I bought a white silk parachute from an estate auction that was with a bunch of German swastika flags and guns with swastikas on them. Does anyone know anything about this white silk parachute or where I can find information about it? No tags or identifying marks on it.
2007-03-25 17:20:58 · 5 answers · asked by Victoria R 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
In the early days of WWII, White silk was the choice of paratroopers on both sides. It soon became apparent that white was not a good choice because it showed up in the night sky. Very quickly the decision was made to dye the silk so it would not be so reflective of ambient light, ex. moonlght, streetlights, citylights etc. Silk was used for parachutes because it is one of the strongest, and lightest of all materials in the world. Even heavy artillery,(I mean the BIG guns) used silk bags for the propellant charge that went into the gun after the projectile. The reason for this was that silk burns completley, it leaves no ash. A white silk parachute in this day must indeed be a rarety. Do you have the pack that it was in? That would be your best clue. If not, it is very hard to say which side it was issued from. If it was in with other german paraphenalia, my best guess is that it also was german.
2007-03-25 17:42:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Silk Parachutes
2016-12-11 14:39:57 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had a girlfriend who had a pair of these parachutes made into pajamas and lounging pants for her and her mother..
just block out the swastika and guns with swastika on them.
after the war, my uncle burned his old banners of Nazi swastika...but you maybe be able to salvage some good silk used in the parachute..good luck
2007-03-25 17:29:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There were a couple of million of them made. Every aviator and flight trainee had one, as well as all the paratroopers.
Without any identifying marks, or letters of provenance (i.e., testimony from a veteran that he used that parachute in a particular airborne assault), what you have is a fairly common item.
2007-03-25 17:28:48 · answer #4 · answered by qwiff_hunter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
probably belonged to a german paratrooper you can probably look online for pictures of the symbols on the parachute and see if they match the ones on teh parachute to see what regement it belonged to
2007-03-25 17:33:27 · answer #5 · answered by Dont get Infected 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