When was this Major's Maple leaf issued?

[goral432]

Hi - I was wondering if this is a WW2 issue item, or something else? USMC? Thanks in advance for any help!

[Cobrahistorian]

Looks WWII or just pre-WWII to me. (PS, it's an Oak leaf, not Maple). I've got a similar set of LTC leaves on my living history class A uniform.

[GIl Sanow]

First of all, these were not ISSUED -- officers bought their own insignia. I would agree that this is post WW2 -- not sure of national origin though. Could be German or Japanese made since we had troops both places doing occupation duty.

 

G

[goral432]

I was told they were USMC Major's Maple Leaves. Now, you say they are neither Maple Leaves, or US? There sure is a lot of confusion (a nice way of saying BS!) flying around Militaria shows! I know the Italians were pretty good at Bullion - at least for the Germans. Maybe they also made these?

[patches]

Maple Leafs ? The correct description is Oak Leaf, who sold them to you had better bone up on his U.S. military terminology

 

These have a OD wool backing, correct? Then I would say they are for a Army officer, heck maybe not even WWII but earlier in the 20s or 30s, maybe even WWI.

[MattS]

The United States military uses oak leaks for O-4 and O-5 ranks, Canada uses maple leaves. American leaves come in two styles (and gold or silver); Army/Air Force pattern and Navy/Marine Corps pattern. These could have been worn by an Army or an Army Air Force (pre-1947) uniform although the shade of wool suggests pre-WW2 to my eye.

 

Left is Army/AF pattern right is USN/USMC

[Justin B.]

You have to admit, though, botanically, the leaves don't look much like oak. OLCs, visor scrambled egg, army GO cap trim and navy staff corps devices all look closer to oak than the O-4/O-5 leaves. Though they don't look like maple, either.

 

Justin B.

[goral432]

I saw them called "maple leaves" on ebay. I should have known better than to believe some of those morons who sell on ebay! One guy called a Silver set of Oak Leaves "Major's rank pin". Thanks for all the help guys.

[patches]

Well look Goral, despite the mis-naming or totally wrong seller description of this pair, you do have as far as I can see, as well as other members can see, a real pair of Army Oak Leaf ranks which are most definetely of some vintage, the time period being anywhere going back to when OD uniforms first came out in 1904/06, I know I,m not real expert in IDing these as far as date, but there are other members who are real up on IDing the make and period of these types, so don't take it to hard

[goral432]

I like 'em. I'm just glad to hear they are genuine, and not some Packy rip-off. The mis-naming thing is no biggie to me. I hope somebody REALLY knowledgeable in this old stuff can tell me exactly when they were made, and who would have worn them. Did the USMC also wear OD in WW1?.

[KurtA]

I've never seen such rank insignia, but I really like them. I believe them to be U.S. Army and much older than WW2 - branch colored for infantry. But, that's just a guess...

[MattS]

Branch colored for infantry? My guess is 80+ year-old tarnished gold bullion with a hint of blue/green verdigris.

[patches]

I like 'em. I'm just glad to hear they are genuine, and not some Packy rip-off. The mis-naming thing is no biggie to me. I hope somebody REALLY knowledgeable in this old stuff can tell me exactly when they were made, and who would have worn them. Did the USMC also wear OD in WW1?.

 

Yes and No. The Marines wore their now traditional Forrest Green, in France however in times of heavy combat and a uniform needed replacing some men were issued the Army's OD uniforms, plus to keep supply simple there was a period that the Marines issued out of not the Forrest Green uniforms and had to issue the ODs. But to say these would be Marine officer WWI AEF worn is possible, but it is a stretch, with these OAK LEAVES it's best to consider them Army, you know focusing on the obvious rather than the obscure.

[goral432]

Now that it has been decided the Oaks are WW 1, ARMY vintage, are they still made by some foreign country? Or were they made by the US? Getting info on these items is like pulling teeth blindfolded, while wearing handcuffs. Eventually the facts will come out, I imagine - unless the patient decides to bite me!

[Nack]

Remember, there were something like 10x the troops in WWII as WWI, so there is a lot more WWII officer stuff around than WWI. I think the insignia is WWI. It might be easier to tell if I had them in-hand.

 

Anyway, it's an area where few are really knowledgeable because of the relative scarcity of the items.

[goral432]

Remember, there were something like 10x the troops in WWII as WWI, so there is a lot more WWII officer stuff around than WWI. I think the insignia is WWI. It might be easier to tell if I had them in-hand.

 

Anyway, it's an area where few are really knowledgeable because of the relative scarcity of the items.

At last some good news! I thought they were virtually worthless, but now that they are rare, I'm sure the value went up - a little bit, anyway.