Quite a bit of the Air Force insignia and qualification patches have been faked especially the brevets for Parachute Jump Instructors (PJI’s). Again it is smart to know what to look for and this site will show you some of these things.
Listed on eBay by top_stick.
It was constructed of stiff material and the third photo shows some of the main things that are wrong with it. The originals were never produced from stiff material.
The fourth photo is an original.
These screen printed brevets were on three types of material. The fifth photo shows a conversation I had with top_stick regarding the brevet he had listed.
Sold by angola76 (aka John Morgan) as a Rhodesian PJI brevet. It may have come from the Christopher Lee collection, however, he possessed several fake Rhodesian items.
You can compare it to the genuine one above and see the multiple faults it has. I have included a discussion I had with John Morgan and the reason sellers have to be honest by eBay rules.
Sold by angola76 (aka John Morgan) as a Rhodesian Despatchers wing. It may have come from the Christopher Lee collection, however, he possessed several fake Rhodesian items. The fourth photo is an original.
The photo of this fake Parachute Jump Instructor mess dress brevet was kindly supplied to me to use on this site.
A number of things that are wrong with it.
The lions head is incorrect.
The lions tail is wrong.
The ground the lion is standing on is wrong.
There are several issues with the parachute. The wing is attached to the parachute when it shouldn’t be.
The wing is a different shape to the genuine item and the wrong weave.
Listed by Butler’s Military and Vintage (Andrew Butler) as an original Air Force mess dress pilot wing of the UDI era which means after 11 November 1965.
Listed price £100 (US$134, AUD$209, € 116).
It is indeed a fake.
Listed by Butler’s Military and Vintage (aka Andrew Butler) as an original Air Force mess dress air crew half wing of the UDI period.
Listed price £80 (US$107, AUD$167, € 93).
It is indeed a fake.
Listed by Butler’s Military and Vintage (aka Andrew Butler) as an original Air Force mess dress navigators half wing of the UDI period.
Listed price £80 (US$107, AUD$167, € 93).
It is also a fake.
Both are fakes. They were created on very stiff material, and even though some detail is lost in printing the genuine ones, the detail, definition, and font are missing on both of these.
The navy blue beret was listed for sale for £65 by Ellis Rowley on the Facebook page Rhodesian Uniform and Equipment Reproduction Project. It was listed as a Rhodesian Air Force beret.
When I asked who in the air force wore these the seller said “Parachute Instructors from what I know..!
Quite a rare beret in itself, I do not know of anyone else with one.”
My reply was: “No that’s not correct. PJI’s wore a grey beret.”
The second photo shows six PJI’s all wearing grey berets.
The third and fourth photos shows a Rhodesian PJI’s beret for an officer. The provenance of this beret is that it came from a well known officer in the Parachute Training School who I personally know.