Request for help with Cdn. Army para. qual. badges

Good day gents,

After plenty of study, I'm still not 100% sure of identification of these five Cdn Army para quals.  So, I'm asking the more knowledgeable members to confirm or deny my suppositions.  All except one have been in my collection for years, but I only recently acquired copies of Ken Joyce's books, "Into The Maelstrom" and "Jump Wings".  I want to get them in the right chronological order in my display.  There are still questions between what I have and what I see in the books.

I'll give a brief description and which type I think it is.  Attached are front and back shots of each one.

Thanks in advance.

Ian

Flat.  Dark green wool, black cotton back.  Believe it is a Type 2 (maybe 3?).







Padded.  Dark green wool, white cotton back which is paper covered.  Believe it is a Type 7.








Padded.  Dark green wool, cotton covered in orange paint(?) which is covered by paper.  Unsure, Type 8 or which??








Flat.  Dark green wool, black cotton back.  Believe it is Type 8.








Flat.  Dark green wool with stiffened (starch?) black cotton back.  Believe it is Type 11 (but the leaf shape is throwing me).

Nobody? Plenty of views, but no responses. Bringing this to the fore again in the hopes someone might have missed it the first time around. Once again, asking if my ident of the above Canadian para quals is correct in terms of the type (to help me put them in chronological order in my display).

Ian

These things are like looking at Ink Blots. You start to see things that are not there. I have "Into the Maelstrom" and own a few wings myself. I don't think any of the ones you have pictures are type 2 or 3. In my opinion the feathers in the wings are too thick.

All the best,

Ypres

I agree with Rick. I have over 15 different Cdn parachute qualification wings, and when I want to get anal I try to classify them. Ken's reference is great, but when trying to compare that to the examples in hand the details are the devil's. (to paraphrase)
(I spent about half an hour comparing your examples, and my observations were at odds with yours. Then I would go back and again, reclassified a couple. And then again...)

Thanks guys. I'll brainstorm it for a little bit longer and then put them back in the display in the order I come up with.....and then sit back and wait for someone to tell me I'm flippin' well out in left field!!

Ian

I can add that the scalloped wings are Type 11.

Glad I am not the only one. I have a couple books on the subject of 1st Can Para and looked at a few other books and still have great difficulty determining what type of wing is what.

I normally stay away from para items do to the price and plethora of fakes.

Thanks Bill, one down, four to go. As I mentioned, it was the Maple leaf that threw me on the last one. The leaf on mine looks more realistic while the Type 11 in Ken's book looks more like the leaf on my first example. I guess this might be put down to different manufacturers.

.....OK, back to the books (sigh!). Let's all stay safe and have fun!!

Cheers,

Ian

Just to add to the confusion. I saw a lot from an RCR Korea Vet at a show. There were a dozen wings in the lot. They looked very nice. I turned one over and it had a makers label on the back "Made in the Philippines". If the lot would have been cheaper I would have picked it up just for that wing. I'll call it a "Type 18"   ........ From my experience, when you see one that's good it jumps out at you.

Ypres

Ian,

I took another look at these. I think the first may be a type 9. I now believe the 3rd wing pictured is a type 2 wing. It looks very much like the bottom wing on pg17 of Joyce's Jump Wings book.

Ypres

Ypres, thanks for the input.  More study required.  Agree with you about looking at them too long.  Head starts spinning and eyes go crossed.  What fun!  

You want to collect military badges, did you say?  

Ian

Ian,

Here are a few of my wings .... up for the challenge?

Ypres