Buyer’s Guide for World War II British and Commonwealth Militaria on eBay: Avoiding some of the minefields of fakes and forgeries.

 • Not that long ago “intentional misrepresentations” were largely limited to World War II German militaria. In the field of British and Commonwealth items this practice for financial gain was basically limited to shaving and renaming campaign medals from mundane names to those from famous battles and the participating regiments. THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE, everything from embroidered/printed cloth insignia to specialized clothing (even fake labels, i.e. Trousers, Parachutist) and field equipment have been or are being reproduced. Collecting should be fun, and the challenge limited to trying to find a given item, not the constant application of forensic science.

 • The growing demand of World War II re-enactment groups has driven this market. Legitimate, enterprising individuals have filled this need with copies which are identified as such. Unfortunately pure greed, and probably a bit of one-ups-man-ship, has caused unprincipled persons to either produce intentional fakes, or pass reproductions off as a righteous article. Personally I find the latter practices to be reprehensible, as it not only cheats the unaware new collector, but casts doubt on righteous collectors. What is even worse is the significant increase of these items appearing on e-Bay, with the unsuspecting buyer giving the unscrupulous seller glowing positive feedback out of sheer ignorance. This imposes a severe detriment to the total e-Bay process. A specific ploy that has been unfortunately occurring with increasing  regularity on e-Bay is to describe an item as being of a WWII type, without using the words, "original", "genuine", or "issue".

 • Check the nature of any negative feedback, is it related to questioned authenticity? Ask seller for additional clear close-up photos and/or an expanded description of condition and details. Most will be happy to provide it. Most reputable dealers, like most major auction houses, will offer an unconditional lifetime guarantee on the items they handle. Check sites of known honest dealers (What Price Glory, Pegasus, and formerly King and Country) selling identified reproductions/replicas. Check specific web sites that discuss and show examples of faked items. Test thread, cotton and rayon (WWII vintage) burns to ash; synthetic thread (post WWII) melts. A helmet or painted piece of field equipment, which is over 50 years old, will not have the smell of new paint or leather, but it may well smell of long-term storage if newly discovered. Some enterprising soul will probably soon come up with spray cans of “Essence of Warehouse”.

 • As the supply diminishes campaign medals and regimental cap badges are now more frequently subject to reproduction; normally both medals and badges are die-struck not cast, and not plated. Exception being a limited number of badges to WWII Indian regiments of the British Army, i.e. 2nd Punjab Regiment, and officer’s regimental cap badges and collar dogs in silver plate and gilt. An excellent book on British and Commonwealth Cap Badges is Military Badge Collecting(several editions) by Gaylor (ISBN 0 85052 758 9). The definitive work on British Cap Badges (up to 1979) remains the tomes by Arthur L. Kipling and Hugh L. King, Head-Dress Badges of the British Army Vol. I and Vol. II (ISBN 13: 9780584109474 and 0584109474), but these two books, in any condition, are very expensive and represent a major investment. An excellent discussion on original versus reproduction cap badges (with detailed colored photographs) can be found on the web site; http://www.canadiansoldiers.com, created by Michael A. Dorosh, CD (go to old format pages as directed on the site).

Comparative Examples of original WWII 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion Cap Badge and Reproduction (Images courtesy of canadiansoldiers.com, Bill Alexander and Michael A. Dorosh, CD.)

Figure 1 - The badge on the left is a genuine WWII 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (introduced in 1942), whereas the badge on the right is slightly larger, not authorized and of totally unknown origin, i.e. a fantasy badge. The badge is similar to the WWII bi-metal badge issued to officers in silver plate and gilt, however with one glaring exception, the metals used are reversed. On the righteous badge the parachute canopy and scroll are silver and the wings are gilt (see figure below).  A more detailed discussion of these two badges, as well as others, can be found on the www.canadiansoldiers.com web site.

 Figure 2 - At left is WWII 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion officer's cap badge (possibly by W. Scully, Ltd. of Toronto), and at right is an example of the chocolate-colored plastic (bakelite) badge issued to the battalion from 1944. There are also excellent close-up colored photographs of these badges (obverse and reverse) in both the books, The Canadian Soldier in North-West Europe, 1944-1945, Jean Bouchery, Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2003, ISBN 2-913903-51-7 and D-Day Paratroopers, The British, The Canadians, The French, Jean Bouchery and Philippe Charbonnier, Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2004, ISBN 2-915239-31-2. The latter book being an outstanding reference on the subject, with extensive detailed colored photography. Insignia being particularly well covered. It is highly recommended and well worth the investment. 

