Yugoslavia Parachute Badge

[triplecanopy]

Here is what an early Yugoslavia Parachute badge should resemble. I do not have full confidence in this example, but it does resemble that badge worn by Yugoslav Troops during WWII.

 

[Eric Queen]

Thanks Robert. I knew if anyone had something to share in regards to this subject it would be you.

 

Honestly though, I don't believe that any of these badges were actually produced. There was one (1) Yugoslavian paratrooper training class (1939/40), there was a badge design but I guess I would need to see a photo of it in wear to believe it was ever actually produced.

 

emedals has one for sale they say was produced in Egypt. (pilot badge altered with parachute added)

 

https://www.emedals.com/a-royal-yugoslav-paratrooper-s-badge-c-1941

 

Here is the original class photo of the one/only paratrooper training class. There is a nice illustration of the design of the badge.

[Tonomachi]

Awhile ago I was exchanging emails with a collector in the former Yugoslavia. He was a collector of the early WW2 and pre-WW2 Royal Yugoslavian pilot wings. I asked him about their same pattern WW2 paratrooper wing that is illustrated on Plate 60 in the book by R.J. Bragg & Roy Turner titled, "Parachute Badges and Insignia of the World". He told me that the paratrooper version of this badge never existed. I sent him photographs (see below) of one I had seen for sale at the Great Western Gun Show in Pomona, California. He named an individual living in Ontario, California, whom he said were making these fantasy badges.

 

 

 

 

[Eric Queen]

Here is one currently on ebay which very closely resembles the last example posted.

[Eric Queen]

Reverse. Notice the number

[Tonomachi]

Thanks for posting these photographs. Very interesting as the individual I was emailing in the former Yugoslavia also told me that the back of the badge I photographed in Post # 3 as well as this one are identical to the reverse of early production Yugoslavian pilot badges made by Karnet Kysely Praha, Czech republic in 1930-1932.

 

 

[Tonomachi]

Just saw this crude cast piece up for bid on eBay.

 

 

[108popo]

I lived in Belgrade for two years, 2004-06, and was a member of the local militaria collecting group that met every Tuesday and never recall seeing a parachute badge. Plus, I became friends with several advanced collectorsand saw some pretty amazing and rare ephemera.

[castagain]

Hello all,

 

I'm new to the Forum, but a longtime collector of international parachutist qualification badges.  Like many of you, I'm still chasing authentic examples of a few of the rare WW2 para badges (Romania in particular), amid a sea of reproductions and fakes.  

 

I thought I'd offer up some photos of a WW2 Royal Yugoslavian para badge that I believe has a decent chance of being authentic.  I found it several years ago as part of an estate sale in California, by the family of a US Army chaplain who served in North Africa and Italy during the war.  This badge was one of about three or four dozen Commonwealth insignia in a small canvas bag among his belongings.  I didn't buy the lot, just this one.  My understanding is that SOE trained a small number of Royal Yugoslavian military personnel -- first in Egypt, then in Bari, Italy -- for insertion into occupied Yugoslavia, but no organized airborne unit existed.  Ignoring the story and just focusing on the materials and construction, I liked the fact that it has flat-wire lugs that were embedded directly into the cast brass, a common feature of authentic Egyptian-made LRDG badges.

 

Stay well,

Donovan