RFC wings

[Gary Cain]

Hey Lee,
Did this come out of Canada? I have a little concern about the brevet. It looks good, but there is some little thing niggling my brain about it. I will let you know tomorrow what I find out.

Cheers
Gary

Thanks for the research Marc.

So it seems that I have a 1916 tunic that is either postwar-marked or mis-marked, 1920's collar tabs and real RFC wings.

Well, it could be worse. I am contacting the seller to let them know of all findings.

Thank you so much, all of you!

[Jack Dutton-Roberts]

Hello Gary,

I think I'm with you on this one. I don't like the wings very much too. They strongly remind me of a decent looking repro being produced. I think these ones have been aged a little and roughed up to get them looking more like originals. The embroidery is quite tight - I like to see lose embroidery on originals. The other thing that concerns me is on the post where Lee shows the side of the wings - the backing piece to the badge looks like a separate part something I associate with more modern badges - originals wings tended just to be constructed out of one piece.

Thanks, from Jack.

[Gary Cain]

Hey Jack,

You beat me to it! I was trying to find my loose brevet but so far have had no luck. But that is what was bothering me.

Gary

Hello Gary,

I think I'm with you on this one. I don't like the wings very much too. They strongly remind me of a decent looking repro being produced. I think these ones have been aged a little and roughed up to get them looking more like originals. The embroidery is quite tight - I like to see lose embroidery on originals. The other thing that concerns me is on the post where Lee shows the side of the wings - the backing piece to the badge looks like a separate part something I associate with more modern badges - originals wings tended just to be constructed out of one piece.

Thanks, from Jack.

[LeeG]

Gary and Jack: Are you guys sure about the wings, or is it just a hunch you have?
-Lee

[Gary Cain]

Hey Lee,

I will never say 100% on anything if my only evidence is a picture. I will give percentages of comfort however and right now I am at a 50/50 on the brevet. The backing material that you can see when you show the side view is a little bit disconcerting. That is not a 'normal' thing to see on a RFC brevet. Sorry I can't give you anything better at the moment. The one thing that I absolutely do look for however is consistancy. Does the uniform combo make sense as presented? You must remember the British officer corps was very class and regalia concious. You just do not see mistakes, they didn't happen. Following are a couple of examples of what I mean. First up is Percival Ward seconded to the RFC as a observer from the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Gary and Jack: Are you guys sure about the wings, or is it just a hunch you have?
-Lee

[Gary Cain]

#2

Hey Lee,

I will never say 100% on anything if my only evidence is a picture. I will give percentages of comfort however and right now I am at a 50/50 on the brevet. The backing material that you can see when you show the side view is a little bit disconcerting. That is not a 'normal' thing to see on a RFC brevet. Sorry I can't give you anything better at the moment. The one thing that I absolutely do look for however is consistancy. Does the uniform combo make sense as presented? You must remember the British officer corps was very class and regalia concious. You just do not see mistakes, they didn't happen. Following are a couple of examples of what I mean. First up is Percival Ward seconded to the RFC as a observer from the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

[Gary Cain]

Everything is at it should be. There are no flags that go up.

#2

[Gary Cain]

Next up is a recent acquisition so I have not had time to research it yet but here is a pilot seconded over from the 10th Royal Hussars. Once again everything is internally consistent.QUOTE=Gary Cain]Everything is at it should be. There are no flags that go up.[/QUOTE]

[Gary Cain]

#2

Next up is a recent acquisition so I have not had time to research it yet but here is a pilot seconded over from the 10th Royal Hussars. Once again everything is internally consistent.QUOTE=Gary Cain]Everything is at it should be. There are no flags that go up.

[/QUOTE]

[Gary Cain]

Note the damage to the brevet(probably from a moth but no way to tell for sure) that lets me see the internal structure of the wing(very helpful).



#3

#2

[/QUOTE]

[Gary Cain]

#4
Finally the last picture which sadly is not very clear, but anyway there is no backing material to the brevet as was alluded to before. These are what I want to see when i am looking at these types of uniforms. I do not like the way the 1916 is put together. I agree with all that was said before about the authenticity of the various bits, but, the brevet still gives me pause and even more so with all of the other questions about the tunic. You have to realize, these are rare, sought after things so there is a real problem with fakery on all levels.

Gary

Note the damage to the brevet(probably from a moth but no way to tell for sure) that lets me see the internal structure of the wing(very helpful).



#3

[/QUOTE]

[LeeG]

Hey Gary,

No argument with you that this RFC tunic I have hasn't been messed with as I think we've concluded it has. I am just hopeful that the wings may indeed be good.
But without a doubt, I see what you are saying, the arrangements bring it into question.

Nice stuff by the way! Where did you get the blue tunic royal hussars set?

-Lee

[Gary Cain]

Hey Lee,

My point is I do not believe it to be a RFC tunic. I believe it is a very nice 1916 dated tunic that has been put together. We know that the pieces are authentic with the exception of the brevet. That we don't know as yet (I am hopeful though!) but with a little more digging I think we will be able to come to a resolution soon. Can you give us a couple more shots of the brevet(from the top and the bottom and a good oblique view? That would help a lot, but in the end I think someone is going to have to handle the brevet to be sure. As for the Hussar, it came from a private collection in California.

Here are the trousers and cumerbund for the Hussar.

Cheers
Gary

Hey Gary,

No argument with you that this RFC tunic I have hasn't been messed with as I think we've concluded it has. I am just hopeful that the wings may indeed be good.
But without a doubt, I see what you are saying, the arrangements bring it into question.

Nice stuff by the way! Where did you get the blue tunic royal hussars set?

-Lee