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A Jump Wing for the First Special Service Force


Patchcollector
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Patchcollector

Hi all,
Just found this on eBay.Never saw one so I'm posting it here.Not sure if it is authentic or a fantasy piece.The seller took a lot of nice close up photos but they were kind of dark so I lightened them up a bit.

 

Here is the sellers description:

HERE IS A WWII AIRBORNE PARATROOPER ORIGINAL JUMP WING - for the FSSF. Theater made, looks to have been hand-engraved or hand-chased from shell casing brass, with a soldered-on pin arrangement. The pin is a strange style, maybe that would tell a collector where it was made. The workmanship in the front is impeccable, just look at the details on the wing feathers!!! My guess is that it was made in the Asian theater, perhaps in the Philippines - but I have no way of knowing. It has been in my collection for several decades. The brass must have been cut out with a jewelers saw, as it is just one piece. Great condition, lovely item. No reserve. START AT NINETY-NINE CENTS. No returns.

 

 

 

Here is a link to the auction on eBay:

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-AIRBORNE-PARATROOPER-ORIGINAL-JUMP-WING-THEATER-MADE-FSSF/192315626383?_trkparms=aid%3D777003%26algo%3DDISCL.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D47507%26meid%3D79f136275fff4823aff3171f1cf0eff2%26pid%3D100013%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D222634315575&_trksid=p2047675.c100013.m1986

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If I just saw the wing I'd think it was a really cool theater made piece, but the FSSF tab makes me suspicious. Who knows though? It sure is a nicely made wing - of it was made recently somebody went to a lot of trouble.

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Patchcollector

Thanks for your input.I agree,the Wings and chute do have some nice details.If this is authentic,I would figure it to be more of a postwar made piece,perhaps done for a Forceman as a sort of novelty,or souvenir of his service.A couple of things that are red flags to me are the "No returns" policy and the private bidding.I'm not familiar with the seller so I don't know anything about him/her.

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I'm the seller. Nice to see everyone's thoughts on the one. You guys can all have full return privileges. It is an unusual piece, wish I knew something more about it. The FSSF tag motif at the bottom reminded me of the fake English wings with the First Allied Airborne tag on the bottom of them, but the similarity ends there. There is an insane amount of excellent hand work on the wings.and looks like the brass was cut out by hand with a wire jewelers saw. I could not figure how the FSSF letters were done; it looks like some sort of a machine engraving with a tiny spinning wheel? The reason there is "no returns" is that my goal is to get rid of lots of things and not get them back, the older I get the less stuff I want now, so I just list everything at 99 cents and no reserve, and actually no one has ever wanted their money back yet. I suppose I should not have done a "private" (not ever having done that before) so you could at least try to see who also bid on it as some sort of endorsement, but since ebay doesn't put the whole user name of the bidders up anymore I can no longer figure out who is bidding anyway, so I figured it really didn't matter. Enjoy and Thanks! Rollie

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Patchcollector

Thanks Rollie for chiming in.It's always great to hear straight from the seller about an item up for discussion,and it is reassuring to know that you are offering a return privilege.Do you remember where you got this piece?

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Unfortunately I don't recall. It's been maybe 20 + or 25+ years and jump wings were somewhat a sidelight for me. I used to buy/sell a volume from/ thru so many places including the old Manions... maybe Allen would recall it there, if not, I have no idea?

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This exact same wing surfaced back in 2008 as I kept the below photographs for my own reference. It looks like the same wing and I have never seen another like it. I don't know what to make of it as it looks theater made but the FSSF as we all know was disbanded in 1944 prior to the end of the war.

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Here is another photograph of this wing which I had to compress to fit and it looks like the picture was taken in different lighting.

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The closest wing that I have ever some across that is made from a plate sheet of metal and then etched is this piece which is rather small and someone already posted on the forum but I couldn't locate it.

 

 

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Mystery solved, at least as to where I got it, as that's for sure the same wing. I had over 120 different jump wings at the peak, many of which went to ebay a year or so ago, and the others off the other to private collectors, so very hard to keep track of where things cam from, over the many years of collecting without writing tags on the items. I must have bought it off ebay and thrown it into the box. You guys are amazing, thanks. Any idea what it sold for?

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Mystery solved, at least as to where I got it, as that's for sure the same wing. I had over 120 different jump wings at the peak, many of which went to ebay a year or so ago, and the others off the other to private collectors, so very hard to keep track of where things cam from, over the many years of collecting without writing tags on the items. I must have bought it off ebay and thrown it into the box. You guys are amazing, thanks. Any idea what it sold for?

Sorry I didn't keep that information.

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I happened to be thumbing through Vol II of "Heroes in Our Midst" and there are several glider wings pictured that are made in an identical way. Identified as french- made...

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Patchcollector

I happened to be thumbing through Vol II of "Heroes in Our Midst" and there are several glider wings pictured that are made in an identical way. Identified as french- made...

 

 

Interesting.And the Force was in France for a time IIRC.

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I didn't think to check my glider trooper wing reference but Kadet is right as it would appear that the same person who manufactured the FSSF wing also manufactured this 602nd Glider Field Artillery Battalion wing. I don't have an image of the back of the glider trooper wing to see if the same type of rear fixing was used. I can't tell if the glider trooper wing is plated or if a sheet of silver colored metal was utilized instead of a sheet of brass or copper. I didn't bid as I wasn't sure if the FSSF paratrooper wing was real but now it would appear that someone got a bargain for this probably one of a kind piece.

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I think that was a nice wing that went for a good price. I believe at least one of the examples in the book has an identical pin on the reverse.

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Oh, nice, the mystery is solved entirely! And now I've got seller's remorse!! That's what I get for being too cheap to buy Vol.II of "Heros".

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