I have always felt that the majority of counterfeiters of elite unit insignia reside in the UK.  They are very crafty and many collectors to include myself have wasted their hard earned money on what they thought was genuine only to find out years later that they had purchased a counterfeit.  This is just my opinion but I feel that your OSS SF wing is not genuine based on my comparisons with a known copy below.  When this copy first came out it fooled a number of collectors as it was very close to the original except the back gave it away.  So the counterfeiters realized this and began covering the back with paper or cloth and sewing it upon something to give it stitching holes.  The stitching holes gives the piece an air of authenticity as if the piece was removed from a uniform.  Another counterfeiter technique to fool collectors was to excessively trim off the black outer material after covering the back, sewed it to something for the stitching holes and aged the material which gave it a whole different appearance.    For comparison purposes I have attached a picture of this known copy (Photo 1) followed by a picture (Photo 2) of your wing.  They looked identical except for the double circular border around the SF disc.  My guess is that in addition to the added rear covering of gray paper or cloth with stitching holes the counterfeiter has also added the embroidered double rings which I have not encountered before.  My guess is that if you were to carefully remove the gray backing material it would reveal the backing of the copy which is in Photo 3.    

Even on the Navy silver Type I PH's a chemical was used to darken the engraving. I have seen 1 or 2 where the engraver " forgot " to darken it.  The engraving was very bright and shiny.    KUrt

@hink441 - That was me, as I bought that buckle yesterday on Ebay.  Even though I have a similar one I thought this one was too cool to pass up.  When I get it I'll post pics alongside my other rescue boat buckle for comparison.

@Celia - That's a great buckle, especially with that bronze patina on the front.  I've personally never seen a PI buckle get that that color so if it were me I'd leave it as is.  Thanks for sharing!

Hi!  My name is Cathy Dawson.  I am married to Lindsay Dawson and his uncle is Marion Lindsay Dawson.   We have searched for pieces of his uniform for years.  So glad to have found this on my search.    

Thanks for posting, solcarlus! Cool helmet. This reminds me that I may have to dig around and post some military fire helmet shields.Stay tuned!

Another mask question, what type of mask microphone did the navy use?

Thank you good to know this

Bonjour.   Two helmets from a DRMO in Germany.    Sol.      

I recently purchased a "lot" of pins / badges. Most WWII and some pre. I came across this one. It is a little strange to me. The badge is hallmarked "23". I can not find any hallmarks on the bars. There is tarnishing and cant tell if there is one. I have multiple questions on this one. I have never seen it, and cant seem to find anything on it. But has anyone ever seen an "expert bar". I am not understanding why the badge and bar would "repeat" itself. Also has anyone seen this "23" hallmark? The badge itself with the clasp IMO say WWII US made. Just a bit stumped on this piece. Thanks.