Wings and Pegasus patches: opinions

[Selstin]

Hello gents,

I would like to hear your opinion on these insignia. They are mounted on a post-war Belgian battledress but they bear a striking resemblance to the ones used by the British paratroops. Are they British-made, or postwar (Belgian?). The colour may be a bit off due to lighting used when taking the photos.

Pegasus patches: +-6,5x6,5cm.
Para wing: +-8,5cm

Thanks a lot!

Kind regards,

Selstin

[marketgarden]

They are post war Belgian insignia so are correct on the postwar Belgian bd. Regards . MG

[Selstin]

Hi MG,

Thanks for the clarification.

What exactly is the difference between the post-war Belgian wings and the WW2 British ones? From what I understand, post-war wings have a slanted stitch on the light blue thread used on the lower wings. Wartime ones have a more horizontal stitch. I compared these wings to some wartime examples on the internet, but I can't really make up my mind whether the wing I posted has a horizontal stitch or a slanted one. It seems pretty horizontal (although it isn't super super strict horizontal).

I attached another photo below. The other one (non-mounted), is a post-war one I found on the web. Notice the very slanted threading on that one.

Maybe someone could post a photo of a Belgian post-war para wing for comparison? I'd love to see one up close.

Kind regards

My wing:



Post-war (British, I presume) wing, notice the slanted threading on the lower wings:

[ETN]

Those wings are doing a damn good impression of a WW2 Jump wing IMO

[Bond]

The manufacturing flaw in the wings on the bd is something seen on wartime British wings and not something I would expect to see on post war or foreign made wings.

[101combatvet]

The manufacturing flaw in the wings on the bd is something seen on wartime British wings and not something I would expect to see on post war or foreign made wings.

bd? What do you mean by that.

[Selstin]

bd? What do you mean by that.

bd = BattleDress

The wings in my first post are the ones mounted on a battledress.

[Selstin]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I too have a hard time believing these wings are not WW2-era. I managed to google some post-war Belgian battledress blouses fitted with para insignia and they have a more plastic appearance. Even in the 50's and 60's so it seems.

Is it safe to say my wings are wartime? I just spend some more time observing them up close and they also seem kinda padded. Double luck I guess!

[JEROEN1944]

The wings are war time!

[JEROEN1944]

They are post war Belgian insignia so are correct on the postwar Belgian bd. Regards . MG

Why?

[marketgarden]

Why?

The Pegasus to me look to me like the typical Belgian embroidered type ... much slimmer in construction and always with the almost white thread as opposed to the more standard British type being frequently much heavier in their construction.

[Selstin]

The wings are definitely wartime. We can agree on that.

The pegasus patches do appear to be a heavy construction. The embroidery is quite thick. I will post some close up photos of them later this evening.

The battledress comes, in fact, from a World War 2 veteran. I have yet to find out how he got in the para battalion after the war. Was he already parachute qualified in the war? I don't know.

Kind regards

[Selstin]

Here are some close ups! What do you guys think of the Pegasus flashes though? The embroidery is very detailed.

WW2 para wings, padded variant (looks lovely ):


Pegasus flash 1:





Pegasus flash 2:



Thanks a lot!