602nd FA Glider wings. Interesting example

[triplecanopy]

This set of Glider wings just appeared on eBay. Obviously hand made. It is an interesting variation.

[Bill Scott]

I had two of those years ago in a group exactly like the one shown. A very neat variation but a tad pricey.

[manayunkman]

They have some rare stuff for sale.

[Tonomachi]

When I first saw this glider infantry wing I thought it had a chance of being genuine.  I then looked at what else this seller had up for bid and I didn't like what I saw.  The 509th PIR wing with the numbers on top, four combat stars, two arrowheads, attached middle Caduceus with an asking price of 3500 dollars I had doubts about.  The paratrooper wing with the attached crucifix in the center with an asking price of $850.00 I had doubts about.  A supposed WW2 517th PIR felt patch with an asking price of 4500 dollars that I have never encountered before I had doubts about.  There was a pair of WW2 FSSF SSIs one of which was supposedly foreign made with an asking price of 550 dollars I had doubts about.   One of the things you do as a collector when you have doubts is to look at what other things the seller is selling.  If the stuff you see isn't genuine then the piece you have doubts about is probably also not genuine either.  However in this case the seller has both genuine and some higher end priced doubtful things or sale.  So I wondered if this was something a jeweler could put together as it would have been worth the time and effort with an asking price of 1500 dollars.  That bottom rectangular extension I'd seen before on an obviously fake British made US 1st Airborne Task Force paratrooper wing (see photos).   So I still wasn't sure about this piece until I came across another one made slightly differently but using the same basic design (see photo) and looked genuine.  So it would appear that this particular unit had at least two batches of these theater made glider infantry wings produced from different vendors and coupled with Bill Scott's statements of having sold two of these wings they are probably genuine.  

 

 

[Tonomachi]

I believe I found photos of the grouping Bill Scott was referring to (see photos).

 

 

[Tonomachi]

I was going through my reference photos and found something very interesting regarding the authenticity of these theater made glider infantry wings.  This is a theater made First Special Service Force paratrooper wing that I have listed as being a fake piece.  If you compare the glider infantry wing in Post 4 & 5 with this FSSF wing they look like they were made by the same person.  I wonder if the pin back assemblies are the same as I don't have a photograph of back of this glider infantry wing.  So if the FSSF wing is fake then the theater made glider infantry wing in Post 4 & 5 have to be fake as well.  This then doesn't bode well  for the authenticity of the glider infantry wing in Post 1.   

[pfrost]

Let me toss in some fire.... This is from my dad's collection.  He doesn't have the wing, but he did get a chance to look at it.

 

This is a vintage photo of a wing like the one above marked as the 887th (although he doesn't recall the specifics), he wasn't able to buy it but did get the photo.  The trooper was an A/B Engineer (the cap badge was red with white border, which he also saw).  Maybe it was made in Sicily?

 

The detail isn't great, but it sure looks like the ones on this post.

[Tonomachi]

I agree it sure does look like the theater made glider infantry wing in Post 4 & 5.  The only explanation I can think of is that the FSSF paratrooper wing is genuine but I thought it was already debunked as a fake piece by those that specialize in FSSF insignia.  The only other explanation is that someone found the original producer of these wings like in Italy somewhere and had some of these wings produced.  However if this was the case more of them would have surfaced by now.