• Embroidered unit titles, formation badges, skill-at-arms badges, parachute wings which are genuine, normally show exposed clean stitching on the underside. Reproductions frequently have thicker thread, with the threads crossing over, or are totally covered by a black backing. Be wary of items, which are offered as rare and/or unique, this is particularly the case with items from elite units, i.e. Parachute Regiment, Glider Pilot Regiment, Commandos, Special Air Service Regiment, Commando Special Boat Section, Royal Marine Special Boat Service, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, First Special Service Force, Gurkha Parachute Battalions, Long Range Desert Group, Jedburgh Teams, Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, and Royal Navy Midget Submarines. Be aware that like current US Navy Seal Teams, official insignia of these units was often very limited. Be extremely careful of insignia offered in pairs, particularly of units from WWII. Genuine original items are most commonly offered as single items. The exception to this guidance would be current issue to an elite unit, and even then militaria dealers and collectors will normally offer single examples. Excellent books are available which give description of the unit and photographic examples of their insignia. Four such books are Parachute Wings by Bragg and Turner (ISBN 0-9506426-2-2), Allied Special Forces Insignia by Taylor (ISBN 0- 850252-582-9), Special Forces Insignia British and Commonwealth Units by Shortt (ISBN 0-85368-875-3) and British Army Cloth Insignia 1940 to the present by Davis (ISBN 0-85368-709-9). The previously cited web site; www.canadiansoldiers.com also includes an equally detailed discussion of reproduction cloth insignia and webbed equipment, again with photographic examples.

SPECIFIC COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE OF QUESTIONABLE VS ORIGINAL BRITISH WWII CLOTH INSIGNIA

Figure 3 - Recent WWII British Airborne Forces Formation Badge offered on e-Bay (Described as matching pair, war dated; In fairness to the seller there was no use of the words "genuine" or "original" in the description of the badges. However, in 47 years of collecting I personally have never seen a British Formation badge, or for that matter any British cloth insignia, with a "Broad arrow", WD (War Department) and date marking on the underside. Please note the color and level of detail in the embroidery. Also observe the thickness and crossover stitching of the light blue thread on the underside.If possible recommend download all the figures shown, as jpgs, and enlarge view of each for clearer detail. This specific formation badge was probably manufactured in Pakistan, where there is a thriving cottage industry of both forth-rightly declared replicas and otherwise. The same seller sold two identical pairs of this patch within a 24 hour period, one pair at $45.00 and the other at $50.99, both with praising feedback from the buyer. One unsuspecting soul purchased in excess of $1200.00 USD worth of these poor quality reproductions from the same seller, and left glowing feedback regarding his "good fortune"!?  CAVEAT EMPTOR.)

Figure 4 - WWII British Airborne Forces Formation Badge obtained from London war surplus store in 1955 (Compare the color and level of detail. Particularly note Pegasus's head, wing, legs and tail. Note Bellerophon's head, leg and cape. Unfortunately badge is mounted in permanent display, precluding display of back, however stitching is very clean with no crossover threads; from author's personal collection.)

The specific source of reproduction patch shown in Figure 3 isn’t even worthy of the finer levels of discernment which should be used in detecting a copy from an original printed Pegasus patch. These include (but are not limited to):

• Compare the tail part from the original with the reproduction.
The reproduction version has a thicker tail coming out of the body than the original!
And the curves in the tail differ from the original!

• Compare the spear-point from the original with the reproduction.
The repro version has a triangle like point, the originals have more of a harpoon point, and note the ribbons on spear’s shaft end from the original and the repro.

• Compare the wing tips with each other, the original has better outlines in the small segments.

• Compare Bellerophon’s foot sticking out under the horse’s body, they are much thicker in the reproduction than the original.

• Compare on printed patches whether the cloth weave runs diagonally to the print (WWII) versus horizontally (post WWII).

• Compare where the spear shaft passes through the feathers of Pegasus’s wing. On the original between feather 4 and 5, counting from where the wing starts to curve back, and on the copy directly through feather 4.

• Compare the weight of the cloth. Originals tend to be stiffer (thicker) than reproductions. The print should also be slightly visible on the backside of the cloth.

As you can see I did not mention the application of forensic science in total jest. And all this is applicable to a single formation badge. Refer to this author's companion guide describing WWII British Combined Operations (Commandos) formation badges. Per the theme song of "Monk"(the television detective program), “It’s a jungle out there.” To help navigate that jungle there are three excellent web sites that I have discovered. The first is The British Military Badge Forum (http://www.britishbadgeforum.com) and the second is the Australian Military Reference  (http://auspfor.tripod.com) which includes the Special Air Service Insignia of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and a third on Australian Army Badges and Patches (http://www.military-badge.com). All three of sites provide a broad range of expert knowledge, including detailed photographs and extensive discussion. In addition, for an extremely detailed set of excellent color photographs and discussion of RAF, Army Air Corps (AAC), Glider Pilot Regiment and Fleet Air Arm (FAA), as well as Commonwealth wings and insignia, see; Aviation Wings and Badges of World War II (http://www.ww2wings.com/main.shtml).

Figure 5 - Matching Pair of WWII British Airborne Forces Formation Badges and Airborne Stripe offered at auction by Bosley's Military Auctions on bidwyze.com in April 2006 (These insignia were authenticated by the auctioneers and guaranteed to be original. Probably by another manufacturer, however still note the consistency with the badge shown in Figure 4.)

