South African green veld uniform

[jamyam]

I have a similar SAAF helmet flash with a dark blue Transvaal half and a mid-blue SAAF half. The SAAF half is a definite strong blue as opposed to the light khaki appearance of the flash in your photo. The red & black diagonal represents Artillery and so this is the helmet flash of an amphigarious officer. Interestingly, the diagonal in my example is the opposute way to the one in your flash.

John Murdoch

[westernhighlander]

I have a similar SAAF helmet flash with a dark blue Transvaal half and a mid-blue SAAF half. The SAAF half is a definite strong blue as opposed to the light khaki appearance of the flash in your photo. The red & black diagonal represents Artillery and so this is the helmet flash of an amphigarious officer. Interestingly, the diagonal in my example is the opposute way to the one in your flash.

John Murdoch

John,

I was ecstatic when I read your post - I simply cant thank you enough - I can't begin to tell you how hard i've been searching for the answer to the identity of the unit this helmet flash represents - some sites suggested it was fabricated whe it clearly isnt.

Perhaps its the quality of the lighting in the photo(s) I uploaded, but the lower half of the flash is indeed light blue albeit faded. The underneath side is darker light blue. Additionally if you look at the photo of the helmet with the flash, the diagobnal is indeed the same as on your flash. The photo of close up of the flash appears to have been reversed when the image was uploaded. I will take additional pics in better lighting and upload them again. The flash is on both sides of the helmet.

I searched for info on amphigarious units and found the following ( whih I am sure you are already familiar with)

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol056dt.html.

Very exciting -

Thanks again,

Mike

Thanks, Mike

[westernhighlander]

Here are a few pics

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_11_2013/post-13589-0-83630800-1384571811.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_11_2013/post-13589-0-12409900-1384571872.jpg

Edited November 16, 2013 by westernhighlander

[westernhighlander]

Error

Edited November 16, 2013 by westernhighlander

[westernhighlander]

I have a similar SAAF helmet flash with a dark blue Transvaal half and a mid-blue SAAF half. The SAAF half is a definite strong blue as opposed to the light khaki appearance of the flash in your photo. The red & black diagonal represents Artillery and so this is the helmet flash of an amphigarious officer. Interestingly, the diagonal in my example is the opposute way to the one in your flash.

John Murdoch

John,

Can you provide the reference for the info on the helmet flash of the amphigarious units?

[jamyam]

Mike

Unfortunately I do not know of any published reference for South African Helmet flashes. I purchased the amphigarious flash from one of the South African badge gurus. It came out of a very old and well established collection and was already written up as described. I have no doubt whatsoever about its authenticity and the system of bisected flashes representing state and service unit is well known.

What I can show you is a genuine amphigarious badge which is on an orange/red SPFS patch. (Sealed Permanent Force Shade).

With best wishes

John

Edited November 16, 2013 by jamyam