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What type jump wings are correct for Korea?


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Just wondering, what is the correct type of jump wings for the Korean era? Should they be pin back or clutch back? Should the parachute be solid or hollow? How about other markings, including Sterling. Thanks in advance for the help

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triplecanopy

I'll take a stab at answering your question. Most military insignia in the 1950's were affixed with broach pinbacks for uniform attachment. Not only jump wings but also unit crests, rank and branch insignia. Clutchback insignia slowly over the years replaced the pinbacks. Jump wings back then would have been made of STERLING silver and so marked.

In my opinion the hollow back jump wings came about as a cost saving measure to save a little on silver costs. There may be some others who can add their opinion.

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Allan H.

During the Korean War era, clutch back wings would have been a private purchase item. Pin back jump wings were still being issued at the Airborne School as late as 1967! I would expect an enlisted soldier to have a pair of pin back wings. I would also find it acceptable on higher grade soldiers to have spent the money for a sharper look. As an aside, the price of clutch back devices during this era and before were HIGHER than the price of pin back or screw back insignia.

 

Allan

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17 hours ago, triplecanopy said:

I'll take a stab at answering your question. Most military insignia in the 1950's were affixed with broach pinbacks for uniform attachment. Not only jump wings but also unit crests, rank and branch insignia. Clutchback insignia slowly over the years replaced the pinbacks. Jump wings back then would have been made of STERLING silver and so marked.

In my opinion the hollow back jump wings came about as a cost saving measure to save a little on silver costs. There may be some others who can add their opinion.

Mmmm, clutch back wings started showing up in 1944/45. The pilot wings I have found at WW2 era crash sites were all clutch back. I also have WW2 DUI's that are clutch backs from the same time period on uniforms and of course Army collar insignia and CIB's were cluth backs. The years after 1943 seem to be the start of the transition from pin back to clutch back. British made items were for the most part washed silver. At least that is what I have noticed.

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That is not strictly true, as various types/forms of clutch back fasteners were available as early as the 1920s.  However, some insignia, like the paratrooper badges, appeared to have been mostly manufactured with pinback fasteners during WWII.  Other WWII wings are almost always found as clutchback (I have found many more gilt AECo flight surgeon wings with clutchbacks than ones with pinbacks).  In that case, the gilded FS wings were approved in early 1943, then changed to silver about a year or so later). I think one has to be more careful when you are trying to talk about what type of fastener was used -- it can be insignia dependent, manufacturer of the insignia dependent, and the source of the insignia (i.e., government contract) dependent when we are discussing what was used various clutch back, pinback, and screwback attachment mechanisms.

 

But I think that Alan is correct that for paratrooper wings, the transition from mostly pinback to almost exclusively clutchback-type fasteners seems to have started sometime well after the KW ended. So a WWII vet getting called back into the Army during the KW OR a guy newly trained in the 50's... more than likely he would have had a pinback set of jump wings.  A VN war veteran... probably a clutchback set of wings. But I also expect that there will be all sorts of variations, exceptions, one-offs, etc.

 

There has always been a strong collector biases for pinback as opposed to clutchback.  I think that has caused some misunderstandings and incorrect lore about those types of fastners.  I strongly suspect that no one (outside of collectors) really cared that much, one way or the other. 

 

P

 

 

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