does it exist? 3'in nurse

[Costa]

question---------- was there ever a 3'in flight nurse wing made in ww2?? I see the 2'in but, just curious.

[pconrad02]

To the best of my knowledge only the 2" was authorized

[pconrad02]

To the best of my knowledge only the 2" was authorized

[Steve D.]

It may exist, but I would not be interested in one for my collection. I have over a half dozen different originals on my Flight Nurse uniforms and they

are all the 2 inch size.

[5thwingmarty]

Only 2" wings for AAF flight nurses were ever authorized.

[Costa]

thank you guys. listed on ebay now. listed as a 3'in.

[Kropotkin]

Strange. That definitely looks like an authentic LGB flight surgeon wing. It could be that the N was applied after the fact or was a period alteration for ‘unauthorized’ wear by a flight nurse miffed at having to sport smaller wings.

[pfrost]

LGB (later versions seem to be marked "Vanguard") used this pattern of wing well after WWII. It is possible that this was a transitional badge between the USAAF to the USAF in the 1950's. It cold also be that some made the addition of an "N" suggested by Kropotikin.

 

IIRC I once saw an attributed grouping from a flight nurse who had a flight nurse wing that was a bit less than 3 inches long. But it may have been a reunion piece as it was gilt and she was a late war service member.

[5thwingmarty]

So if I pose the question "Did Bell Trading Company ever produce flight nurse wings in WWII" will one magically appear for sale on ebay? Just asking for a friend.

[Costa]

that is what made me notice that wing--- the rivets. they are or look to be a factory installed as LGB wings are.

[5thwingmarty]

I think many, if not most of the flight nurse wings were made by attaching N's to flight surgeon wings (the Acid Test flight nurse wings being an exception). The LGB-dazzle pattern examples on Bob's site have smaller N's of different letter styles than this 3" wing. The N on this wing looks a lot bigger than the N's applied to the 2" wings, so I would say it was not just a production error by LGB. The uniform tarnish on the base wing and the N implies the N has been on this wing for at least most of the wing's existance, and it looks like a vintage WWII LGB wing. Without a vintage photo of the wing being worn, it will be impossible to know how genuine this one really is.