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British Uniforms, Insignia and Badges, till 1945


Fritz

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Corps Badges:
General Service Corps, gilt, supposedly early WW1 period
Royal Artillery Officer, bronze, with blades to rear
Royal Artillery, supposedly collar badge, bronze
Army Ordonnance Corps, gilt, WW1 period
Machine Gun Corps, brass
Guards Machine Gun Corps, white metal, formed 1916, disbanded after WW1
Tank Corps, gilt, WW1 period
Pioneer Corps, bronze finish
Royal Engineers, bronze finish, WW1 Period, GR v.
Royal Army Medical Corps, gilt, WW1 period

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Various Regiments
Coldstream Guards
Scots Guards
Irish Guards
Canada General List, bronze, WW1 period
Australia, copper bronze, WW1
Seaforth Highlanders, this was originally three piece, worn above was a crowned L cypher
The Royal Scots glengary badge, supposedly WW1 period
Cameron Highlanders, glengary badge, WW1 period
Royal Welsh Fusiliers, WW1 period
South Wales Borderers, WW1 period
Royal Dublin Fusiliers, supposedly original
Connaught Rangers, disbanded 1922

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Royal Engineers, WW1 period, slider
The Black Watch, fittings have been removed
Royal Artillery, WW1 Period, static wheel

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Higland Light Infantry
Royal Scots Fusiliers
Cameronians

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Miscellaneous
Buttons, standard General Service, for tunic front, pockets and shoulder straps, and 2 for the service cap, WW1 till 1939.
Royal Horse Guards Officer, George V., bronze with blades, WW1 period
North Irish Horse, gilt brass, WW1 period
Army Service Corps, brass, WW1 period
Two very old poppies from a Rememberance Day of the mid 1960s

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Various Regiments
The Rifle Brigade, WW1 period
The Kings Royal Rifle Corps, blackened bronze, cloth backing not original
Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, early example on large lugs
The Royal Fusiliers, brass WW1 period
The Lancashire Fusiliers, WW1 period
Northumberland Fusiliers, all brass, WW1 period

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County Regiments, Infantry
Duke of Wellingtons Regiment, West Riding, officer, bronze with blades
as before, other ranks, bi-metal
North Staffordshire Regiment
South Lancashire Regiment, Prince of Wales Volunteers, WW1 period
Northamptonshire Regiment, WW1 example, oxidised, cleaned
Notts & Derby Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) WW1 period
Glouscester Regiment, brass with bronze finish
Lincolnshire Regiment, bi-metal

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County Regiments, Infantry
Royal Berkshire, brass WW1 period
The Kings Own, brass, fretted letters, WW1 period
Hampshire Regiment, WW1 period, white metal, copper bronze
East Surrey Regiment, WW1 period, white metal, copper bronze
Middlesex Regiment Officer, bronze with blades
Essex Regiment, bi-metal, older piece on slider
Royal West Kent Regiment, white metal on slider

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Royal Marines, World War 2 period with King's Crown, as worn on green beret by RM Commandos, etc. Brass with two loops to the rear for attachment

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WW2 khaki general service or overseas cap, mint with storage marks, two GS buttons to front have oxidised, no badge ever fitted, still stiff from storage. There is a WD and broad arrow stamp and dated 1941, manufacturer S&P Harris Ltd. and 7 for size. Very thin cloth quality, due to wartime material shortages.

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1941 dated overseas cap made by S. & P. Harris, unissued, no badge.

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Two small G.S.C. buttons with much age patina

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1941 dated lining

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I used to have quite a few more, including about 4 original trench caps from the WW1 period, one of which was dated 1922 (later), a 1916 War Office pattern Mk.I helmet and two WW1 uniforms and full basic equipment - one of which was from the Coldstream Guards, also a No.I Mk.III dated 1917 and a further damaged example dated 1927.

Here is an interesting book about uniforms and insignia of WW1 by Liliane & Fred Funcken (French text) that my father bought many years ago. Not a top reference work, but a reasonable general guide (ca.1970).

 

 

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  • 10 months later...

Some items from my original WW1 Tommy set now remaining:

Wide service webbing belt, complete with all fittings, some illegible stamps to inside
Bayonet frog matching, without helve strap, stamped on reverse
Bayonet Mk. III

 

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  • 3 months later...

