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WWI Machine Gun Aero Officer Insignia - Original or Fantasy?


militbuff
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Can anyone tell me if this pair of insignia are original or if they are fantasy pieces?  This is the only pic I have but I’m asking for better pics of the front and back.

 

Many thanks.

9175E40E-6512-4DB4-B1D0-8F55B594C25E.jpeg

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I have never seen that before.

 

I would be suspicious.  

 

On the other hand....the officer's MG BN insignia itself is somewhat scarce to find.

 

 

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The condition of the blackened brass would be my biggest ???  

 

Would like to see the back of the insignia for sure, but without provenance I don't think these are anything I'd want to add to my collection. 

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Here are some close-ups of the front and back.  I asked for better pics, especially of the pinback, but interestingly, it appears that the wings have two prongs that were bent over the crossed rifles to attach the wings.  If original, perhaps they were for an AA unit at an aerodrome, as Patches suggested.

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87BA2434-9E60-4945-BA85-50EFBAA866A9.jpeg

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Here’s a slightly better pic of the back.  It looks like the upper one clearly has a “C” catch but I can’t make out the bottom one.

 

 

D825F48B-8A53-47BE-BB2B-EA7E8B27430D.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

First off why would the Infantry be providing antiaircraft cover for anyone that is the job of the Coast Artillery. Infantry guns were not designed to fire up in the air and track aircraft they would require modification. My bet is that someone had the little propellers and and thought "that would look good on there" and put them on the collar insignia.  

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The big guns evidently were formed as part of the CAC, QE pointed this out. however from this topic there were Infantry MG units assigned to AA Duty listed, with photos of  officers with the similar crossed MG rifles,some has a Number on it, some don't.

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/253350-antiaircraft-artillery-units-in-wwi-aef/

 

Perhaps if this is a legit set of collar insignia, then the propeller was added to  show affiliation, and mimic for lack of a better word, the propeller seen on these patches for AA.

 

image.png.e57ee9123ff559fe54d72b0f7965dbd3.png

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