New Zealand made BD badged to Royal Engineers

[Jerry B]

I bought this BD the other day, slightly hit & miss as the sellers pics were pretty poor and the description was not great.

It appears to be a post war NZ made and issued with a NZ broad arrow and maker stamps, the date is a bit faded but is either 1951 or 1957.

The insignia is to a 2nd lieutenant in the British Royal Engineers and also has a set of WWII para qualification wings. The insignia looks to have been there a while, though could have been added to pimp it. I paid less for it than the wings would sell on their own, so no problem if they have been added, but it would be nice if they were originally period applied.

It's in the P37 style with an open collar, though I don't know enough about NZ BD's and if this is normal for them.

Any thoughts and opinions will be welcomed as the when the insignia was applied and if this is a legitimate configuration.

The pics are probably not great, but the weather here has gone off and I'll try and take some more on the weekend.

Thanks.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Jerry, looks like 1951 to me?

Cheers, Ade.

[Jerry B]

Thanks for the opinion Ade.

Sadly, the wings are modern copies and the thread used to apply them appears to be the same as that used for the other insignia and that probably means all have been recently applied.

Any opinions on the originality of the other insignia? The pips look right and the shoulder titles have what appears to be some signs of mothing.

Thankfully it was very cheap and I am reminded of the old saying, "if it looks too good to be true"

[Adrian Stevenson]

The title and pip look OK.

Cheers, Ade.

[Jerry B]

The title and pip look OK.

Cheers, Ade.

Thanks Ade.

We live and learn, hopefully.

[Jerry B]

After working out that all the insignia, whether real or fake, has been added in more recent times and therefore I have removed it and for the moment added a pair of NZ slip-ons. I added strips to the backs of the titles, as they had been removed from slip-ons or possibly directly from a uniform, so they could be used as slip-ons, but I also considered sewing them directly to the BD, either at the top of the sleeve on to the SB's.

I am not sure which is the best method to use for accuracy, though using them as slip-ons has the least impact on the BD.

PS sorry about the cobweb, DOH!