Dan M

Rick, i think you're assumption is closer to the mark then what has been presented. During my time in the RCR, none of our uniforms were marked according to the Company we were in, but all had labels with the size sewn on the inside. Ink markings were no longer used. I must admit however, that I was never issued with a set of Scarlets. Also, the lettering of the Companies within the Regiment from A (Duke's Company) to T came about in the early 1970's. Prior to that the Rifle Companies in each battalion were lettered from A to D. Although I'm not an expert, I think the tunic with the patch pockets is an earlier pattern than the one without. The most knowledgeable person about the RCR I know is Michael O"Leary who runs the RCR history website The Regimental Rogue. He may be able to help you more than anyone else. Cheers, Dan.

Robert, My friend was slightly confused about which Jillett you were interested in. Here's his latest reply:

Robert, A bit more from my friend: I've read the NAA files on both Jillett and Graves. It appears I was wrong. Graves did do some time in New Guinea and appears that he was involved in "Jungle Craft' of some sort. I still don't rate him. My friend also asked if you would like a photo of Greendale Station which was the Jillett property and / or the Tambo war memorial which will have Jillett recorded on it. Cheers, Dan. Glad you liked it. Thanks for the accolade. Dan.

Robert, I reached out to my favourite antipodean amateur historian who is the most knowledgeable person I know concerning the Australian military. It's his opinion that Richard Graves tales of rescue and his magic unit are exaggerations of the worst order. Which is probably why you can't find any viable authority mentioning it... or him. I quote: "A generation of Australian Boy Scouts grew up with Graves' Bushcraft books in the 70's. I was one of them. I haven't done it in a while but I reckon I can still whittle up a 'four pattern' snare trigger. When I was 14, Dad was posted to Canungra. Canungra was then the Jungle Training Centre and had been since WW2. By then I was a senior scout, called Venturers in Oz. Scouts were based at a place called Fogarty's Farm which was also the jungle survival school run in those days by Billy Bostock. Later Bill's role was taken up by Les Hidden's who became a bit of a TV star. That was well after my time by which the school had transferred to Tully in Far North Queensland. We learned a lot. I was taught Jungle Nav by Clem Ebner who'd been teaching it for decades. Even so, I got regularly lost (and still do) in the McPherson Ranges, with perfect maps, awesome compasses and a tally counter to measure paces. Billy Bostock taught us to make fish traps and spears. All based on indigenous skills and crafts. It was pretty much that experience that convinced me that Dick Graves was full of and had most likely never set foot in Triple Canopy Rainforest in his life. Pretty much nothing in his bushcraft books is relevant to Jungle. What I do know about Graves is that he was a WW1 Gallipoli Veteran. I know from the WW2 nominal roll that he was demobbed as a lieutenant in early 1945 from the 111th Tank Attack Regiment, a unit that never left Australia. A couple of things. A detachment of 60 to the USAF from the Australian Army is going to be commanded by a Major at the very least. You need a field grade officer to be responsible for Administration and Discipline. Goes double for when working with foreign forces. Graves is a bit light on in the rank department. Apart from Graves' forward to his bushcraft books I've never seen any other reference to a 'jungle rescue' unit. Which is not to say that USAF airmen were not occasionally rescued by Australians. Technically they were not 'rescued' by Australians, they were rescued by locals and the Australians facilitated their extraction because they had radios. This was done in the Pacific by Coastwatcher's and in PNG by ANGAU. Peter Ryan's "Fear Guide my Feet" is the seminal ANGAU work. Even then, before the advent of helicopters, extraction was difficult. In the Pacific it could be done by Catalina in New Guinea by Flying Boat if a big enough River was handy. The prospect of walking out by ill equipped and possibly injured aircrew was and is still a non-starter. See here. By WW2 the Australian Army had determined that the key to Jungle Survival was harnessing local indigenous knowledge. Graves knew nothing of this."

Crossed swords indicates war service. Not restricted to just the Great War, but includes any of the small wars prior. I'm going to take a guess and say W.S./Lt. stands for War Service Lieutenant meaning he received a commission for the duration of the War only. Cheers, Dan.

