Pilot or Observer ?

[Jeroen wo2]

Hi,

I've just bought this cloth wing.
The previous owner told me it was a Japanese Observer wing but on Germanmilitaria.com there is also the same one but that is a Pilot wing?!
I cant find this one in my books and can somebody tells me if it's original?
It's a machine woven type and mint.

Kind Regards, Jeroen.

[kaigunair]

sorry, but I can't view the photos at work since I'm guessing they're on some sort of jpg photo site. anyhow, if its what I think it is, these are pretty common patches and often seen reams of them. hard to tell if its ww2...does it glow under black light? not too much in the way of value. I don't think I've really seen a pic of these army observer cloth wings worn, but then again, I'm usually not looking at army pilot pics.

[Jareth]

Yes very common observers/crew wings.

[mgidhagen]

According to a trustworthy collector in Japan, this is actually *not* any qualification wing at all, i.e., it is not - as often stated - an observer wing, but an insignia indicating "branch of service". I am not familiar with the Imperial Japanese wartime organisation, but it would for example indicate that the wearer was part of the air (force) division/flying branch of the Army etc.

A comparison was made with a bullion wing worn by personnel of the Swedish Air Force (created in 1926) between 1926 and 1930, to the "normal" Army/Navy uniform to indicate branch of service - as the regulated uniform of the SwAF was not introduced until in 1930.

Cheers,
Mikael