4th SAS shoulder flash.

[Phill Lockett]

Gidday guys
Although I don't collect British or Allied WWII era patches and my main area is WWII US made patches. There is one thing in common , know your history of the unit and the history of its insignia and use as much reference material as possible. All Airborne or Special forces patches have been reproduced or made for rein-actors for quite a long time now , maybe going back 30 years so they can look the part. The same mistakes are made by collectors of US Shoulder Sleeve Insignia , especially elite units. Can cost a lot of pinger for a repro if your not careful.
Having said that I do want to collect certain UK units for a display which will include elite units so hopefully i won't fall into the trap!!

Phill

[JONOK]

We have all been burnt mate when it comes to buying dross. When i decided to collect UKSF stuff, I was befriended by a chap who seemed really nice and up front. I even drove up to the Midlands to do a trade.
90-95% of what i got from him was repro or fake.
SAS capbadges and titles.
Lessons learnt. He is no longer with us otherwise he would since have had a visit.
There are always the exceptions to the rule with insignia though, and how it was worn, but without provenance these days, i wont part with (too) much of my hard earned dollar on a whim.
PS. I am always interested in obtaining original SAS items for my collection.

[Jerry B]

Indeed most if not all of us have been stung and sf items are often an expensive lesson, but hopefully we learn and make new mistakes instead.