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Posted

I’ve taken some rather amateurish pictures of my WW2 wing collection. I haven’t really collected WW2 in 20 years, but kept the wings and maybe add 1 or 2 a year

IMG_7527.jpeg

IMG_7528.jpeg

Posted

I’ve added these 3 BevCraft wings (There were 3 Bombadier wings….I gave 2 to friends)

Posted

Any idea what this?

IMG_7535.jpeg

Posted

And this?

IMG_7536.jpeg

IMG_7538.jpeg

IMG_7539.jpeg

Posted

Thanks for looking

 

Keith

Persian Gulf Command
Posted

Great assortment of Wings!

LuftStalg1
Posted

Some beautiful stuff Keith and a couple I have never seen before. Thank you for sharing, I learned a few things today. 💖

jeff41st
Posted

Really nice collection. Thanks for sharing it.

JohnK83882
Posted

I notice you don't have miniature wings for the aircraft pilot. https://www.ebay.com/itm/256762987656

 

It's also listed in the for sale section for a bit less.

 

Oh, I see it now in the first picture. Nevermind.

Posted

If you want any additional pictures just let me me know.

 

Keith

rathbonemuseum.com
Posted

I am really fascinated by the Philippine guerrilla wings. First I have seen or heard of those. The style is based on the Constabulary air corps wings, an outgrowth of the US-based colonial government. You can seen them here: https://ww2wings.com/wings/philippines/philippinespilot.shtml

 

Have you found any more history on this wing other than the paragraph you shared above? 

 

Tod

Posted

Tod,

 

I inherited these wings from another old friend, but you’re right, the same general shape of the wing.

 

Keith

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Could the wing in post #5 be for a WWI Observer?

rathbonemuseum.com
Posted
On 1/5/2025 at 4:22 PM, Usa1918 said:

Any idea what this?

IMG_7535.jpeg

 

It is pretending to be an early US air service observer wing but it does not match any know patterns and i find its design and manufacture suspect. 

Posted

I've seen a similar pattern recently described as a British Observer wing

 

Keith

Posted

Keith,

 

Unfortunately Tod is correct, this is a fake badge and moreover it is part of a well-known series of fakes.  Worse still, this faker was very prolific, somewhat creative, and as a result there are many, many bad badge designs floating around made by this same dishonest maker.  

 

What's worse; this series is only one of several fairly distinct feathering styles he commonly used.  

 

All of the fakes in this particular group bear similar, "hard, edged, angular feathering, that Duncan Campbell described as looking, "similar to fletching of arrows."  They are pretty easy to spot once you get used to them.

 

Here are others with this same style of feathering by this same faker:

 

7APR22OBV.jpeg.485942863752a2d3d8ebfb8f9b832fd1.jpeg

 

FAKEANCWing.jpg.7f8d7d3f19725119d05cb64771e7d4c0.jpg

 

f1obv.jpg.e10be101dfa0c4761e7b3547968ca66f.jpg

 

29MAR22OBV.jpeg.ff6c641728fdd82c7bd23f859067ce95.jpeg

 

s-l160012a.jpeg.558a6a7dfca611fa59bcfef1c4f2be06.jpeg

 

ScreenShot2015-02-13at5_53_16AM.png.af6ba68acb0b033c8fd62fd499255a11.png

 

ScreenShot2015-02-13at5_59_30AM.png.a7ade9a16489d863e32d97bd49b43110.png

 

ScreenShot2015-02-14at8_55_20PM.png.9cbc5c98bd5ef47436e2a52318d937c2.png

 

ScreenShot2020-11-26at11_38_32AM.png.8b403d2d75609218885ee44290f3dd04.png

 

 

Many of these badges have been documented in the below thread.  Its a long read but it contains a wealth of extremely valuable information that isn't available elsewhere:

 

Warm regards.

 

Chris

Posted

There are some lovely wings in this collection. in many ways a superb collection that I enjoyed ogling!! 😍

That being said I think Tod and Chris have raised some valid concerns.

Posted

Lucky I paid nothing for them them

 

Keith

Posted

That is the best way to do it!  Free!  Cool beans

Posted

Yes, free is good

rathbonemuseum.com
Posted

It is hard to build a sizeable collection and not have a couple of “dingers”.

Posted
3 hours ago, rathbonemuseum.com said:

It is hard to build a sizeable collection and not have a couple of “dingers”.

Tod, @rathbonemuseum.com boy isn't that the truth!

 

Since we are discussing the products of this particular faker, here are two more of his ill-begotten products--two that "dinged" me over the years!

