I think I dated her daughter for a little bit.;) She does look remarkably like a woman I met in a small town south of Moscow (sans uniform).
Joking aside, I've always wondered rather passively to what real extent (beyond movies and tall tales) women played a role in the GPW military outside of besieged cities.
EricFG Wrote:Ah yes, here's another early, brave paratrooper. I've always admired this photograph.:thumbsup
What a great photo! Thanks for sharing it with us. Is it possible to tell whether the badge is for a Constructor (Rigger) or a Master parachutist? Below are one of each type in my collection.
One of the very nicest images I've ever come across depicting this level jump wing in wear.
Regards,
slava1stclass
G'day Slava,
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful photo with us. The badge looks like that of a Master Parachutist with 200+ jumps to his credit. Is it possible to confirm this from the original photo? Pictured below is a similar badge from my collection.
Your badges appear similar to many reproduction, commemorative airborne badges or later-era, simple fakes.
The former were made in good faith as a tribute to those early jumpers and badges, the latter simply taking advantage of the lack of good information hiding behind the seemingly unique qualities of many of the true, early airborne badges.
desantnik Wrote:Your badges appear similar to many reproduction, commemorative airborne badges or later-era, simple fakes.
The former were made in good faith as a tribute to those early jumpers and badges, the latter simply taking advantage of the lack of good information hiding behind the seemingly unique qualities of many of the true, early airborne badges.
G'day Paul,
Thanks for your comments. My badges also "appear" to be genuine. So......how does one establish the authenticity in this case.
Best regards,
Jim
Jim, all I can tell you is compare your badges with any of the badges made in the early '30s. Even compare the badges to the basic parachutist badge - real master, test parachutist, instructor, etc. badges were made much more attentively than the basic badge.
At the time, there was a state-driven cult of parachuting and these badges, when genuine, are made to the same high, if not higher standard of art work, enameling, silver, applied devices, etc. High-quality originals, however, do occasionally exhibit obviously home-made applied devices (like the airplane or numerals) or numbered hangars, however the base quality and design of the badge are unmistakable. These additions resulted from the either the badge getting banged up or the jumper attaining higher status.
I first jumped in Russia in '92 at the Airborne Academy in Ryazan. Even at that time, parachute insignia collectors were selling openly-declared replica badges similar to yours for about $20 a piece. For Russians that was a lot of money then, but the originals were in the several hundreds of dollars.
I was also offered several high-quality fakes made in the late 90's that were extremely high quality, but had no wear, patina, and sold in a set of 10 or so.
In my collection I have a Master and 2-3 of the "mid-range" types, but alas, no ready access. I estimate I've seen in publications, museums, etc. only 20-30 real such badges. Again, these were uncommon badges and many of the recipients were shot down from the skies '41-'45 or otherwise didn't come home.
All I can tell you, which didn't get me far with the border guard airborne badge, but when you see an original - you will know.
