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AAF technical badge question?


mmerc20
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It's not exactly a wing badge, but AAF related and I figured this would be the best place to ask this question.

 

Anyways, I have 8 AAF technical badges sitting in front of me right now with two of them standing out. They are unmarked and appear to be made of pewter. They are slightly larger than the others (1 1/2" from the top to the bottom ring vs. 1 3/8" for the others). The one has a "radio operator" bar and the other has the AP mechanic bar.

 

I don't know too much about these, but didn't think they were really faked. So I was wondering, could these have been theater made? Has anyone seen larger pewter examples before?

 

They are on the bottom row (far left and far right) in this picture. I can try to get some better pictures unless someone is quite certain about their background.

 

Thanks!

 

Mike

post-3373-1218506828.jpg

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I've seen reproduction Technician badges for sale at airshows, similar to your lower right piece. Also, I think the Aerial Bomber and Aerial Gunner bars were for marksmanship pins not technician pins, but I could be wrong.

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...I think the Aerial Bomber and Aerial Gunner bars were for marksmanship pins not technician pins, but I could be wrong....

You are correct. The aerial bomber and aerial gunner bars were authorized for the standard Army weapons qualification badge, not the AAF technician badge (source para. 76 and 77, AR 600-35, ed. Mar. 31, 1944). It is easy to understand why these two bars were mistakenly applied to the technician badge, however.

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craig_pickrall

This is directed more toward the Q bars rather than the badges and whether they were theater made. This is not the 100 % total answer but is a little more info to add to your data base. I received almost 1800 Q bars about 1995. These came from a surplus store that had been in operation since WW2. These Q bars were made of every material imaginable including about 100 or 120 made in pot metal or lead. That is the material that most closely matches your pewter pieces. Some of them were for the AAF Q Bars like you show.

 

Follow this link to see some of them:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...6&hl=q+bars

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I was just assuming they were pewter, but I was thinking they were lead. Why the heck would they be make one out of lead anyways?

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craig_pickrall

It wasn't a critical metal during WW2, was easy to get and easy to work with plus very cheap.

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