THIS IS CALLED A DIAMOND WING

[donaldnol]

That's what some call's these it looks to be a cast wing from what origin unknown doesn't look like real WASP

[5thwingmarty]

It may be cast but not from any genuine wing I have ever seen.  The "diamond" is not the right shape, and it doesn't even look symmetrical.  

[manayunkman]

Interesting and it looks like it’s been around a while.

 

 

[pfrost]

rule of thumb.  Not clutch back, not Josten, not any good. 

[David_HX]

Regretfully, that example is not original period correct -

 

 

WASP classes graduating in 1944 and thereafter were issued the newly designed official Army Air Forces WASP wings with a diamond-shaped lozenge in the center.

Unlike the earlier WASP wing design, with its central shield-shaped escutcheon, the new silver badge conformed to heraldic tradition by incorporating a lozenge centered between two wings.

 

In heraldic usage, a lozenge is the traditional shape of a woman’s coat of arms. It is said to have been selected for its resemblance to the shape of the shield carried by Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, weaving, crafts, and war.

 

This design was used until the deactivation of WASP in December 1944. There were no more WASP wings authorized after that.

 

Here is a genuine example:

 

 

 

[pfrost]

A slight quibble, the WASPs were not official USAAF organization. They didn't get that recognition until well after the war. The WASPs and the previous organizations (the WAFS and WFTD) were civilian organizations of women pilots that (IIRC) fell under the FAA, not the Military. 

 

That being said, I don't believe that the USAAF had any official uniform or insignia for the WASPS that would have been authorized by the military.  Like the other paramilitary organizations like the contract civilian pilot instructors, various other civilian ferry organizations (like commercial aviation contracted ferry organizations (i.e. PAA Ferry) and the ACFC of the ATC, were able to use their own insignia and uniforms. Although at various times their was some effort to make these items more uniform and by the end of the war, many of these organizations were either folded into the military or disbanded.

 

At some point, you will see some period observations that the women pilots in these early classes were characterized as a having a rather "un-uniform" appearance.  As can be seen in this picture....  In fact, this impressions is one of the things that (apparently) Jackie Cochran (a business woman who founded her own cosmetics company in civilian life was the one who designed the "Santiago Blue" uniform and WASP insignia) tried to combat.  BTY I also believe that the WASPs were required to buy their own uniforms (the wings were apparently provided by Jackie Cochran in 1944).

 

So, I believe I am correct in saying that there were no "official" USAAF WASP insignia.  There were WASP insignia that were approved to be worn as part of the WASP organization.

[P-59A]

17 hours ago, pfrost said:

A slight quibble, the WASPs were not official USAAF organization. They didn't get that recognition until well after the war. The WASPs and the previous organizations (the WAFS and WFTD) were civilian organizations of women pilots that (IIRC) fell under the FAA, not the Military. 

 

That being said, I don't believe that the USAAF had any official uniform or insignia for the WASPS that would have been authorized by the military.  Like the other paramilitary organizations like the contract civilian pilot instructors, various other civilian ferry organizations (like commercial aviation contracted ferry organizations (i.e. PAA Ferry) and the ACFC of the ATC, were able to use their own insignia and uniforms. Although at various times their was some effort to make these items more uniform and by the end of the war, many of these organizations were either folded into the military or disbanded.

 

At some point, you will see some period observations that the women pilots in these early classes were characterized as a having a rather "un-uniform" appearance.  As can be seen in this picture....  In fact, this impressions is one of the things that (apparently) Jackie Cochran (a business woman who founded her own cosmetics company in civilian life was the one who designed the "Santiago Blue" uniform and WASP insignia) tried to combat.  BTY I also believe that the WASPs were required to buy their own uniforms (the wings were apparently provided by Jackie Cochran in 1944).

 

So, I believe I am correct in saying that there were no "official" USAAF WASP insignia.  There were WASP insignia that were approved to be worn as part of the WASP organization.

Pfrost, What you state is as I understand it. Cochran did pay out of pocket for the graduation wings. The girls could buy extra overstocked wings if they had any over stocked wings left over from those who washed out.  I know this to be true for Marie Michel Robinson. Her brother had two wings that belonged to her.

[Noelle]

On 10/26/2022 at 2:59 PM, pfrost said:

A slight quibble, the WASPs were not official USAAF organization. They didn't get that recognition until well after the war. The WASPs and the previous organizations (the WAFS and WFTD) were civilian organizations of women pilots that (IIRC) fell under the FAA, not the Military. 

 

That being said, I don't believe that the USAAF had any official uniform or insignia for the WASPS that would have been authorized by the military.  Like the other paramilitary organizations like the contract civilian pilot instructors, various other civilian ferry organizations (like commercial aviation contracted ferry organizations (i.e. PAA Ferry) and the ACFC of the ATC, were able to use their own insignia and uniforms. Although at various times their was some effort to make these items more uniform and by the end of the war, many of these organizations were either folded into the military or disbanded.

 

At some point, you will see some period observations that the women pilots in these early classes were characterized as a having a rather "un-uniform" appearance.  As can be seen in this picture....  In fact, this impressions is one of the things that (apparently) Jackie Cochran (a business woman who founded her own cosmetics company in civilian life was the one who designed the "Santiago Blue" uniform and WASP insignia) tried to combat.  BTY I also believe that the WASPs were required to buy their own uniforms (the wings were apparently provided by Jackie Cochran in 1944).

 

So, I believe I am correct in saying that there were no "official" USAAF WASP insignia.  There were WASP insignia that were approved to be worn as part of the WASP organization.

Almost entirely correct.  The things that are official are officia as far as Cochran approving them to be made in designated ways by designated companies, and then those items being issued to and used by the women.  Nothing was government-official until 1977.

 

While Cochran funded the wings herself, knowing how important this small acknowledgement was to the women, the women had to pay for everything else, from the barracks to their training.  Absurd to think about how they had to pay for the freaking barracks and training while men were paid for their training time.  The women’s aviation museum in Oklahoma City has a pay stub from one of the women showing a payroll deduction of about $20 off a paycheck that was just $120 to begin with.  The women were capped at 70% of the men’s rate, making the claim that the WASP was “too expensive” and that they needed to be replaced by men utter BS.

 

However the thing that’s not entirely correct is that their blues were official.  Despite being civilians on paper, they, like other civilian contractors, were still expected to wear uniforms. AF Regulation 40-9, dated February 14th, 1944, goes into this.  I think it’s telling that it took so long for the stupid government (yeah, I’m calling the government stupid for this—the feds ignored what these women did, and I think we all agree that that was incredibly wrong) to get around to this.  Prior to Santiagos, which happened to be the first blue quasi-military uniform, the women had their own ensembles that they dubbed General’s Whites.  Khaki slacks and white blouses.  Much more cohesive of a look to graduate in, even if they had to wear size 44-Long flying suits, suits so big that my 6’1”-husband would probably be drowning.

 

I do wonder how much the Santiagos cost considering they were supplied by Neiman Marcus and individually tailored to each woman.  That wouldn’t have been an inexpensive purchase.