although most members would already have it when they joined (most have served in an operational jump unit). Nowadays, a posting to one of the 3 Para companies, CPC (Canadian Parachute Centre) Trenton - where Para training is undertaken) or membership in the Para Coy of the Queen's Own Rifles would be necessary. In the past, members of E Battery RCHA, and 2 Combat Engineer Regt would also have qualified (and members of 2 Service Battalion if I'm not mistaken). Also, there were Reserve Para Coys in the Regiment de Saguenay, the Queen's Own Rifles, the Loyal Edmonton Regt, and the Royal Westminster Regt (of whom I was a member). Many, but not all (I'm one such case) of these reservists would qualify for the white maple leaf.

Anyway, back to the thread at hand - with no long service decoration I would be willing to bet that the post-war wings are just part of the display and not original to the owner. I say this because in the early post-war period - wartime wings were still being issued. I've only just recently learned this in conversations with my father. He earned his wings in May 1948 and gave me a stack of his wings that he originally wore on his battledress. They are most certainly wartime style but were issued 3 years after the war ended. The question becomes, then, when did the distinctive post-war style wings come into being?
Here is an example of one of my Father's wings, issued in the late-40's: