The British Army wears parachute jump qualification ‘wings’ insignia on the right shoulder rather than on the left breast, which is where other British flying badges are worn. The following letter from the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal, in the papers of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery held by the Imperial War Museum (BLM 121/44), offers an answer as to why this is the case.

PERSONAL                                                                                       Air Ministry,

                                                                                                              King Charles Street,

                                                                                                                Whitehall, S.W.1.

                                                                                                            25th February, 1945

My dear Montgomery

The question you raised in your letter of 17th February about the wearing of "Parachute and Blue Wings Badge” on the breast by members of the Parachute Regiment has now been looked into and I have personally examined the past papers on the subject.

The Air Ministry view, with which I am bound to agree, is that the wearing of any flying badge on the breast should be confined to "air crew" and that this term does not include anyone who has no duty in an aircraft except to leave it when ordered to do so.

The reason behind this view is that the right to wear the flying badge on the breast was inherited from the Royal Flying Corps and is very highly prized, and that to allow it to be worn by other than air crew would lessen its value and open the way to further "cheapening" later on.

It is regrettable that the Canadian Air Force did not think it necessary to consult the R.A.F. before agreeing to the wearing of the badge by the Canadian Parachutists but as we were not in fact consulted I am sure you will see that their agreement cannot affect our own attitude on the matter.

Yours ever,

(Sgd) C PORTAL

            The question about the wearing of parachute wings on the left breast had been asked before but the RAF had objected to the proposal and the matter had been dropped. Montgomery’s letter to Portal dated 17 February 1945 asked the RAF to reconsider that earlier decision. 

            Montgomery had signed his letter as Commander-in-Chief of 21st Army Group, which then was preparing to cross the Rhine toward the end of the North-West European Campaign. However, it is possible that Montgomery acted more in his capacity as Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment having been appointed in September 1944 to be the Regiment’s first Colonel Commandant.

            Portal’s mention in his response of Canadian parachutists refers particularly to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, which had served with distinction with the British 6th Airborne Division in Normandy and was to to so again in the Rhine Crossing. Canadian parachute wings were then, and continue to be today, worn on the left breast. Montgomery had cited the Canadian example, and particularly that the RCAF had raise no objections, in support of his case for British parachute troops to do the same.

            Montgomery did not accept Portal’s negative response as the end of the matter and elevated the question to the Under Secretary of State for War, Lord Croft, in a further letter dated 30 April 1945. However, the fact that the British Army still wears parachute wings on the right sleeve today is proof that Montgomery did not win this particular battle with the RAF.

Written and researched by Giles Orpen-Smellie