Hey everyone. I am looking to my fellow warbird historians/enthusiasts to help in identifying what type of aircraft the following relic might have come from. I purchased a roundel a few years back from a well known auction site and finally got around to mounting it for display. It measures roughly 36" across and is painted on fabric. It was trimmed close to the roundel, but you can still see the edges that reveal that it was applied to a silver background. The back side has a short message in black marker that I can tell was written some time ago (as it has faded somewhat), that states simply-'From a WWII fighter plane'.
The party I purchased it from stated that they had purchased it directly from the family of the pilot. Apparently, the pilot had been killed in the aircraft and the roundel was cut from it and sent back to the family. The original owner, who was the sister of the pilot had it in her possession ever since, but had passed away and the rest of the story was lost as far as a name, type of aircraft, location, etc.
To me, it has raised more questions than answers. First, I doubt it was a fighter as it's from a fabric covered aircraft. Second, it's the old style AAC roundel with the red ball from pre-Pearl Harbor and therefore unlikely to have actively served during the war. Am I wrong in saying that? Third, what type of aircraft could it have come from having been painted silver? My initial thoughts were maybe an early training aircraft such as a Stearman before they were painted predominantly yellow to avoid collisions or maybe a glider.
I'd love to know if anyone else might be able to shed some light on this for me.
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