Service Chevorns

[MattGibbs]

Hello there

Can someone help me with the details of chevrons worn on WW2 BD for length of service. In the Brian L Davis book I have it details these on page 113.

However, I am being told that they were not only in red for WW2 service but also there was a blue single one authorised for wear to denote pre war overseas service? It is intimated to me that indeed several blue ones could be worn to denote pre ww2 service.

However, I am sure I have read somewhere this was a WW1 practise and NOT carried into WW2 by BRITISH troops. HOWEVER I am told that it may be that Canadian [poss also ANZAC] troops wore them in WW2..?

Can someone give me some more references to make this clear to me please? I would like to get to the bottom of what is right and wrong, for re-encating purposes [not mine] so others do not make a mistake.

Partly I believe this comes about because there are reproduction badges out there on the market which may make people think these were definately a UK issue.

Also when did the wearing of this come into use?

Regards

Matt Gibbs

[peter monahan]

Oh, yes! As to whether or not they were worn through the war: a friend's father gave him/us his old BD tunic and it did have the service chevrons and he wore it until at least march '45, when he caught a leg full of German mortar fragments.

BTW - minor linguistic side note - his regiment was the "Regiment de Chaudiere", which considerably confused the folks in Normandy when our boys landed, as in French french a "chaudiere" is a stove! In Quebecois, a language somewhat resembling French, it's the name of river in Quebec!

Edited October 10, 2006 by peter monahan

[peter monahan]

OK, here's a partial answer. Somebody in Aus. has a collection of uniforms including one for an officer in a Cdn. WWII Highland reg't. The description includes the following: "on his sleeve he wears 4 red [chevrons] to indicate 4 years active service and a silver [chevron] to show he enlisted in 1939. So, you were right: red equals active [overseas] service, blue for home/non-combatant service.

The websit - it's a nice photo - is: http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/canada.htm

[Michael Johnson]

Oh, yes! As to whether or not they were worn through the war: a friend's father gave him/us his old BD tunic and it did have the service chevrons and he wore it until at least march '45, when he caught a leg full of German mortar fragments.

BTW - minor linguistic side note - his regiment was the "Regiment de Chaudiere", which considerably confused the folks in Normandy when our boys landed, as in French french a "chaudiere" is a stove! In Quebecois, a language somewhat resembling French, it's the name of river in Quebec!

The Hairy Pathan, right, Peter? And a Chaudiere is a kettle. Puzzled the Normandaise, who I'm told otherwise understood the French Canadians fairly well.

The definitive answer is on Michael Dorosh's site: http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/mediawiki-...ervice_Chevrons

Edited October 11, 2006 by Michael Johnson

[MattGibbs]

thanks but none of that tells me whether brit troops were allowed it....which is what I wanted to know

regards

matt

[Tony]

Matt,

As far as I know and I have no books on the subject (so could be wrong), pre 1915 overseas service was denoted by a red chevron. Chevrons were worn again post WWI, these being blue and as far as I know, this colour stayed.

As I said, I may be wrong. It's all from memory.

Tony