France Brevet Militaire de Parachutiste

[Dave Danner]

Here for your perusal is a certificate for French jump wings. The certificate is too big for my scanner bed and I don't have a digital camera, so I had to put it in the scanner sideways and scan the top and bottom halfs, and then play around with cropping them so they matched.

[Dave Danner]

Also, to the same guy, here is the certificate for his National Defense Medal, with bar "Troupes Aeroport?es".

[PKeating]

The wings as awarded usually have the issue number impressed on the reverse. At least, they did. Maybe this isn't done anymore. Of all the French wings I have seen in shops and flea markets, I can count the numbered examples on the fingers of one hand. Obviously, many French paras and paras from other countries who earned French wings buy spare badges for everyday purposes but the lack of numbered examples on the market is interesting.

PK

Edited March 11, 2007 by PKeating

[Dave Danner]

The wings as awarded usually have the issue number impressed on the reverse. At least, they did. Maybe this isn't done anymore. Of all the French wings I have seen in shops and flea markets, I can count the numbered examples on the fingers of one hand. Obviously, many French paras and paras from other countries who earned French wings buy spare badges for everyday purposes but the lack of numbered examples on the market is interesting.

PK

I think French badge manufacturers, like US ones, were generally permitted to manufacture more than the military's contract run of badges, so as to better reach economies of scale and lower the price. They could then sell these on the collector market or to the various surplus shops like Ranger Joes here in America that cater to soldiers looking for extra stuff, as you note.

For some reason I have this vague recollection that French badge makers like Delsart and Drago could remake older pieces from units that no longer exist, like Indochina units, but had to mark them with an "R". But I'm not sure about that.

[Paul L Murphy]

French para wings are still numbered. It is very difficult to get the certificate and wings with the same number to one recipient. I have two such sets, both Indochina period to Legion paras. The reason you get so many unnumbered pieces is partly becuase they are made for collectors but mainly due to the fact that the recipients buy extra insignia for their different uniforms (rather than change the insignia from jacket to jacket).

The insignia marked R to which Dave refers are Refrappe insignia (restrikes). These are mainly older Legion insignia that are sold via the Legion veteran's home and are marked R with a two digit number on the reverse. The number is the year in which it was restruck, ie R84 = restrike from 1984.

[iffig]

The recipient of this particular brevet and medal is called "Sapeur parachutiste". That means that he is from an airborne engineers unit, most probably the 17 ?me R?giment du G?nie A?roport? (17 th Airborne Engineers Regiment). Other airborne engineers units have existed, but at the time the brevet and medal were delivered, they had been disbanded.

[Paul L Murphy]

The recipient of this particular brevet and medal is called "Sapeur parachutiste". That means that he is from an airborne engineers unit, most probably the 17 ?me R?giment du G?nie A?roport? (17 th Airborne Engineers Regiment). Other airborne engineers units have existed, but at the time the brevet and medal were delivered, they had been disbanded.

I agree with you, given the date of the cert. I believe the 17th RGP would have been his unit. I think they were part of the 11th Para Division at that time.

[leigh kitchen]

I haqve a pair of these wings, earned by a member of British 1 Para in the late 70's - early 80's, unnumbered I think.