WW2 Czechoslovakian paratrooper badge

[Tonomachi]

This is a poor example but an original WW2 Czechoslovakian paratrooper badge that was produced in 1944 at the POBIEDA (Victory) Mint in Moscow. These were issued to Soviet trained partisan parachutists and members of the Czechoslovakian 2nd Parachute Brigade. Some 2,815 of these badges were made and the circular nut on this piece is not original but a replacement.

 

 

[Tonomachi]

Back

 

 

[Tonomachi]

Size

 

 

[triplecanopy]

That is an early one for sure. Thanks for sharing. Those old badges were worn with great pride and sometimes took a beating.

[Eric Queen]

That is a rare badge Dennis. I have only seen a few over the years. It is too bad that the Czech paratroopers trained by the British (SOE) did not have their own para badge also. There were designs but nothing was ever produced. Instead, the Czech paratroopers (I believe there were only 90 of them and most did not survive) wore the standard British jump wing. Here is an interesting photo of Rudolf Turšner (who was trained for the IRON mission) wearing the Czech tab with jump wing on the right sleeve and metal beret badge on the right pocket.

[Tonomachi]

Thanks for the comments and photograph. I have a very poor photograph of another WW2 Czech paratrooper badge that is supposedly pre-WW2 and serial numbered. There is very little information about this badge and a copy has already surfaced. Has anyone ever seen this Czech paratrooper badge before? I have also posted photos of a similar badge which is their early pilot wings and being sold as a reproduction on eBay. I wonder about the serial number as why would you add a serial number on a copy unless you intend to fool someone in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[triplecanopy]

I have not seen either badge before, so I will not be much help. I have not seen a copy either. They are nice looking badges, so hopefully more information will surface.

[Eric Queen]

Interesting but with the lack of any other evidence I would call it a fantasy piece. I know Capt. Jaraslav Sustr was planning on developing an Airborne arm of the Czech army prior to the occupation but I don't believe it ever got beyond the preliminary planning phase. Production of badges seems highly unlikely. Sustr would later be in charge of Special Group D of the Czech SOE and would plan Operation Anthropoid and train the two primary operatives as well as many others.

[triplecanopy]

I believe that these may also be early examples of Czech parachute badges. These came out of an old collection. I'll post the back sides below.

[triplecanopy]

Reverse side of the above badges. I would think that the one on the left is close to that originally posted.

[Eric Queen]

Very nice Robert. Agreed, I think yours on the left very closely resembles the one originally posted by Dennis. Has anyone ever seen a photo of one of these being worn?

[Tonomachi]

Very nice Robert. Agreed, I think yours on the left very closely resembles the one originally posted by Dennis. Has anyone ever seen a photo of one of these being worn?

Nice mint condition pieces. I have never seen the pin back Czech paratrooper badge before nor have I ever seen a photograph of either being worn.

[schmidtovski]

Hey guys,

 

these are badges given to czechoslovak soldiers (2. paradesant brigade in USSR) in 1944 after succesfulky attending in para course in spring/summer 1944.

 

While unit have never been applied in battle like airborn but only as light infantry. 

 

On september 1944 they fought in battles of Dukla pass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Dukla_Pass 

 

And later on were transported to Central Slovakia to reinforce the Slovak national uprising - October of 1944. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[schmidtovski]

Coulple of these in my collection  

 

Also, if you find yours replaceable my collection would be really thankful  

[Tonomachi]

Wow I missed these last two posts.  I've never seen your crude what looks like hand made Czechoslovakian paratrooper wing on the right before.   You have a fantastic collection of one of the rarest WW2 era paratrooper wings and you own six of them.  

[triplecanopy]

I am glad to see this thread resurrected as it has been a while. Very nice collection schmidtovski! I too missed your posts. You indeed have some very nice rare insignia. I thought I would add some of the later post war Czechoslovakia parachute badges from 1951-1962. These feature the hammer and sickle later replaced by the red star.

[Tonomachi]

Here are photos I kept of their very first post war paratrooper badge with a matching certificate which some say were used between 1945 through 1951.

 

 

I don't own any of these wings but their third design change were worn between 1962 through 1965.

 

 

Their fourth post war wings were worn between 1965 through 1992 and are pictured below.

 

 

 

 

[triplecanopy]

The 1962-1965 series was short lived. I wonder why as I think it is very sharp looking.

The 1965-1992 series was actually made in heavy and light metals. The light metal or aluminum badges were the last type. Shown below are the heavy metal variety.

Here are the Czechoslovakian Air Force and Instructor badges that are seldom seen. The B&T Book Parachute Badges and Insignia of the World has the Czech Instructor wings as silver colored, but these wings are brass or gold colored and serial numbered. Note: this country split apart at the end of 1992.

[jules118]

 

Thoughts on this one? Is there some significance to the ribbon?
Jules

[triplecanopy]

Jules

Thanks for posting. Looks like an early one with the number 2 in the suspension lines. The blue, red and white were once the Czech national colors.

I believe that these badges were hand made.

 

[jules118]

These were the examples on display in the Military History Museum in Prague when I visited recently.