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WWII Jump Wings and Ovals


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shocktrooper15

Here's my collection of Jump Wings and Ovals so far. I felt I should include my glider wing as well due to the combat star affixed to it. The ovals all came separate from each other minus the one at the bottom of the picture (from a 509th vet)

IMPORTANT NOTE: The 504th Oval is a late 40's example

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That 505th wing/oval combo is awesome! :thumbsup:

 

It (worryingly) is... but it doesn't half look like one of a batch that I had made up from my own pattern by a company in Liverpool. It has a certain quality to it... :ermm:

 

1944... can you send me some more pics of this oval without the wings please? Would hate to think that you've ended up with one of my repros...!

 

Cheers,

Glen.

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Paul,

Nice named Brit made wings!

Dijkhuizen,

I've never seen hollow back Aussie wings. They look Brit to me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

(Quote Glen)

Hey Glen,

Just to let you know its not one of your Repro Ovals As that i can Guranteed you that 1000%

As i have Full Documendation to go with this 505th P.I.R Grouping to back my self up on it !

Regards: Tomás.

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  • 3 months later...

Here are a pair of wings that belonged to Paul Antelitano who served in the 17th Airborne 2 battalion 194th Glider Infantry. At some point he was jump qualified but chose to go into the Gliders. The material behind the wings is from the recognition scarf that the 17th during Operation Varsity.

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Here we have Antelitano's first glider wing with a blue infantry oval. He used a miniature set of gliders wings. Also included is a pair of his glider wings.

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  • 7 months later...

Here is an oval that I picked up today. I am still trying to figure out how to tell the difference between a WWII production oval and a post-WWII oval. Correct me if I am wrong, but this one is for the XVIII Airborne Corps. I removed the jump wings as they were a subdued pair of senior master blaster wings.

 

If anyone can help educate me on these I would deeply appreciate it!

 

 

post-203-1342119856.jpg post-203-1342119871.jpg

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Here is an oval that I picked up today. I am still trying to figure out how to tell the difference between a WWII production oval and a post-WWII oval. Correct me if I am wrong, but this one is for the XVIII Airborne Corps. I removed the jump wings as they were a subdued pair of senior master blaster wings.

 

If anyone can help educate me on these I would deeply appreciate it!

post-203-1342119856.jpg post-203-1342119871.jpg

 

 

Probably started to be worn after the Corps was reactivated in May 1951, don,t believe one was worn in WWII. The photo below is one taken after VE day, it shows a few XVIII Airborne Corps Staff officers, a very interesting photo, I dont see hardly anyone with Jump wings no less the oval behind the ones that do have them, and even these wing may be in fact Glider Qualifcation Badges. Of note all are the wearing of the Glider/parachute badge on the caps as well as the Tabs over the shoulder patch, all of them I wager, as some have their left shoulkders facing away from the camera, also of note only two officers have their boots bloused, one of these, the one on the left doesn't seem to be wearing any wings, Parachute or Glider, a very interesting image.

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Looks like a picture of "Want-A Bees". No disrespect but Airborne units have plenty of "LEG" slot-fillers. Just as a note, WW2 jump veterans did'nt even consider Glider Infantry Troopers as genuine Airborne unless they were with the 11th. Like I said, no disrespect.

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Looks like a picture of "Want-A Bees". No disrespect but Airborne units have plenty of "LEG" slot-fillers. Just as a note, WW2 jump veterans did'nt even consider Glider Infantry Troopers as genuine Airborne unless they were with the 11th. Like I said, no disrespect.

 

The Paratroopers I can take it had absolutly no respect for Glider troopers, Funny they fought and died next to Paratroopers, giving there all just like the Paratroopers you figure one or two would say hey these Glider Riders are ALRIGHT !

