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Named Para wings help!


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Hi guys,

 

I've just received these nice sterling Para wings and they have a name scratched into the back. I'm having trouble reading what it says, can anyone possibly make it out?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

DavePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

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OK . . . S T A ? K A . . . that question mark looks like it could be a P or F. Let me try looking the name up quickly. Maybe we'll find a good lead. :)

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Stafka and Stapka are both names that I can find WWII soldiers with. Maybe someone will have WWII-era paratrooper lists? Could give a lead, as I can't imagine many had those names. They seem to be Polish origin. I'll see if I can find a jumper with that last name.

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Well, hoping someone who might have jumper lists finds this. I'd lean to Stapka myself, but either would work. Super cool wings!

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Wow, thank you so much...you're a legend!

 

Even through a loupe I can't decide if it's P or F either. If I was a betting man I'd probably lean towards F.

 

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I know . . .same here. Actually, hand engraving is another of my hobbies, so I was looking at your pin from the point of view that - if I had a sharp object and scratched my name in it . . . how would those strokes work out. Because when engraving (even rough engraving) there is a movement pattern in strokes that you can work through when trying to decipher something like this.

 

What gets me is this - I drew over top of your picture to illustrate. Look at that questioned letter. What makes me lean to the P" is that tiny downward cut on the top horizontal line. P is a very hard letter to engrave. To try, take a pencil, pen or nail and try to draw a P on something soft (your thigh, carpet, ottoman - of course without the ink tip ejected!). You'll notice that you tend to break off halfway through the downswing. Hence the need for that lower horizontal line.

 

Now, it could also be that his top horizontal line on an "F just nicked down at the end as he withdrew the implement. That is why it is hard to be sure.

 

post-151812-0-89713000-1553095139_thumb.jpg

 

However, I'd assume that if there is a thing as WWII Jumpers lists or rosters, it wouldn't be hard to narrow the field down with either name. :)

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What a fantastic reply, thank you so much for such a detailed response! I think you're right too, I reckon it is a P. If it was an F I believe it would be neater, as it's a lot easier to engrave an F than a P.

 

So it's looking like Stapka and yes it is indeed an unusual name.

I have no idea if there's a list of paratroopers though, hopefully one of the para guys will chime in.

 

You mentioned you found a Stapka, can I ask where you searched for such information?

 

 

 

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I was actually looking up the last name options on ancestry on the military records section.

 

Also . . . I want to change my mind on something else here. What is the first initial is an E or a U? See the last letter? Obviously an A. Easy to engrave, as it is three straight-forward lines. Well, that leads me to thinking that the first initial is not an A but something else, because if it was an A, why wouldn't he have done it the same way? Here is another drawn-over image of the name. That first initial could be either a non-capitalized "e" or a "U". I drew examples above it of trying to simulate each when engraving those lines.

 

post-151812-0-12085500-1553100431_thumb.jpg

 

Let me look up those two names and see if I get any solder results for WWII.

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Well, there are more results for soldiers with the last name of STEPKA and several with STUPKA.

 

Maybe there will be lists of paratroopers. I saw there is a book published listing the 25,000 101 servicemen. Maybe someone will have that as a start.

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Just plowing through a Find A Grave search for last name of "Stupka" with birth before 1925 and death after 1943, there are quite a few military gravestones for Stupkas who served in WWII. That doesn't include vets who don't get military tombstones!

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LTC John Stopka was the CO if the 502nd PIR. I wouldnt place much credence in that etched marking without rock-solid provenance. Stopka was KIA near Bastogne.

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Hmm of course you're right. Why engrave a lower case a and then an upper case at the end, unless the lower case was too difficult so decided to go for the capital at the end?? Unlikely but you never know :-)

 

So it could be...

 

Stepka

 

Stupka

 

Stufka

 

Stefka

 

I wish the guy had better engraving skills lol.

 

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Or Stopka :-)

 

Not 100% that's an O though.

 

Would be pretty cool if the name is Stopka.

 

 

 

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The engraving itself looks old, as it is hard to make the edges have that worn down look that looks natural. However, of course, you can't 100% prove anything. Even documetns can be wrong/faked. Family could lie. I don't know . . . proof is something hard to define. However, maybe we can narrow it down to the most probable so that in your own mind you think you know. :) After all, better to have a good idea than just dismiss it totally without trying. :)

 

As to the O . . . one more time. It could be an O, where on withdrawing the implement at the end of the downward stroke it went to the side. A common thing when using a good amount of pressure. You also have to keep in mind how very small this badge is, and how hard it is to hold something this small perfectly steady against the pressure needed to do this type of engraving.

 

So, I would discount an O. Just a thought.

 

post-151812-0-91216800-1553102468_thumb.jpg

 

 

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Thanks again guys for your tremendous amount of help, I really do appreciate it.

 

Yes it could indeed be an O, just as much it could be A, E or U. I'll see if I can get a really good close up photo tomorrow.

 

I bought this on eBay UK for a paltry £25 from a general antique seller. I messaged him and asked if there was any history to the piece. All he could say was he bought it from a house clearance sale in Tavistock, Devon. The deceased person was elderly and the wings were in his possession. He was not a collector.

 

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BILL THE PATCH

Did you try the old Trace trick. Tissue paper and a pencil? It might work.

 

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Oh, that is a nice picture. I would definitely say an "O" after seeing the better pictures. So, I would start looking for Stopkas.

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Did you try the old Trace trick. Tissue paper and a pencil? It might work.

 

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I hadn't thought of that, thank you!

 

I've give it a go and yeah, looks like it's Stopka.

 

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Oh, that is a nice picture. I would definitely say an "O" after seeing the better pictures. So, I would start looking for Stopkas. 

Yes this is what's very interesting. As Indexred mentions above, LTC Stopka 3/502 101st Airborne

 

https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/39147/Stopka-John-P.htm

 

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Simon Lerenfort

Thanks again guys for your tremendous amount of help, I really do appreciate it.

 

Yes it could indeed be an O, just as much it could be A, E or U. I'll see if I can get a really good close up photo tomorrow.

 

I bought this on eBay UK for a paltry £25 from a general antique seller. I messaged him and asked if there was any history to the piece. All he could say was he bought it from a house clearance sale in Tavistock, Devon. The deceased person was elderly and the wings were in his possession. He was not a collector.

 

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

 

I would almost put money on this coming from the collection of the late Ken Small, from Tavistock, Devon. Ken was single highhandedly responsible for the recovery of the DD Sherman from the sea off Slapton Sands and preserving it on the beach there till this day. Besides being a fellow metal detectorist he was a very keen historian.

 

Pity there was no provenance with this, no way to say for sure how it came to him, but he did meet many veterans during his life.

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That's very interesting indeed Simon, thank you for the info. The seller did mention there was no other items of militaria at the house clearance but that doesn't really mean much, they could have been moved on beforehand.

I'll ask the seller and see if it was from the estate of Ken.

 

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