Tonomachi Posted April 24, 2014 Share #1 Posted April 24, 2014 I was wondering if this was a POW wing (bombardier?) or something else. It is small measuring 1 1/2" across from wing tip to wing tip. It is made of a very light weight metal. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted April 24, 2014 Back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hink441 Posted April 28, 2014 Share #3 Posted April 28, 2014 I am surprised that no one has offered any comments on this wing. I certainly am not an expert, but it sure looks like a possible POW wing to my eyes. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindzjal Posted April 28, 2014 Share #4 Posted April 28, 2014 I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 28, 2014 Share #5 Posted April 28, 2014 I've never seen that design cast in a POW camp. The construction is consistent as long as you are sure it's lead. If it's some other metal , it's probably not POW made. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonomachi Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share #6 Posted April 29, 2014 I've never seen that design cast in a POW camp. The construction is consistent as long as you are sure it's lead. If it's some other metal , it's probably not POW made. Kurt Thanks for the information. The metal feels more like tin as lead would be heavier I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindzjal Posted April 29, 2014 Share #7 Posted April 29, 2014 I've never seen that design cast in a POW camp. The construction is consistent as long as you are sure it's lead. If it's some other metal , it's probably not POW made. Kurt I am sorry but I can not agree with that. The most POW badges during WWII were made out of tin. There were some badges made of aluminium and lead, but most of them were made out of tin. The reason for that is very simple: tin was available at every POW camp (all rain gutters were made off tin). Best regards, kindzjal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted May 29, 2014 Share #8 Posted May 29, 2014 The POW wings I have in my collection are at least mainly lead and not 100% tin. ( The lead came from the seals from Klim or other cans or melted tin foil wrappers ). One of the wings I used to own wings was broken because it seemed brittle so it could have been tin. This paragraph from a book is what most POWs have told me over the years concerning making wings. None have ever mentioned using tin gutters to me. Do you have any photos of Barracks in Luft 1 or 3 using tin gutters? It would be possible to make a wing from tin because the melting point for tin is lower than lead (449.5°F (231.9°C) vs 621.5°F (327.5°C) I can say with 100% conviction I have never seen a documented example of that particular wing design coming out of a POW camp from an untouched POW group that has never been in collector hands. I have not seen an example dug from one of the camps either. My point is that these are easy to fake, and unless you know where the wing came from via provenence, they are always suspect. Do you have some examples you can post? I would love to see them as I am always open to adding to what I know about this subject. I was especially love to see some dug examples. I just bought some items dug from Sagan that I just posted on the POW dogtag thread. One of them was a style of Luft 3 dogtag I had never seen before that I was able to attribute to an American by Gefangennummer , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindzjal Posted October 1, 2014 Share #9 Posted October 1, 2014 Sorry for my late answer, but I didn't see Your reaction before. When I started collecting POW made badges, I also thought that all of them were made out of lead, but time learned that I was wrong. 60% of the POW badges which I own now ( about 60 pieces) are made of tin, 10% are aluminium made and 30% are the lead ones. I also can tell You that all of my badges were found at Stalag Luft III and Stalag VIIIB - Luft. Many of them by myself, others by my emplyees (I own a forestry work in Silesia, Poland). Each of them is a 100% original and was also photographed when found. If You wish to see some examples, please send me Your e-mail. The tin badges were not only made from material stolen from the gutters but also from Red Cross (tin) milk cans (see this nice example from Stalag Luft III). Last week I went to the Stalag Luft III Museum in Sagan, to see what kind of POW wings they own: 70% lead and 30% tin and all of them have been dug found in the forests at the former camp site. Yes, I have seen the Sagan EKM which You have bought, I also know who found it We had allready a long time ago a discussion about that type of dog tag and there are differend opinions about it: some say that these type was issued to POW's, other collectors think that those are German EKM's which belonged to the guards. Best regards, kindzjal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted October 9, 2014 Share #10 Posted October 9, 2014 I am not an expert or even a novice on POW wings.This one reminds of a WW1 bombardier wing that was posted on here awhile back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindzjal Posted October 10, 2014 Share #11 Posted October 10, 2014 No. The wings comes from Al Cox’s estate with the little cardboard backing which he put his wings upon and labeled when he returned from war . Al Cox’s name is scratched into the back of the wing along with Sagan and 44 ‘. These are 2 inch wings made from tin salvaged from powdered milk hands as Al notes on the card the wings are attached to. The men contructed these wings in porcelin or clay moulds they would make from the wings of the downed pilots, crewmen etc. The wings are attached to the symbolic Ball and Chain which signifies their inability to fly, being chained to earth. Included in this grouping is the Missing Aircrew Report and accompanying documents which were copied from originals and input into web diaries of squadrons etc. Al Cox’s B-24 was shot down by enemy aircraft over Austria on 19 March 1944. http://militariawingswwii.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/albert-w-cox-pow-stalag-luft-iii-enter-cox-exit-the-great-escape-ers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted October 10, 2014 Share #12 Posted October 10, 2014 No. The wings comes from Al Cox’s estate with the little cardboard backing which he put his wings upon and labeled when he returned from war . Al Cox’s name is scratched into the back of the wing along with Sagan and 44 ‘. These are 2 inch wings made from tin salvaged from powdered milk hands as Al notes on the card the wings are attached to. The men contructed these wings in porcelin or clay moulds they would make from the wings of the downed pilots, crewmen etc. The wings are attached to the symbolic Ball and Chain which signifies their inability to fly, being chained to earth. Included in this grouping is the Missing Aircrew Report and accompanying documents which were copied from originals and input into web diaries of squadrons etc. Al Cox’s B-24 was shot down by enemy aircraft over Austria on 19 March 1944. http://militariawingswwii.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/albert-w-cox-pow-stalag-luft-iii-enter-cox-exit-the-great-escape-ers/ Ok calm down. I was talking about the wing that started the original post.Tonomachi's wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindzjal Posted October 10, 2014 Share #13 Posted October 10, 2014 Ok, no problemo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted October 11, 2014 Share #14 Posted October 11, 2014 Ok, no problemo Your wings are awesome.I love the ball & chain.I have never seen one in person.Are these, or any of the POW wings, fragile.ie: bend easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now