For the old cloth guys

[RichieC]

Extremely attractive display... Congrats on the "blue ribbon!" :bigthumbsup

I would love to see close up images of the set of "whites" on the left. I hold a special attraction for these...

[Nack]

Lol...thanks for the kudos.

I'm having trouble finding some good pics of the white uni -- here's where it showed up on an earler thread though...

http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/sovie...ignia.html

[Jeffrey Meffert]

Here's something you don't see everyday. From a M25 aeronaut's tunic (fixed and free balloons), the rather unique shoulder patch and collar tab devices.

[DougD]

I never knew the correct term (Aeronaut) for these early balloonists! What a great looking patch!

DougD

[Nack]

Wow -- that's cool :thumbsup

[ekclete]

So are your wings for navy aeronauts then with that anchor? And nice pair of items Jeff. Another addition to a great collection. Thanks Clete

[Jeffrey Meffert]

the best I can figure, the anchor in this case, refers to the fact that a fixed/tethered balloon is "anchored" to the ground. If the navy had such balloons, they would likely use the same patch as they did the wings+swords but it would be on a navy uniform rather than an army/air force tunic.
Another example of an anchor on an army uniform would be transportation corps.

[DougD]

Here is a flag from the 1920's of the Balloon branch, showing the anchor in use...DougD

[Jeffrey Meffert]

Great flag. Is the purple color original or the result of fading from decades of open display in a museum somewhere?

[DougD]

Sorry, bad photo on my part...it's really a blood red...will be in a book on flags being put out by a European author and publisher in the near future.