Chrisvo

Thank you Peter. Yes, a rather mixed lot. Don't exactly know where to post sometimes. Bit of guess work. I think you might be right about the Irish patches. Also picked up a set of WW1 medals to a L-2110 DVR. R. Bushell. R.A. with the lot. Don't know if there is a connection there.. Also picked up another set of medals. A WW1 1914-15 star and WW2 African Service Medal and British War Medal. The WW1 medal reads BOMBR. E.D. Rom 8th Cit. Batt. and the two WW2 medals WN 615896 E.Rom. Thanks for the help.

I was hoping for some helping regarding a few of these badges and medallions. Most are Italian Fascist badges plus Italian Colonial Battles Medals pre-WW2. Not too clued up on the two 'shamrock' Irish cloth badges - are these formation patches or something else entirely? The one that has me stumped though is the one on the top left. It is a badge with a gladius chopping the head off of a snake with the Cross of Lorraine in the background in red enamel. Possibly Free French or some such. Any help would be appreciated. Regards, Chris

Hi Arthur I think you are correct about the Southern Rhodesia connection. Do you think it could be an old high school that used to be active during that time? The 'OH' could be something Highschool...

Got some information on the helmet flashes. Apparently they belong to the South African WW2 National Reserve Volunteers. The one advertising pin is for Meltonian shoe polish from the 1930s. I have no idea what the 'ISPCS' stands for though. The Albion Leyland Scammell badge seems to be quite rare, a trucker's button hole badge of some sort. Still can't find anything on the other two badges.

A few of these might be military but not sure where to place them. A couple cloth flashes. Could be Artillery.. Then a few badges. Query relates to the advertising badges and not the two sweetheart badges. Any help would be appreciated.

Found some more interesting badges over the festive season. Some good finds include the Northern Rifles collar badge and a Western Province Mounted Rifles shoulder title. A world war one Imperial service and a South African Motorcycle Corps shoulder title. A 1st South African Mounted Rifles shoulder title. Also found an interesting cut out version of the early South African Railroad cap badge. Comes with two lugs on the back, could be silver. As always, any other information or interesting facts about these badges would be kindly appreciated.

The medal is cupronickel. I would try some rubbing alcohol and see if it removes it. These British War Medals are not expensive. If it's a family medal I would understand the need to send it off for proper care but I would save the money and look for a better candidate. Regards, Chris

Thanks Peter. A couple nice ones I've been looking for and some in pairs too. The Diamond Field Horse, Johannesburg Mounted Riles, Dukes of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles, Transvaal Cycle and Motor Corps and the WW1 South African Field Artillery titles were my prime picks. A really well rounded collection too. Some from the Boer War, others from World War One and Two and a few from the SADF days. I forgot to include a couple others in the pictures that allowed me to pair up with a few singles I had on hand. Regards, Chris

Was lucky enough to purchase these about two weeks ago. Some really nice finds among the batch. Only two are missing a lug each, the rest are in great condition. Still don't know whether to label the "NR" badges as Northern Rifles or Northern Rhodesia..

Did determine most of the collar badges. The top one is a white metal First City Volunteers collar badge worn prior to 1902, number 84 in Owens. The next two badges seem to be collar badges from the Irish Leinster Regiment. The castle and key is for the Suffolk Regiment and the last collar badge belongs to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Any other info on the chevrons would be appreciated.

Would it be better to place this under the Great Britain: Militaria: Badges, Uniforms and Equipment sub forum instead?

Here are a bunch of badges that I saw whilst at a local flea market today. I could kick myself for not taking one specific one. Would be interesting to see if the gents here can spot which.. I was lucky enough to come away with some good finds though. I don't really collect the British badges but there were two WW1 Royal Flying Core cap badges in this lot. A bit too expensive for my tastes though so I left them. The second picture shows the badges I did end up buying. Five collar badges, a WW2 Dukes shoulder title and three sets of British WW2 cloth rank insignia. If anyone sees badges in the first lot that they think I should add to my collection, please let me know. The prices varied quite a bit but perhaps I can make a bulk offer.

Afternoon Mike Thank you for the response. Just to get the terms correct and please forgive me for something that might sound a bit silly to the more longer term collectors here.. By 'theater made' do you mean made in the field of operations locally or made for use in reenactments of the battle and as such is more of a replica? Chris

Thanks. Any help is always appreciated.

It's a complete assumption on my part. That's why I'm open to suggestions. It could be something entirely different. I don't know.

Hi all. Found this over the weekend. Looks like a hand cut out Boer war Border Mounted Rifles badge. Any thoughts?

Thanks Peter. I have a pair of South African 2nd Regiment collar badges each with the Maker's Mark of G & S Co 112 Regent St W. I remember hearing that the four South African Infantry regiments and other associated units (Heavy Artillery, SASC, e.tc.) had to get their badges made in England as they were volunteer units and fell under the British Army. Anyway, as you say, a nice find and one I will happily keep.

Here is something interesting. Never seen one before. A South African Infantry Cap badge with the TIPTAFT B.HAM Maker's Mark stamped on the back.

Interesting set that I came across. From what I gathered the helmet flashes are South African Service Core.

Cannot Thank You enough Mike! Amazing to see such details.

I have been able to do a bit of research on these medals but the rest seems to be behind a pay wall. Both the War medal and Victory medal are named the same - E Colbert VAD. The only person with that name and detachment seems to be an Elizabeth Colbert who joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment in 1914. The two medals also came with a Worker's or Women's Volunteer badge numbered 100348 manufactured by Gaunt London. Is there any way to gather more information to determine if I indeed have the right person and also more information on person themselves? Thank you. Regards, Chris

Hi gents Some new badges I recently got possession of. Two command bars, Witwatersrand Group 41 as far as I could determine. The Rover Scouts badges, including a hat plume and RS title. Don't know about the rifle cloth badge or the 'WR' badge. Always interested in the knowledge if anyone has some ideas. Regards, Chris

Thank you Mike. A few questions. What would you classify the 'UMR' badge as? A Boer War era shoulder title, a slouch hat badge.. I found a Bethune's Mounted Infantry badge awhile back that I thought was a shoulder title but turned out to be a slouch hat badge so it's confusing as to how to categorise the badges. Would the snippet posted above be incorrect with regard to the time period? Regards, Chris

Found a bit more information online. This from a snippet from an auction for the book: Du Plessis, A.J. The Umvoti Mounted Rifles. According to the snippet, the badge above is number three in the picture. Under number 3 is written, as best as I can make out.. "Gilded metal slouch hat badge. Two gnus galloping on ground, below the ground a scroll inscribed with the motto 'Toujours Pret'. In the area between the ground and the scroll, the letters UMR, worn prior to 1902, the greatest width being 2 something inches." Does anyone have access to this book? Reason for edit: Just learned another name for wildebeest are gnus.

Thought I would update this post. As far as I've been told, the cap badge relates to the post Boer War era up to World War One and the UMR title is a Boer War era slouch cap badge. I'm still learning so if any information can be added, please feel free.