 

The story on the first wing goes back to about 1993 or so.  A local "picker" walked into my father's antique store in Sarasota, FL with what seemed to be an amazing, cased Senior Military Aeronaut wing:

 

IMG_0036.jpeg.8838f3d94e4decfe050e4b1f37ccd5ad.jpeg

Just the right amount of "age and wear"

 

Back in those days, I was stationed in South Korea.  My father called!  In those days, only emergencies were generally worth the price of an overseas phone call.  Dad said he had gotten in this really nice item and did I want it?!?  Back in those pre-internet days I did not know WW1 badges as I do now, and you could not just go look at 100s of examples of real badges in one place.  In particular, I did not know that a Senior Military Aeronaut badge was a practical impossibility.  That should have been the first red flag!  The picker was asking $900...

 

That was a LOT of money for me and my young family then and I wanted some assurances I wasn't making a huge mistake.  But, man-oh-man I wanted that wing!  To help, my Father took polaroids of the wing, and sent the pictures overnight to Duncan Campbell.  Campbell called him the next day to say that the wing looked good and congratulations...

 

Screenshot2025-01-26at1_53_21PM.png.8aebc4a59802bc316cef9b13d8106b44.png

 

Now stationed at Fort George G. Meade, MD, my Father had driven up from Sarasota to visit.  We decided we would go see Mr Campbell at the Allentown, PA antique gun show and ask him to write a note endorsing the wing.  

 

We went to Duncan's table, exchanged pleasantries, and refreshed his memory.  Yes, he remembered the wing and the call.  Yes, he would be more than happy to write a note.  We produced the wing.

 

Duncan looked it over, paused, wrinkled his brow, and asked if we minded if he took it to consult with someone else...

 

When he came back, he was very effusive with his apology.  He was very, very sorry but he had to withdraw his endorsement: It was a fake.  We should try to get our money back.

 

Screenshot2025-01-26at2_10_56PM.png.924350fe01f2c48090726b13e1f901c1.png

 

This faker got me yet again:

 

A friend in Baltimore called and said he had found a WW1 wing in a local flea market.  He described it as a half wing.  I had questions:  Yes, it was made of sterling silver.  Good.  Yes, It appeared to have a real gold US.  Good. No, it wasn't a casting.  Good!  The wing was made from three sheets of sterling silver separately applied...

 

Based on his description, I told him it I thought it sounded good and to go ahead and buy it...

 

IMG_0214.JPG.191fa54b1a914f05a8e60f13cedc7ed0.JPG

"Doh!"

 

Visiting his home about 10 years later, he produced the wing.  By then, I knew these fakes much better and upon seeing it immediately  realized what I had done.  It took a bit of arguing (he felt he was equally at fault and didn't want me to pay) but I was persistent!  Since he had made the purchase decision based on my advice, we agreed I would pay him what he had in it--I could do no less.

 

The two wings above are representative examples of yet another of the common themes found in this faker's portfolio.  In this case, the sharp, arrow fletching feathers have been replaced with flatter, textured feathers constructed in a multi-layer format.  This multi-layer format is similar (in some ways) to a few real badges--although not as well executed.

 

As with his other designs, this faker was fairly creative (and unfortunately, prolific) and produced a wide variety of fakes using similar construction.  Also, as can be seen on the half wing above, for at least some badges he used a low-carat (less than 8k) gold material that shines up quite nicely.

 

So yes, Tod is correct.  We all get "dinged" at one time or another.   These particular anecdotes (and a few others) have each been learning experiences.

 

Unfortunately, during the two decades following the 1960s, there were a number of quite prolific WW1 badge fakers.  The good news is we have unprecedented access to information today. The faker relies on greed paired with ignorance and we have made some pretty good progress pulling back the veil.   With all the information available on this forum or via organizations like ASMIC we all have so much better tools at our disposal to tell the good from the bad.

 

Here are a few more examples of this faker's efforts to deceive:

 

FakeWW1USPilotWings(4).jpg.495f33102a01d6e3f8113166d66c3c9c.jpg.b1e08f5fdf2ed3da7bf239f6c391cf06.jpg

 

post-7548-1277095122.jpg.443b051cc17867c5f4fe137bfa69903d.jpg

 

ScreenShot2018-09-25at5_43_57PM.png.8f268d5a01ee7abc89aa791418880fe7.png

 

Warm regards!

 

Chris

Posted

Chris another great learning post! Thank you to all you wing guys for filling this forum with invaluable information! 

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