A set of 1937 pattern basic webbing, almost matching pouches with brass fittings, wartime dated
Belt is probably postwar, has remains of a slightly darkened blanco
Basic equipment straps, medium length with economy steel tips, wartime dated
A spike bayonet (has no British markings), two bayonet frogs, one without loop and rather skinny,
would have to have been worn with a leather securing loop, both with illegible stamping
A field cutlery set by Richards dated 1944/45
A pair of British "Bulbs" (that's what matches the "oxford bags"), postwar dated, unworn,
no studs have been fitted, just toe plates and horseshoe irons, probably not original laces,
with gaiters (anklets), 1941 dated with brown leather and brass fittings
A khaki 1937/40 pattern battledress, label illegible, faded date of 1941 barely recognisable,
hand-written name Mackenzie? and a further name, top button has been replaced, traces of insignia,
worn condition, damage to rear of left cuff.
Not sure if this is a British production, or possibly South African, Australian, Canadian is said to
be a more greenish shade of khaki. Still no trousers for this set. Had with my first set in the late
sixtys an original 1940 trousers, complete with dressing pocket and all brass dished buttons, this had
one larger mothhole (quarter inch) in crutch area, but otherwise mint.

There is a large stamped "9" near the label, I presume this was the size, being 5´10" and 32" waist.

German U-Boot crews favoured the British battledress type as ideal for working within
a U-Boot. I can imagine that the first of these were original capture pieces with slight
alteration, such as removing the shoulder pieces and applying the relevant insignia.
These uniforms were probably later German made.

Blouse was purchased from TreasureBunker about 10 years ago.
A decent repair is also on my list of "to does", does anyone know where I can get some
more or less matching khaki serge material?
 

 

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A 1937 pattern web cradle for the waterbottle, 1940 dated

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I remember that tunic Fritz, they are getting harder to find now. I would not repair the tunic as it most likely came direct from the veteran and the damage would have been period, I think it adds a bit of character.  

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In the meantime, I have repaired the cuff damage with some almost matching material, definitely looks better now.
Good memory! Any idea of which unit this might have been from?

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Really impossible to say for certain without any insignia, however with the name Mackenzie then most likely a Scottish Infantry regiment. Also the fact it was found in Glasgow would make it most likely to be a lowland regiment, so the order of local regiments would be the Highland Light Infantry which is the local Glasgow regiment, or possibly the Cameronians or the Royal Scots Fusiliers who both also recruited from Glasgow and surrounding areas. I would say Cameronians but then I'm biased. The tunic below would have been worn in South East Asia but as in my uncles case the Cameronians also fought in North West Europe.

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This battledress blouse was worn by Sergeant Frank Picken from 1944-1947. The cloth badges on the sleeve indicate that Sergeant Picken was a Cameronian who served as part of the South East Asia Command (SEAC). The SEAC’s operational area during the Second World War was in India, Burma, Ceylon, Malaya, Singapore and Sumatra. Service records show that Sergeant Picken served in India and Singapore. The picture badge is the formation badge of the Allied Land Forces South East Asia Command which was previously known as the 11th Army Group of the SEAC. The three stripes or chevrons on the sleeve indicate the rank of Sergeant. This tunic is on display in the Cameronian museum 129 Muir Street Hamilton, ML3 6BJ. The museum holds a collection of objects relating to Sergeant Picken’s service with The Cameronians in the 1940s.  Picture credit the Cameronian museum, Hamilton. 

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Many thanks for the info so far. I would think in that region more likely to have worn light cotton or denim clothing, rather than wool, but could of course have been the home service dress before embarking for Asia.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quote:
The tunic below would probably have been worn in South East Asia but as in my uncles case the Cameronians also fought in...

- bad enough fighting in any war, but I wouldn't want to be facing the Japanese..... although I once did, had a Japanese girlfriend many, many years ago.... (she was nice though)

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An old photo of the British WW1 items I had. The steel helmet was all complete, and with 1916 War Office stamp. Uniform and all web equipment in photo, side pack (haversack) and complete water bottle, as well as the trousers and puttees. Never had the boots. Both the soft field cap with white cotton lining, dated 1922, the other stiffened cap with a black oilcloth liner.

There are also a few French items of WW1 - a Képi for a captain of the 14. Regt. d'Hussards, silver trim. An artillery steel helmet.

 

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  • Fritz changed the title to British Uniforms, Insignia and Badges, till 1945

Nice badges!

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  • Fritz pinned this topic

 

New items added, all from TreasureBunkerimage.thumb.png.01603f31b33b2e047d12b4d4a4dac356.png

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

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New items just arrived, these purchased from TreasureBunker

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  • 1 year later...

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