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WW1 Aviation Collar Insignia question


LtDan
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Hello,

I'm looking at this aviation collar insignia. It is supposed to be an original WW1 aviation collar insignia. I understand this insignia was never actually authorized and few were worn. There seem to be so many reproductions on the market,.......I would appreciate any opinions/comments regarding this insignia.

Thanks.

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I wish I could give you some information about these. if I had to guess (and that is all it would be) is that these look good to me.

 

Someone once told me that the vast number of these that you see on eBay right now were made from original dies some years ago. I have no idea if that is true or not, but that makes it difficult to tell the real WWI vintage ones (which as you say weren't approved) with the newer ones made for collectors.

 

My sense is that you kind of have to decide for yourself if they are right or not.

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An Article from a 1917 magazine concerning military aviation. Might be of interest concerning this insignia..

 

 

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Thank you pfrost for your opinion and comments. I appreciate it. I have compared them to photos in the books of Terry Morris & Duncan Campbell, and they appear to be correct. I was not aware of the possibility that some may have been made at a later date.

Thanks MastersMate for that very interesting article.

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Several years ago a dealer in the north west sold numerous aviation uniforms all sporting the crossed signal flags with wing. Then low and behold in one issue of his catalogue the dies to the silver wing appeared. They were quickly scooped up by some unknown source and since then there have been any number of the signal flags with small silver wing attached showing up on e-bay and other sites. All that being said the wing on the flags pictured here is a little different from those dies and the wear pattern on the wing and flags is consistant. I wouldn't have a problem with this particular set, based on the pictures and the construction they appear to be period. Notice the tip of the right wing has been broken off. Keep in mind these only appeared stateside for around a 80 day period so originals are few and far between.

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Several years ago a dealer in the north west sold numerous aviation uniforms all sporting the crossed signal flags with wing. Then low and behold in one issue of his catalogue the dies to the silver wing appeared. They were quickly scooped up by some unknown source and since then there have been any number of the signal flags with small silver wing attached showing up on e-bay and other sites. All that being said the wing on the flags pictured here is a little different from those dies and the wear pattern on the wing and flags is consistant. I wouldn't have a problem with this particular set, based on the pictures and the construction they appear to be period. Notice the tip of the right wing has been broken off. Keep in mind these only appeared stateside for around a 80 day period so originals are few and far between.

 

Thank you........and thanks for pointing out the broken wing tip. They look a lot like figure # 2 on page 37 of Duncan Campbell's book (and the tip of those appear to be cut off as well). I also thought they were similar to # C-4 on page 38 of your book. I wasn't sure what the back of those wings looked like. Thanks again.

 

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There is a lot of these things out there, it seems. I suspect that in addition to the fakes, you may have had a lot of surplus stock, as the companies may have made up a relatively large run of product, even if only a few were worn for a short time period.

 

Here is an interesting thread showing a variety of the AS devices (from our own CThomas).

 

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/aviation-history/u-s-air-service-collar-insignia-collection-16322/

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There is a lot of these things out there, it seems. I suspect that in addition to the fakes, you may have had a lot of surplus stock, as the companies may have made up a relatively large run of product, even if only a few were worn for a short time period.

 

Here is an interesting thread showing a variety of the AS devices (from our own CThomas).

 

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/aviation-history/u-s-air-service-collar-insignia-collection-16322/

 

Thanks pfrost. That's an interesting and informative thread. And thanks for the link to the collar insignia offered by Flying Tiger Antiques.

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All,

 

There appears to be some conflation of information with respect to Air Service Collar insignia.

 

From the time of its forming in August 1907 to the early months of US entry into WW1, there were no prescribed distinctive insignia for US Airmen. Assigned to the Signal Corps, most Air Service officers training to become Aviators wore Signal Corps branch insignia. Some of these early officers, detailed to aviation from other branches, continued to wear their parent branch insignia on their uniforms.

 

At some time in 1917, merchants recognized an apparent demand for some sort of distinctive Air Service insignia, and began to market strictly unofficial insignia with various appurtenances added to the base Signal Corps insignia:

 

 

 

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Many other variations exist, however it should be noted that these insignia were never authorized; they were strictly unofficial.

 

These unofficial insignia were apparently worn by young aviation cadets to show off their elite status as nascent aviators. Period studio portrait photographs exist of aviation cadets wearing various forms of the above insignia, taken throughout and just after the war.

