Two US air force badges

[billy001]

I have a two US air force badges. The round one is for cap / hat, the other one (wings) i presume is chest badge.
That is pretty much all what I know about them.
My question is - from witch period are they? To me they look like ww2 or post war

[Watchdog]

I believe these are both post-war.

The wing is a US Airforce pilots qualification wing and as you say is worn on the breast. It appears to have the German maker mark for Assman so I expect it is a non official private purchase piece.

The circular badge has pin and clutch attachments (one missing) so I doubt it is a cap badge.

Please give an indication of size or actual measurements and I am sure one of our US members will quickly tell you everything about these.

Regards

Mark

[billy001]

Thanks.

So wing is 76 mm across
and round one is 44,5 mm in diameter

[Watchdog]

OK 76mm makes the wing the standard 3" size worn on jackets. There is a smaller version for wear on shirts. On real silver items whether US or theatre made there would be an indication of silver content or the word "Sterling" stamped or cast into it. This is also true in Europe where it would be marked according to the prevaling national convention. So in this case it is probably plated tombak. The number is most likely a design number or similar.

At almost 45mm (1.75 inches) the circular badge is large enough for a cap rather than a collar but the fretted design is unusual (to me anyway) as an enlisted cap badge would normally be solid ie unfretted. However, I have seen pictures from the late '40s of theatre made fretted types.

So, these two would seem to fit a US Airman stationed in Germany (because of the Assman mark) post-war but exactly when I couldn't guess.

If I am not correct here some of our US members will be along very shortly (time difference) to blow me out of the water!!

I hope this helps.

Regards

Mark

[Rakkasan187]

The gilt colored hat badge is a US Army Enlisted Women's hat badge. It looks like one of the pins is missing from the bottom of the badge.

This hat badge replaced the WW2 WAC hat badge which was the Eagle with spread wings.

Female US Army Drill Sergeant's wear this cap badge on their campaign hats.

These are sometimes mistaken for US Air Force enlisted personnel hat badges.

When the US Army Air Corps was part of the US Army it's enlisted personnel wore the standard gilt enlisted hat badge that was not cut out. It was a 2 piece insignia set with a solid gilt disc as the background and the Eagle and shield superimposed over the top. It was normally a screw back device with either 1 or 2 smaller pins at the top and bottom of the discs to set into the cloth of the cap to make it more sturdy.

When the US Air Force became a separate branch in 1947 it slowly started to move away from the US Army insignia somewhat, but the vast majority of the insignia retained some similarity but with slight differences.. The enlisted US collar device for example was retained, but was a cut out disc and not a solid disc which is more common on US Army uniforms. The Air Force did change the color from gilt (gold) to silver and that is still prevalent today in both officer and enlisted Collar brass.

The hat badges also changed, using the cut out example of the Eagle and Shield coat of arms in Silver.

The Basic Pilot wings are post WW2 era and as Mark has indicated were made by the firm Assmann. (F.W. Assmann and Sohn)

This is a very nice post WW2 occupation piece made by a firm that was well known during the Third Reich period for making decorations and accoutrements. I have several US made pieces that were manufactured post war by the Assmann firm.

Attached are 2 pictures of the enlisted cap badge for the Army (gilt) and Air Force (silver)

Best regards

Smitty

[Watchdog]

The gilt colored hat badge is a US Army Enlisted Women's hat badge. It looks like one of the pins is missing from the bottom of the badge.

This hat badge replaced the WW2 WAC hat badge which was the Eagle with spread wings.

Female US Army Drill Sergeant's wear this cap badge on their campaign hats.

These are sometimes mistaken for US Air Force enlisted personnel hat badges.

When the US Army Air Corps was part of the US Army it's enlisted personnel wore the standard gilt enlisted hat badge that was not cut out. It was a 2 piece insignia set with a solid gilt disc as the background and the Eagle and shield superimposed over the top. It was normally a screw back device with either 1 or 2 smaller pins at the top and bottom of the discs to set into the cloth of the cap to make it more sturdy.

When the US Air Force became a separate branch in 1947 it slowly started to move away from the US Army insignia somewhat, but the vast majority of the insignia retained some similarity but with slight differences.. The enlisted US collar device for example was retained, but was a cut out disc and not a solid disc which is more common on US Army uniforms. The Air Force did change the color from gilt (gold) to silver and that is still prevalent today in both officer and enlisted Collar brass.

The hat badges also changed, using the cut out example of the Eagle and Shield coat of arms in Silver.

The Basic Pilot wings are post WW2 era and as Mark has indicated were made by the firm Assmann. (F.W. Assmann and Sohn)

This is a very nice post WW2 occupation piece made by a firm that was well known during the Third Reich period for making decorations and accoutrements. I have several US made pieces that were manufactured post war by the Assmann firm.

Attached are 2 pictures of the enlisted cap badge for the Army (gilt) and Air Force (silver)

Best regards

Smitty

Nice one Smitty, I was sure you would give "chapter & verse". Sometimes the obvious is the last place you look!

Regards

Mark

[Rakkasan187]

Mark,

Vielen Dank comrade...

Smitty