DrT

Hi James, I really appreciate all the extra information you have supplied-it's very useful. I'm positive the William Gubbins you found is the right/same person;his name was James William Gubbins and from what I have found I assume he went under his middle name. Possibly as the medals were 'official' they were engraved with his first initial. I go by my middle name and often more formal documents (e.g. qualification certificates) have only my first name on whereas others may have my middle initial or both! Thank you again for looking this up-we did not realise he was in the poilice for twenty years. Regards Tim

I thought this may be interesting for everyone that kindly responded to my request for help; I found an online document from 1943 (US Government publication), that was a guide to the Italian army in WW2. It showed this insignia as being Royal Italian Army Cavalry of the Line (Cavalleria de Linea) for Regiments 5-10 (lancers). On closer inspection of the back of the insignia in the photo in my original post, it looks to me like the writing may say "Cavalleria" for the top word, and "Lancieri" for the bottom word. It is possible that the underlined number/letter at the bottom of the insignia could be a 6 for 6th Regiment. I will keep digging to see where it may have been picked up but I just wanted to say a huge thank you to every one for pointing out that it was Italian; I would still be looking at British insignia otherwise! Tim

Thank you Peter, I have spent a lot of time looking up Royal Italian Army insignia (on the internet), and the closest match that I can find is also for the Italian Cavalry-but again the lack of regiment number is confusing. I'm happy that I am heading in the right direction. Thank you for looking this up, it is very much appreciated. I will keep plugging away till I get to the bottom of this! Tim

Hi Paul, the first two medals are indeed Metropolitan Police Coronation medals. I realised the Egypt medal would have an inscription around the edge but never realised that the police medals would. I asked my sister (she and the medals are in England-I'm in Australia) to have a look and she found PC J GUBBINS HDIV N and PC J GUBBINS HDIV on them. Thank you for that tip! Tim

Thanks Mervyn, my mind was completely on it being British as well. I wonder where my grandfather picked it up? He never talked about the war with us and the most he told my dad was that he caught a lift on a fishing boat at Dunkirk. Thanks again-this site has been a real find. Very knowledgeable friendly people and the blogs are very interesting and informative. Tim

Hello Mike, I'm very grateful for this. It is certainly an eye opener for me that it is Italian-I had just assumed it would be British as my relatives were in the British army. Would this be for a flag bearer? Thank you again. Tim

Thank you Mervyn, I wasn't sure if they were flags or lances for Lancers/Cavalry. The circle has me completely baffled-for Lancers I would have thought there would be the regiment number inside but if it represents a heliograph then it makes complete sense. Tim

Thank you very much Mervyn and Paul for your welcome. I really appreciate your replies and thank you for identifying this. Tim

I would be very grateful if anyone could ID this badge for me. This was in a box of family medals that were passed down by my late grandfather. All the medals were British and were from Egypt (Shropshire Light Infantry), WW1 (London Regiment), and WW2 (Royal Engineers) so I'm not sure what time period it would be from either. I can't make out the writing on the back. Thank you for your help and sorry about the bad carpet!

I would be really grateful if anyone knows anything about this 'medal'. A box of medals have been passed down through my late grandfather and they've been sitting in the loft for the last 30 years. This is the only one that I have been unable to find anything about. Compared to the other medals it seems a bit flimsy and lightweight! The person who I suspect was given this was in the 1st Battalion Shropshire Light Infantry and also had a Khedive's Star and Egypt Medal Thank you very much for help.