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WWII Jump Wings and Ovals


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Wing with star and oval to a 504th PIR "A" Co vet. This guy didn't make any combat jumps according to his discharge so it has be a little puzzled, but this did come direct from the family.

 

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It is actually not all that common to find WWII jump wings with the stars added. In fact, it was far more common to find the stars added in the occupation period, though wartime examples do indeed exist.

 

My guess here is that your veteran picked these up and they were what was available, or perhaps he saw others with a star on the wing and felt that he shouldhave one on his wing also. It is all tough to say. As for Patrick's question about Bastogne- in a word, no. The stars were for combat jumps. The other issue that we have is that the soldier was in the 504th PIR, part of the 82nd A/B. They weren't at Bastogne.

 

Allan

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It is actually not all that common to find WWII jump wings with the stars added. In fact, it was far more common to find the stars added in the occupation period, though wartime examples do indeed exist.

 

My guess here is that your veteran picked these up and they were what was available, or perhaps he saw others with a star on the wing and felt that he shouldhave one on his wing also. It is all tough to say. As for Patrick's question about Bastogne- in a word, no. The stars were for combat jumps. The other issue that we have is that the soldier was in the 504th PIR, part of the 82nd A/B. They weren't at Bastogne.

 

Allan

Thanks Allan, I definitely agree with him adding them during the occupation period, he probably thought they stood out and they definitely look sharp.

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I'm now going to change my answer based on the discharge certificate that you posted in the groups section. It looks like your guy was a replacement that hit the regiment in July 1944. He got campaign credit for the Rhineland campaign, so he was in the Netherlands. My assumption is that he jumped on Market Garden and that he simply didn't have an arrowhead device noted on the discharge, so he didn't have it on the ribbon. IF he was a replacement sent to the Netherlands after the jump, he may have simply assumed that the star was for Holland and so figured he should have one too since he was there

 

Allan

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I'm now going to change my answer based on the discharge certificate that you posted in the groups section. It looks like your guy was a replacement that hit the regiment in July 1944. He got campaign credit for the Rhineland campaign, so he was in the Netherlands. My assumption is that he jumped on Market Garden and that he simply didn't have an arrowhead device noted on the discharge, so he didn't have it on the ribbon. IF he was a replacement sent to the Netherlands after the jump, he may have simply assumed that the star was for Holland and so figured he should have one too since he was there

 

Allan

Interesting. My guy earned his wings on 28th October 44 which would put him much after Market Garden drop.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Three examples of 501st PIR ovals and wings:

- Early style with embroidered wing

- Early style without embroidered wing

- Late war-early occupation era on twill with different color shades

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Great uniforms and your first oval being sewn on is further proof that this was done during wartime as some have suggested in the past that this was only a post war practice.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A late war replacement in the 101st, this trooper was transferred to the 82nd/508th for occupation duty. This oval is identified in the Keller book as being German made. This stands to reason given his service

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Another late war 101st replacement who served on occupation duty with the 508th. Although his ETO ribbon does not have a star, his record shows that he served in combat with the 101st during the last months of the war.

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  • 1 year later...
beerdragon54

Just bought this set. Anyone ever seen a set with the jeweled or diamonds in the wings?Posted ImagePosted Image

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 9 months later...

Don't think I've seen wings like these on here yet. Sew on, no hallmark. They belonged to a B Company, 1/505th PIR trooper (Sicily, Naples, Normandy, Market Garden, Ardennes, Rhineland and Germany) with 3 combat jumps.

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I have one of these sew on wings in my collection that also came from a 505th PIR veteran. I believe them to be Italian made as that was my vet's recollection as to where he got them.

 

As an aside, he said that he REALLY liked the sew on wing because it looked better on the oval and he said they never fell off!

 

Allan

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Don't think I've seen wings like these on here yet. Sew on, no hallmark. They belonged to a B Company, 1/505th PIR trooper (Sicily, Naples, Normandy, Market Garden, Ardennes, Rhineland and Germany) with 3 combat jumps.

I have only ever come across this wing on a WW2 era 505th P.I.R. oval. They are mostly sewn on but there is also a scarcer variant that has an Italian style pin back assembly. Below is a picture of one from my collection which is sewn on and another pair of photos of the scarcer pin back variant.

 

Sewn On

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