Keith Blakeman

I used to have one too, I was so p****d off when it arrived I chucked it in the bin. I hoped I'd got hold of a rare territorial. Keith

Tony, The cap is definently the East Yorkshire Regiment. Having trouble with the title though. Keith

Peter, I can recommend a free photo editing programme called "IRFANVIEW". You can convert bitmaps to jpegs and it also has a very useful reducer. Keith

Finally got a nickel one. Same distinguishing features as the silver one above, void behind the tail, skinny leg, etc. Also very clearly stamped lettering at the rear. Keith

And the source of these nice items please, Tony? Keith

I was tempted to start collecting Canadian cap badges as there are some really beatiful ones around, but when you see the price of them, phew forget it. I though British badges were expensive but over $1000 for some CEF ones!! I love to see more WW1 examples posted though please. Keith

Hi Tony, Very hard to say, but my first impressions are it looks OK. My w/m is very strong and the edging gives alot of re-inforcement. I notice yours is quite deeply stamped with the edging too. K & K only mention a w/m one. Is your just dirty or it is a blackened one ? As for the spots, who knows. Maybe it came from a different die. I would think that with all the voiding this would be a very time consuming badge to make so maybe more than one manufacturer was involved, hence the two rather than three loops. Does anyone know roughly how many a territorial battalion would need over six years of peacetime. As a footnote when I bought mine it also came with a pair of matching collars and all three items had the red felt backing. I'll re-scan mine on higher definition next week and send you the pics for comparision. Keith

Ralph & Andy Here's a genuine one in silver. The main points are the void underneath the tail and the thin front legs with the left one angled further back in the stance. There's also a different expression in the head features and various other ripples in the skin. It's also 3mm thick in places. It's a very difficult badge to judge, especially from photos. Have a look on ebay under the seller 'hantsreg' who's currently listing a restrike (and advertising it as one too, good for him) which doesn't look a whole lot different from this one. Restrikes appeared many, many years ago. I'm satisfied with this one, it's extremely heavy too. Keith

Tony, Your 16th London is actually not what it seems, it's better. It's a Queen's Westminster Rifle Volunteers 1902-08 (King's crown version) or 13th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, King's Royal Rifle Corps 6th Volunteer Battalion. Later to become the 16th County of London (Queen's Westminster Rifles) in the 1908 formation of the Territorial Force and The London Regiment. Worth about ?75. Is it actually whitemetal as mine is and with three loops ? Keith