Figure 6 - Matching pair of WWII British Airborne Forces Curved Title Stripes recently offered on e-Bay. Given close inspection of enlarged views of the imagery I would say, with about a 90 - 95% confidence level, that these are very good reproductions. Note the slight irregularity of the lettering and off-set positioning of the lettering on the wool felt strip. What is deceiving is the clean tight consistency of the stitching on the underside. Lettering (in a single color) is easier to reproduce in embroidery than more complex figures and symbols, particularly with multiple colors. There was a whole series of extremely well done reproductions of British elite forces insignia which were produced in the 1970's, including these title stripes. I am basing my judgment on an original of this exact title strip which I obtained from a London war surplus store in 1955. In the original insignia the lettering is slightly thicker and more consistent in both form and size. Compare with the lettering in the straight AIRBORNE strip in Figure 5, which is an original. This would have been a tough call without an original for direct comparison. Again in fairness to the seller, they are not stipulating these to be genuine and provide a full return policy, but there is an inference in the wording of the description.

Figure 7- This pair of wings was recently being offered on e-Bay as a set of British jump wings. Note the inverted U-shaped highlighting stitches in the parachute canopy, the canopy's bulbous shape, as well as the decidedly triangular shape of each wing. Note that the lower edge of the wings is straight across, without even a hint of a downward slope towards the tips. Also note the excessive cross-stitching on the back side of the wings. If this set of wings was being offered as a reproduction of WWII Indian Airborne wings the description would be accurate. If compared with current issue Pakistani jump wings and either current or WWII issue British wings (see Bragg & Turner's book cited above; pp.17 and 87), the highly probable recent Pakistani manufacture of this set of wings is evident. It's of interest that multiple duplicates of this very same brevet have been offered on several recent e-Bay auctions by the same individual as the insignia in Figure 3 above.

• In the areas of Armament, Ordnance, Headgear, Uniforms and Field Equipment the following excellent books are available; WWII Tommy Series by Gordon (ISBN’s 1-57510-018-5, 1-57510-107-6, 01- 57510-108-4, 1-57510-122-X), British Army Uniforms & Insignia of World War Two by Davis (ISBN 0-85368-609-2), For King and Country, British Airborne Uniforms, Insignia & Equipment in World War II by Glenn (has some errors in details, ISBN 0-7643-0794-0), The World War II Tommy and Khaki Drill & Jungle Green by Brayley and Ingram (ISBN’s 1-86126-190-X and 1-86126-360-0).

 • Reference material not only provides you with knowledge and resultant opportunity, it also provides a form of provenance in esoteric areas substantiating the existence and authenticity of items in your collection. Some advanced collectors have probably acquired early on, now unique items, which the newer collector may suspect as being reproductions because of their rarity combined with exceptional condition. Acquire what you can afford in a reference library in the field(s) of your interest. Although infrequently, a good reference library affords you privileged knowledge on an item which is scarce, if not unique. One classic example: In James Ladd’s book, Commandos and Rangers of World War II there is a line drawing of a 1943 COPP Swimmer and his gear. Included is a very simple drawing of what is named R.G. infrared gear. The very existence of this equipment was Top Secret until March 1944. A very brief description of it’s function is found in the book’s glossary. Even the existence and employment of Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP’s) was classified up to 1957. A few years ago a small quantity of Receiver, RG (Red-Green Infrared, O.S. 960 G.A., ZA 23119, aka Type K TABBY I-F Receiver) complete with virtually new leather carrying case and Ministry of Supply acceptance label (signed and dated 27 April 1944) came onto the surplus market and e-Bay. In addition to their use in the invasion of North Africa and Normandy, these receivers represent “0” Generation night vision technology (1939), pre-dating the US M2 Sniperscope by four years. Without the book I would have had no knowledge of what I was looking at on the e-Bay auction site.

• For anyone who might be interested there is additional discussion with photographic examples of another famous formation badge, which the COPP's specifically wore. Please see the author's companion guide on the WWII British Combined Operations Formation Badge (Commandos) at http://reviews.ebay.com/WWII-British-Combined-Operations-Formation-Badges_W0QQugidZ10000000003912467?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:LISTINGS:3

 • One caveat, be careful of books authored by less than knowledgeable persons, showing equipment and insignia which is inaccurate for the time and place. Example; Patchett machine carbine (became the successor to the Sten, known as the Sterling, but not until much later, although there is the contention by some that a very limited number of prototypes were present ) in the hands of a paratrooper at Arnhem (September 1944). Honorary South Staffordshire title with glider (issued later) on the shoulder of an air-landing trooper during the same battle. Referring to contemporary photographs, when available, can help alleviate this potential problem.

 • Try to build and maintain a computer reference file, i.e. jpgs, of verified authentic militaria items of specific interest. A recommendation would be to use the various sites mentioned in this guide as an initial basis for a reference file. Particularly try and find detailed, close-up images and pictures of the underside of cloth insignia and cap badges. Run off colored copies of your files to carry with you when going to collectors shows, and when traveling to areas with potential. Obviously if the data is on a laptop, and with you, this isn't necessary.

 • A completely safe alternative to all of this, particularly to those with limited space and resources, are the current range of 1:6 Scale military figures, armaments, and equipments. These are not your dad’s G.I. Joes! The realism, accuracy and completeness of these figures is unbelievable. You can acquire a significant miniature museum which, except for size, rivals the displays of the Imperial War Museum in London.