 

 

From what I could see after a quick search on these Wanabees is that all these officers would be without a doubt highly repected and highly competant officers, most served in the 82nd Airborne Division thoughout the days in Sicily, Italy, Normandy, they were picked by Matthew Ridgway himself for this high comand Staff assignments, they also are decorated officers. They wear all the items they are intitaled to wear as Glider troops, the ones with Jump Boots, I sure are Jump qualified, it just being the silght bluryness of this image that we can't discern parachute badges on these men.

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The Paratroopers I can take it had absolutly no respect for Glider troopers, Funny they fought and died next to Paratroopers, giving there all just like the Paratroopers you figure one or two would say hey these Glider Riders are ALRIGHT !

From what I could see after a quick search on these Wanabees is that all these officers would be without a doubt highly repected and highly competant officers, most served in the 82nd Airborne Division thoughout the days in Sicily, Italy, Normandy, they were picked by Matthew Ridgway himself for this high comand Staff assignments, they also are decorated officers. They wear all the items they are intitaled to wear as Glider troops, the ones with Jump Boots, I sure are Jump qualified, it just being the silght bluryness of this image that we can't discern parachute badges on these men.

 

Well said...

 

I suspect that the paratroopers had just as much respect for glider troopers as anyone else. While I can't say for sure, there does seem to be a fair amount of elitism being tossed about concerning some of the WWII units well after the fact. I recall in BoB, someone says that the men joined the paratroopers so they didn't have to serve next to some draftee who would get them killed (said with a sneer, as if a draftee was a lesser being). I had later read that that particular statement stuck in more than a few people's craw--as if the infantry guys wading ashore on D-Day had it any easier than the guys parachuting into Normandy earlier that day. Perhaps Steven Ambrose kind of "goosed" that idea to make his point for his book. I suspect that the WWII paratroops that had actually done some fighting had just as much respect for the glider troops and infantrymen (and perhaps even the armor guys--especially late in December of '44) fighting (and getting killed) along side them as anyone else.

 

Patrick

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Well said- All the best-Rag

 

I think one thing is esprit de corps. The rightful pride in the training, skills and accomplishments that the units went through that bring them together as a cohesive organization. Lots of units have that--and the paratroopers and USMC seem to have it in spades :thumbsup: Sometimes, that may get mutated to something slightly more malignant--where pride of your accomplishments turns to scorn of other's abilities. That was what I was referring to in the BoB quote. I suspect that in pointing out the high esprit de corp of a company of 101st paratroopers who had gone through Toccoa, Ambrose had moved to the latter and implied disrespect of non-paratroopers.

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  • 2 months later...

I'm wondering if someone here might be able to help me with oval identification. I have an old picture of my great uncle who joined late in the war. We are having trouble finding any documentation saying what unit he was in. based on the picture, He's got jump wings on with an oval behind. The oval seems to either be two colors or one color with a thin diagonal line from top left to bottom right. On the sleeve, you can only see a small piece of the patch. It has an airborne tab which is not separated from the main patch like the 82nd patch. It seems to have a shield sort of shape. Potentially the read airborne patch? I'm very interested in the oval. Any help is very appreciated.

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By TO&E, the HHC of XVIII WAS NOT "AIRBORNE". It had no slots designated EITHER para or glider.

 

Its Airborne-ness -- including wearing the tab -- was the creation of Ridgway.

 

According to the War Dept, it was simply HHC, XVIII Corps. Even at the end of the war and back Stateside at Campbell, it was referred to as "XVIII Corps (Airborne)".

 

The few Parachutist slots (jump pay) there were in use/occupied were "stolen" from other units. Some such slots may have come from HHC 2nd AIRBORNE (by WD opinion and TO&E) Brigade. That unit was not inactivated during the war, though its subordinate units were taken away and ATTACHED to the 82nd and 101st from before Normandy until the end of the war.

 

Only when the XVIII was reactivated in 1951, was it OFFICIALLY designated "Airborne", per HQDA order.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm sure that ya'll have seen the combined para/ glider wings. I'm wondering about the correctness of them. Were they issued or private purchase, or none of the above?

 

Thanks

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