Note that in the photo of Maj SJA Denison, he is wearing a Staffordshire Knot badge on his cap rather than the badge of the RCRI. As a young man, after leaving RMC, Denison went to England and was commissioned into a militia battalion, the 1st Staffordshire Regiment which, after the Childers reforms, became the 4th Bn, The South Staffordshire Regiment. He eventually rose to the rank of Major. Denison went to South Africa as an officer with the RCRI, however it looks like when he was taken on as an ADC to Field Marshal Roberts, he re-badged himself to his militia battalion, the South Staffs. From what i can see from his record, he was in the British Army militia and the Canadian militia concurrently. Major was the highest rank Denison achieved in the British Army. Cheers, Dan.

Okay, it's ten days later. The suspense is killing me. Cheers, Dan.

I'm guessing The Burma Rifles (1917-1948). They had a male peacock in their cap and collar badges. But if it's dated to 1898, then there's no way It also has a Guelphic crown, as used by The Rifle Brigade until 1910 and adopted again in 1955-1966. What Indian regiment was aligned with The Rifle Brigade in the 19th century? Cheers, Dan.

You're missing, or the original diagram was missing, the gold loop worn by the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Did the original identify the colours? There's three blues and two greens. Cheers, Dan. PS: Was there no loop identified for the 12th Devonshires?

It's part of unfixing bayonets. They're in the act of replacing the bayonet in the scabbard, which requires two hands hence the rifle between the knees. Cheers, Dan.

It's a Mk III also known as the invasion helmet. It was issued, along with the Mk II as worn by the other soldier in your photo, to the troops who took part in the Normandy invasion. Check out this site from the IWM: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30101243 Cheers, Dan.

Thanks for the link. The site doesn't have a forum that I could see. It's a very interesting site however. Again, thanks. Cheers, Dan.

Peter, Thanks for the response and the link. Always interested to learn something I hadn't been aware of prior. The period I'm interested in is the time of the organization of The Light Infantry in 1968. I'd mentioned it earlier in post #4, but I can see now how I could have made my post clearer. Supposedly there were four different versions of drill, particularly rifle drill, utilized by the four regiments. Creating a common drill for the new regiment was one of the issues to be resolved along with the items of dress, badges, etc. For the life of me I can't think of how different the individual drill was. I think the differences may have been exxagerated, but I've never been able to find any information on it. Again, thanks for the link. Cheers, Dan.

jf42, I think that this is about as much of answer as I will ever get on the subject. Thanks for taking the time to respond. I would tend to agree that it was probably the Shorncliffe-Light Infantry-Sir John Moore connection that led to the Green Jackets Brigade taking the form it did. Now, if you can explain to me please, why all of the different LI regiments had such diverse rifle drill movements, and what these drill movements were, I would again be most grateful. Cheers, Dan.

Thanks for the reply jf42. Very informative. Back in the mists of time I recall reading about the light and grenadier companies created during the 18th century but, with increasing interests taking up more of my limited brain space, it must have slipped away. Knowledgeable as you are, maybe you could help me with another question I have from the post-war period. When the administrative Green Jacket Brigade was formed in 1948 why was it the Oxs & Bucks LI were chosen as one of its regiments? The OBLI wasn't the most senior or junior of the LI regiments, nor was it more closely linked to the rifle regiments than the others. Would you have any thoughts on this? Thanks. Cheers, Dan.