 

In the 1990s, a number of these original, unofficial insignia surfaced in the Frank Brothers cache in San Antonio, TX. These insignia were almost certainly never available through official channels but were likely easily obtained from the various merchants marketing to the young Airmen. The sheer number of variations is itself indicative of a robust demand for such insignia.

 

Evidently these unofficial insignia were predominately worn by young fledgling aviators off base; at dances and other social occasions (to distinguish Aviation Cadets from other officers when interacting with civilian young ladies) and for portraits (to send the folks back home). When the Army became aware of this practice, it evidently moved to stop wear of these unofficial insignia--as noted by the Air Service Journal article above.

 

These insignia were probably worn (strictly unofficially; and likely only when they would not get in trouble for wearing them) from the time they became available for purchase until the war finally ended by soldiers wanting to express their affiliation with the Air Service to civilians.

 

The above insignia should not be confused with the next insignia:

 

Noting the need for a distinctive insignia for Airmen in the American Expeditionary Forces, Brigadier General Benjamin Foulois, then Chief of the Air Service approved a distinctive insignia for wear overseas:

 

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This insignia was authorized by General Pershing for wear by Air Service Officers in the AEF on 27 April 1918. This authorized insignia was worn only overseas. Additionally this insignia was only authorized for an 80 day period, and local manufacturers probably took at least a few weeks to get dies made to produce the insignia. It is likely that these insignia were only worn officially for about two months. There is however photographic evidence that a few Air Service officers continued to wear this insignia throughout the war--probably to show their status as "early birds."

 

On 17 July 1918, the Air Service was finally authorized an official insignia of its own:

 

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With the arrival of an official insignia, nearly all officers assigned to the Air Service would have switched to the new insignia.

 

Notably, as large-scale training got underway, Aviation cadets were carried as enlisted men for the duration of their training and generally wore enlisted uniforms and insignia with the addition of a unique, round, four-bladed (spinning) propellor shoulder insignia and a 1 1/2 inch white pique band worn on garrison caps and Montana-peak hats.

 

Interestingly, at some training fields Aviation Cadets seem to have worn Signal Corps collar disks and at other fields Air Service disks. There does seem to have been some official confusion on the matter. It is likely that some of these aviation cadets continued the practice of wearing the unofficial Signal Corps insignia with wing appurtenances; unofficially, off post, and only when they thought they could "get away with it."

 

Chris

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Somewhat less readily explainable are the various enlisted variations of the strictly unofficial Air Service insignia:

 

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It is my opinion that these unofficial, Air Service-related enlisted insignia exist for a similar purpose as the unofficial officer insignia--with a key difference. When large-scale training of Aviation Cadets got underway, the cadets were carried as enlisted men. If an enlisted man was caught wearing officer insignia he would be liable to be charged with "impersonating an officer." A court martial-able offense!

 

On the other hand, wearing an unauthorized enlisted insignia would have the same affect of showing the Cadet's status as a trainee aviator to the local civilians, but if the solder was caught he would only be liable for the potentially far lesser offense of wearing the wrong insignia on his uniform.

 

In the first hand monograph "The Hawks that Guided the Guns" the author relates how local non-Aviation officers often spread the rumor among the local girls that the white pique band worn on hats by Aviation Cadets meant the wearer was a venerial disease case! The fledgling aviators were very much the "rock stars" of their day and many of these young men must have wanted to show their affiliation in any way they could.

 

Similar to the officer's insignia above, merchants must have recognized a demand and marketed the insignia to the soldiers. The fact that these enlisted disks continue to surface in original groupings indicates a certain popularity for these unofficial insignia.

 

No doubt the Top Sergeant would not have tolerated their wear; yet we can be sure they were worn--at least unofficially.

 

Overseas was an altogether different story:

 

The 27 April 1918 authorization of Air Service Overseas insignia made no mention of a similar insignia for enlisted men. However, enterprising merchants must have assumed that the insignia were authorized as the insignia clearly exist:

 

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Again, similar to the officer insignia above, official Air Service insignia for enlisted men were prescribed 17 July 1918. Again anticipating demand, local merchants in France soon began to manufacture the new official and authorized insignia; some of which bear little resemblance to officially approved designs:

 

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Once the Army supply system caught up with demand, enlisted soldiers would have normally been issued correct Air Service disks. Throughout WW1, there is evidence that the Army struggled to meet all the needs of the force and there seems to have been some tolerance for enlisted men wearing previously authorized but officially issued insignia until (or in lieu of) newly authorized insignia could be issued.

 

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In the general info department, an item from one of the aviation journals of the era. A small news item announcing the upcoming new Air Service insignia..

 

 

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