20th Century Rare Political Warfare Executive & 31st Independent Brigade Insignia

[Tonomachi]

Earlier today some pretty scarce WW2 British elite unit insignia sold on eBay for a great deal of money.  The Political Warfare Executive (PWE) patch sold for $3674.81.  They were what we refer to today as a Psychological Warfare type unit.  They were initially part of the British SOE.  Their patch is a lapwing inside of a diamond.  The lapwing was chosen as during flight they screech out "peewit" which sounds like the abbreviation of their unit PWE.   There are copies of this patch out there so if it doesn't look like the one pictured below stay away from it.  

 

The other patch was used for a short period of time by the WW2 British 31st Independent Brigade which became the 1st Air Landing Brigade of the British Parachute Regiment.  This patch sold for $555.86.  This patch is of a heraldic bull rising from a crown. It is the scarcer painted version as when they converted to an Air-Landing Brigade a printed version was produced.

 

Lastly a scarcer WW2 British paratrooper wing variant sold for $432.34.  These all came off of a period blanket (see photo).