Thanks Peter. Two good points. I wasn't aware of the previous use of green uniforms by some LI regiments in Canada or Britain. Although, and I stand to be corrected on this, the No 1 Dress LI green tunics were not rifle green. The LI tunics were a lighter shade and trimmed with white piping. I completely agree that the adoption of the green tunic was to distinguish the LI from the remaining line regiments, but it must have been a tremendous effort to get the five English Light Infantry regimental councils to agree to a common design. I recall reading that when 'The Light Infantry' was created, one of the first things the regiment had to do was to create a common form of drill, as all of the battalions practiced their own version which was different from the rest. Tribal customs, I mean regimental affectations, always being difficult to overcome. I also was thinking about why the Highland regiments chose green. It created a situation in Canada with the Canadian Black Watch. When the Regular Army units of the Canadian BW (usually shortened to RHC for Royal Highlanders of Canada) adopted their dress uniform after being created in 1953 it also adopted the piper green doublet. The Militia battalion of the regiment, having been in existence since the 19th century, had been wearing the red doublet pre and post the Great War. I believe the Militia battalion eventually adopted piper green, however the remainder of the Army's highland Militia battalions (who were all affiliated with an Imperial regiment) retained the red doublet. I stand to be corrected however. Had the distinguishing colour of the Light Infantry been green since the late 18th century? Anything that you could provide on this would be most appreciated. Cheers, Dan.

I've lately become very interested in the No 1 Dress introduced to the Army after the Second World War, but I can't seem to find too much information on this. One of the questions I have and can't seem to find a reason for is: "Why did the Light Infantry regiments adopt green rather than blue tunics?" Up to 1914, light infantry regiments wore red tunics like the remainder of the non-rifle infantry. They were distinguished by wearing green rather than blue home service helmets. So why, forty years later, was there felt the need to distinguish the light infantry from the line infantry to such a degree? Light infantry continued to wear a green rather than a blue coloured field service cap with No 1 Dress, which would conform to their previous practice. But I can't find anything on the tunics. Any thoughts? Cheers, Dan.

According to Allied Special Forces Insignia 1939-1945 (2000) by Peter Taylor the badge you have was used by members of the Jedburghs. It was made from the metal Parachute Regiment cap badge by cutting back the wings, cutting off the lion and crown above the canopy and adding a brass star at the bottom. (I would presume the British members wore this in lieu of their own regiment or corps cap badge, but it could have been used by other nationalities as well.) Taylor states that only 55 members of the Jedburghs were British with no two coming from the same regiment. One interesting item that Taylor infers in the section on the OSS is that the Jedburghs were an OSS operation. He goes on to say that the OSS was divided into two branches; special intelligence (SI) and special operations (SO). This would seem to make sense seeing as how both the Jedburghs and the OSS Operational Groups wore the 'Special Force' wings on their sleeve. Cheers, Dan.

Mike, I've heard from another RM website, and I quote: "It's a Corps Shooting medal, they came in two versions, silver and bronze. Unfortunately the individual's name wasn't engraved on the back." So now we know what it is, but not to whom it was awarded. HTH, Cheers, Dan.

Michael, My reading of your document leads me to think that what we are calling the 'SF wings' are not wings in the sense of designating the wearer as being parachute qualified. If they were then there wouldn't be a need for any personnel to be wearing regular Army wings on becoming parachute qualified. Nor would there be a requirement to remove them when leaving the unit. I may be thick on this but it looks to me like the SF wings were a unit identifier and not a specialty qualification. The document even refers to the SF wing as sleeve insignia. This means, as it applies to the OSS OG's, that all members of the unit would be entitled to wear them whether parachute qualified or not. The US Army also has definite rules for the wearing of shoulder sleeve insignia. Currently serving with the unit: worn on the left shoulder. Prior combat or overseas service with the unit: worn on the right. Both shoulders? I have no idea. I know this doesn't agree with all of the photographs we've seen in this thread, and I can't account for the variations. But back to my original idea, that perhaps the SF wings were a unit identifier rather than a qualification badge. Your thoughts? Cheers, Dan.

I'm glad you're here because I have a question about the Perth's in the Second World War. I served with 4RCR when it was still wearing the fusilier hackle in the beret. We had one officer parading out of Stratford who was a former Perth. We also had a pipe band which we inherited when the Perth's were placed on the supplementary order of battle and its personnel were rebadged to RCR. My question is: Was The Perth Regiment a Highland or Scottish regiment during the war? Or was the Highland / Scottish affectation as a result of its short-lived post-war amalgamation with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada? Any information that you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Dan.

