bazelot Posted July 9, 2018 Share #1 Posted July 9, 2018 I just got those wings. How old is this set of wings? 2 1/8 inches long. Marked GEMSCO NY on one side and GEMSCO ACG G-2 on the other side with USMC SER 298 stamped over it. What is the significance of the USMC serial number. THanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted July 9, 2018 Share #2 Posted July 9, 2018 Greetings, These are 1960's or newer would be my best guess. They didnt start the alfa numeric system on the back until I think the late 50's or 60's? ww2 Navy wings and earlier are marked with the makers hallmark name or symbol and usually something like 1/20th 10K GF on S etc etc There is something however going on with the restruck stamping on the wing. Clearer picture? Maybe these are older and were repurposed?? Because they do have the makers name on them... What does it say under the USMC Stamping? Maybe they are from Korean war? Somebody on here knows for sure. Nice wings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazelot Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted July 9, 2018 thanks for the info. I don't have them yet so this picture is the only one i got. I suspected they were post WWII but for some reason the restamping made me think Korean war. Under the USMC stamping it says GEMSCO ACG G-2 but it looks like it was struck and not moulded like the rest. Could these be WWII wings that were re-purposed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazelot Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted July 10, 2018 any idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted July 10, 2018 Share #5 Posted July 10, 2018 Hey. Im a novice at this but my main thing is Navy wings so Il give it a guess. Im thinking these are Korean War Era wings that were repurposed for Vietnam era? Just a guess. You will have to do some digging on here and Im sure you will find the answers. They didnt start using number codes on the wings until the 50's. So the base wing may be a Korean era surplus that was repurposed for the USMC for vietnam.??? Just a guess though. MAybe someone who knows more will give their opinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazelot Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share #6 Posted July 10, 2018 Thanks for the info. I hope someone will know for sure. I didn't break the bank buying them and I thought they were interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted July 11, 2018 Share #7 Posted July 11, 2018 They are interesting nice pair of wings. I thnk after korean.... and that USMC SER# must be what the corps did to indentify their wings back in the day.??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted July 11, 2018 Share #8 Posted July 11, 2018 here are some great sites to study. Dont know if you've seen em but they are a great asset. Here is a site from Patrick Frost http://pfrost.bol.ucla.edu/USNWINGS.html Another good site here. http://www.anaspides.net/military/aviator_wings_american.html And finally http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/usnavy/usnavypilot.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazelot Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share #9 Posted July 11, 2018 Thanks for the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted July 11, 2018 Share #10 Posted July 11, 2018 There have been a couple of threads about the serial numbers on USN wings. If you do a search you can find plenty of useful inormation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted July 11, 2018 Share #11 Posted July 11, 2018 http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/211029-usn-aviator-wings-marked-250/?fromsearch=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted July 11, 2018 Share #12 Posted July 11, 2018 A couple links http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/10614-usnusmc-parachutist-wing-question/?fromsearch=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcatter Posted July 11, 2018 Share #13 Posted July 11, 2018 Hi Bazelot,I think your Wings may be dated from mid-1950's to mid-1960's, so they are from early Vietnam War Era.Wings from this period have such long pins and "Serial" code.GEMSCO "G-2" marking was also used from mid-1950's to mid-1960's, this is coherent.So not WWII dated, but a very nice vintage piece anyway, it's surely worth of keeping.As far as I know, I'm pretty sure they are 100% GEMSCO genuine.Usually Naval Aviator Wings have the same markings both for USN and USMC; These Wings by GEMSCO were probably the only to be "USMC" marked.You can find this kind of Wings both with pinback and clutchback. "Ser" number was usually marked on 1950's and 1960's Naval Wings; each maker and each kind of Wing (Aviator, Paratrooper, etc) had its serial.I don't know if it's an official serial number or just a catalogue classification.Here a few examples:Hilborn & Hamburger Naval Pilot Wings: "Ser 307"Hilborn & Hamburger Naval Paratrooper Wings: "Ser 678"GEMSCO Naval Pilot Wings: "Ser 298"Meyer Naval Pilot Wings: "Ser 270"Vanguard Naval Pilot Wings: "Ser 154" I strongly recommend to read the threads Patrick has linked, I think that all known infos about this topic are there. All the best Albert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazelot Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share #14 Posted July 12, 2018 thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcatter Posted July 13, 2018 Share #15 Posted July 13, 2018 Don't mention it! :-) Errata corrige: I wrote "Naval Pilot" instead of "Naval Aviator", my mistake! Sorry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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