Paul Meybauer Pilot Badge

[AFF96]

Below is another of these pretty hard to find P Meybauer zincer PB's. Thanks to the guys at SOS for assisting me in obtaining it. It turned out to be "hiding" at SOS on a table right behind ours.

Although not the prettiest PB out there certainly 1 of the more challenging to find as most folks take a look & don't pay much attention to them.

If anyone else should run across 1 please post it here on Seb's thread.
Thanks!
001.JPG

004.JPG

[Sebastien T]

Thanks Greg adding this rare badge to the thread

Seb

[rfleming32]

Have a similar badge in my collection but 1) the eagle is not zinc, and 2) the reverse hardware is different. Pictures taken with an iphone as I had to get a new scanner that does not do badges well. Open for review and discussion. Better pictures forthcoming if necessary.

[rfleming32]

I guess just a Juncker J4 with a similar look

[Sebastien T]

I guess just a Juncker J4 with a similar look

Hey Rich,

Yes its a J4 zinc wreath and a Nickel silver J3 eagle. For some reasons with the oblong catch plate the eagle is found with either zinc and more often nickel silver eagle. On the round catch plate only zinc eagle as far im concern. Maybe the round catch plate come later, maybe someone can elaborate on that.

Great J4 I love it.

Seb

[JJS]

For what it's worth, my opinion is that Meybauer probably did make these zinc pilot badges as late war production runs in small batches for the poor unlucky, untrained pilots the Luftwaffe was sending up in 1945. Interestingly enough, several of us conclude this from technical details alone; what's missing is veteran-attributable provenance. These badges for me are there right alongside the Steinhauer & Luck hollow eagle pilot badges (for which there is provenance from vets in some cases). Late war zincers, whether by Meybauer or S&L, should both probably be considered an acquired taste, and not for everyone.
JJS

[Thomas Durante]

Hi guys,

Richard, very nice J4. Not often do we find them with Nickel Silver eagles likes your, I am used to seeing them all in zinc which makes yours a little nicer and earlier IMO.

JJS, I wouldn't put these in the same category as S&L Pilot badges at all for two reasons. One is that Juncker was bombed out in February 1945, making their products a pretty safe purchase in our hobby. And 2nd, S&L pilot badges have not been found in verified vet groupings, nor do they even show up on the postwar souvenier boards put together by S&L after the war from alledgedly wartime leftovers. These two points results in Juncker J4s being almost certainly wartime products versus S&L Pilots being almost certainly postwar products.

Tom

[Leroy]

..... 2nd, S&L pilot badges have not been found in verified vet groupings, nor do they even show up on the postwar souvenier boards put together by S&L after the war from alledgedly wartime leftovers.
Tom

We haven't seen all the "boards" (and no, that's not a numbered LW GAB on there).

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Gentry,

That is not a "typical" souvenier board that S&L is known to have put together. For all we know that was put together by an american collector, or anyone else for that matter. Do you have any other info on that board (i.e. where it came from, when, who, etc.?)

Also, do you have any closeups of the board showing the luft badges? As you well know, a "typical" S&L sample board had badges from many other companies on them, all pilot badges that have showed up on them has been FLL pilot badges. So without seeing a closeup of the board we cannot be sure if we are looking at just another FLL PB on there. FYI, the Para badge looks like an FLL.

Tom

[Leroy]

Tom - My understanding is that the "boards" you could get varied greatly, with some being far more elaborate than others (and higher ranking folks getting better). I've no idea who made the pilot badges and they could well be FLL or some other maker. The other cases in this collection (not shown in this photo) demonstrate arrangements of badges typical for the S&L "layout". I also understand that these were brought back by an officer and were considered "salesman" cases, but that's all I know. I believe I actually saw these years and years ago at the home of a collector in California.

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Gentry,

Thanks for the information and the closeup of the board. Sounds like there is no real information on this one so it could have been put together at anytime (1 year after the war or 30 years, who knows?).

The closeup confirms for me that the Para is FLL, not S&L. The Pilot badge wreath also looks FLL to me, but I will confirm that.

Tom

[Leroy]

Bringback right after the war, I understand.

Any of us who had been in that town in 1945-6 would have had a heart attack.

[Sebastien T]

The Pilot badge wreath also looks FLL to me, but I will confirm that.

Tom

They both look like souvalish eagle to me, the wreath is not FLL.

Seb

[Thomas Durante]

Bringback right after the war, I understand.

Any more detail than this Gentry? Do you have a link to a thread where these boards were discussed previously?

Thanks

Tom

[Leroy]

Layout comparison. (The RK's in the color photo were all unflawed "A" types.)