Mike, I asked about your medal on another site that has a Royal Marine sub-forum. Unfortunately no one knew for sure but I was provided with links to similar medals offered for sale on the 'net. As near as I can tell it's a shooting medal and may be issued through the RN RM Rifle Association. The star hanging from the ribbon is identical to the current RM helmet plate. Should I learn more, I will let you know. Cheers, Dan.

Azyeoman, Truly impressive grouping of decorations. Congratulations. I can only add the barest minimum of information on the career of Chris Garstang. According to the Canadian Army (Regular) List of 1966 the entry for Garstang (Regimental Number ZB6776) shows that he was born in August of 1928 and that his seniority in the rank of Captain dated from April 2, 1962. Oh, and he was qualified for promotion to Major. Cheers, Dan.

Rob, I'm new here as well and I can only echo the accolades you've already received for your article and your research. While I can't add anything of significance to what you've said, I do have the following. According to the 1934 edition of the Defence Forces List the 11th Divisional Signals NPAM was stationed in Vancouver, BC. Unfortunately the List doesn't provide which Armoury in Vancouver it paraded out of. I'm curious by the entry you've provided which indicates No 290 Regiment. Could you provide the context in which it was presented? The 11th Divisional Signals was disbanded in the 1936 reorganization of the NPAM. No new signals unit replaced it in Vancouver so I'm curious with what happened to all of the soldiers assigned to it. In the 1936 DFL the officers who were a part of the 11th Div Sigs are shown as 'not yet assigned,' with the exception of the adjutant who became the Signals Officer of the Seaforth Highlanders (also located in Vancouver). I'm going to make a guess here that perhaps Muggeridge was transferred to the Field Ambulance which is what got him interested in going PF with the RCAMC. But this is just a guess. Again, congratulations. And if I find out anything further I will be sure to let you know. Cheers, Dan.

This is a great thread. One of my abiding interests is the organization and location of the depots of the infantry of the line during the post-war period. I conduct my research with the aide of a fellow enthusiast from the UK. It's not an easy subject on which to find information, especially in published works. Sometimes the same information, even if it's in error, is repeated again and again. One of the things that we have discovered is the that the 1947 reorganization of the infantry of the line into 13 administrative brigades with a common depot ultimately failed. The plan was for one battalion in each brigade to act as the depot battalion and train soldiers for all of the regiments in the brigade, regiments of the line having been reduced to one battalion by this time. With 13 depot battalions out of a total of 64 regiments, twenty per-cent of all infantry battalions would now not be available for operational commitments. Two things occurred after these brigades were organized that made their continuation as planned unfeasible. The first was Britain's commitment to NATO and the second was the Korean War. The 13 depot battalions were now required for operations. In fact the Korean War commitment saw some regiments raising a second battalion in order to cover all of the remaining commitments the British infantry had. Without brigade depot battalions to train their soldiers the individual regiments returned to using regimental depots. By 1958 all 64 regiments of the line were operating their own depots at 61 barrack locations. (Six regiments shared barracks.) This was one of the inefficiencies that the 1957 Defence White Paper meant to address by recreating the brigade depot system, this time organizing 14 depots but this time each with its own staff. The White Paper also reduced the 64 regiments by 15 to 49 between 1958 and 1961. This was accomplished by amalgamating 30 regiments down to 15. Seven of the depots trained soldiers for four battalions while the remaining seven trained for three. Two Guards battalions were also disbanded at the same time reducing their numbers from 10 to eight within five regiments. With three parachute battalions and eight Ghurka battalions the total number of infantry battalions in the British Army after the last amalgamation in 1961 was 68. The number available at the beginning of 1958 was 85. Some of the individual regimental depots from 1958 are still in use by the British Army today. Some are still extant but have been converted to civilian use. Most however, are now housing estates or shopping centres. If anyone has any maps or plans of a demolished barracks, I would be very interested to see it. Cheers, Dan.