Arthur R

Aren't they the rank badges of senior UK police officers?

Thank you for this terrific presentation, Mervyn. Such an interesting story, and such a wealth of documents and accoutrements to help bring it to life.

The BSAC Medal has a very distinctive suspender and clasps, whereas the medal in this photo has a plain suspender and a standard-looking clasp. Those details, plus the general outline of the bust of Queen Victoria on the obverse, certainly make it look like the QSA, or perhaps the Cape of Good Hope GSM, than anything else.

To bump up this topic : I was at the Cape Town Archives today, and I had a quick look at Peter Brown VC's deceased estate papers. The death notice was filled in by Joseph Smiles of 1 Primrose Street, District Six, Cape Town. Brown had been lodging with him, and Smiles claimed against the estate for board and lodging. Smiles gave Brown's birthplace as Sweden, and his age as 61 years and 10 months. That would mean a date of birth in November/December 1832. He described Brown as an "army pensioner". Apparently Brown was illiterate : to support his claim for payment from the estate, Smiles submitted bills for board and lodging which Brown had signed with an X. I also found a file for a liquor retailer named Peter Brown who had been declared insolvent in 1864, i.e. thirty years earlier. I've no idea if it was the same man, but (a) he too signed his name with a X, (b) his address had been 6 Hanover Street, District Six, Cape Town, which was literally around the corner from 1 Primrose Street, and (c ) Brown VC is said to have joined the Frontier Armed & Mounted Police around 1864. If it was the same man, was the business failure perhaps the reason for his enlistment?

The original version of the badge had a crown at the top. In 1957, when the crown was removed from a number of military and police badges, the SARP decided to replace it with the Voortrekker Monument.

Just to clarify the various units mentioned : - the Cape Mounted Riflemen (sometimes called 'imperial' to distinguish it from the unit below) was a British Army regiment which disbanded in 1870 - the CMR (sometimes called 'colonial' to distinguish it from the above) was a Cape Colony regiment which existed from 1878 to 1913 and then became the 1st SA Mounted Riflemen in the new Union Defence Forces - disbanded 1926 - the Cape Mounted Police was a para-military police force formed in 1882, renamed 'Cape Mounted Police' in 1904, and absorbed into the defence force as the 5th SAMR in 1913 - disbanded 1920 - British Bechuanaland formed a police force c1885 - I don't know what happened to it after British Bechuanaland was incorporated into Cape Colony in 1895.. The CMP had the rank of inspector (equivalent to captain), but the CMR used army ranks. According to the National Archives of SA website, there is a file in the Natal Archives for the deceased estate of Geoffrey O'Connell Scott, born in Oudtshoorn - surviving spouse Marthina Dorothea Maria Scott - 'no trace'. The file is dated 1970-71 : . http://www.national....F81&DN=00000001 Here's a photo of his grave in Newcastle, Natal : http://www.eggsa.org...2_itemId=756923 And one of Henry Raymond Scott's grave in Oudtshoorn : http://www.eggsa.org..._itemId=1341312 And of Daniel O'Connell Scott's grave in Oudtshoorn : http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1525175 According to the Anglo-Boer War website ( http://www.angloboer...99-oudtshoornvr ) : * Ptes D.C. Scott, H.R. Scott, J. Scott and W.J. Scott served with the Oudtshoorn Volunteer Rifles in the Bechuanaland campaign. So did Cpl C.P. Nel. * Ptes D.Scott, G. Scott, H.R. Scott, J. Scott and William James Scott served with the OVR in the Anglo-Boer War.

I'm with Brett and Brian on this one. He would have qualified for the Italy Star on the day he arrived in the operational theatre, but he would have to serve six months there to qualify for the 1939-45 Star (unless he had previous service in a operational theatre to count towards the six months). The Movement Order shows that he was flown from SA to the Middle East in January 1945, which was only three and a half months before the war ended in Europe.

Hello Helen, and welcome. I should think a lot of people would be very interested in this diary. The SA Museum of Military History and the SA Air Force Museum would probably be keen to have copies. Their websites are http://www.ditsong.o...taryhistory.htm and http://www.saafmuseum.org . The Lieut Van der Spuy mentioned would have been Kenneth van der Spuy, who had a very interesting career, eventually reaching the rank of major-general. When he died, in his 90s, he as the oldest living pilot in the world. He wrote an autobiography entitled Chasing the Wind. Gen Coen Brits was a very larger-than-life character, but probably not very well-known today. He commanded a mounted brigade, and later a division.

Very nice, Mervyn and, as you say, unusual to find one of these not attached to a WW2 group. A point not made in the Medal Yearbook is that whereas in the UK and elsewhere the Efficiency Medal was an army award, in South Africa it was a tri-service award. Hence, as in Cpl Hammond's case, it could be awarded to Active Citizen Force members of the air force.

Good question, i.e. I don't know the answer. My guess is that they wore the SA Chaplains Service cap badge on their collars. It would have been consistent with the general practice that officers below the rank of colonel wear the corps badge on the collar. AFAIK, they wore the maltese cross emblem (or a Shield of David in the case of Jewish chaplains) on each shoulder.

In a word : seniority. The chi-rho monogram on a triangle was introduced in 1968. By then, chaplains had been made equivalent to colonels. In the late 1980s, as the national service / conscription system reached its peak, newly qualified and ordained clergymen were being drafted into the defence force. Because they were too junior to be given colonel status right away, the defence force introduced the maltese cross emblem for them to wear for a few years, before they were upgraded.

Well, there is precedent for this ... sort of. South Africa instituted a special medal for the police who were on security duty during the soccer world cup in 2010.

What an interesting find, Mervyn. So. some good came out of the flood.

In South Africa, yes. As soon as National Party rule ended in 1994. The Dukes also re-introduced the red tabs at that time.

Very nice, Mervyn - the neck badge and the chest decorations look good together. There was also a third class chest version, in "lower grade silver", with three white stripes each side of the gold stripe on the ribbon. I don't have complete figures, but from annual reports up to the end of 1993, the three classes of the 1989 (chest) version had been awarded as follows: ~ Gold (for outstanding bravery in extremely dangerous circumstances) : 4 ~ Silver (for exceptional bravery in very dangerous circumstances) : 9 ~ Lower-grade silver (for bravery in dangerous circumstances) : 57. A total of 70 awards in the space of four years -- but they were not peaceful years in SA, which no doubt helps to account for this high total.

Here are the names of the recipients : - Sgt J.R. Nienaber (1964) - died trying to save someone from drowning. - Lt J.E. Trollip (1973) - killed while trying to arrest an armed criminal. - Lt N.J. Slabber (1973) - climbed down a ravine in the dark to rescue a colleague who had fallen down and was hanging from a tree. - Const H. Cloete (1981) - died trying to save someone from drowning. - Const A. Schreuder (1981) - drew enemy fire onto himself to save colleagues pinned down during a contact (Border War). - Sgt G.W. van den Berg (1981) - died trying to save someone from drowning. - Const A. Delport (1983/84) - stormed an enemy position during a contact, saving several colleagues' lives (Border War). - Const W. Vermaak (1985) - helped rescue children from a school bus that had plunged into a dam. - Const G.C. Vermeulen (1985) - ditto. - Const D.C. Cronje (1985) - ditto. - Capt N.J. Koch (1988) - twice continued to direct operations under fire, despite being seriously wounded (Border War). Reportedly also awarded to Maj Eugene de Kock (1985), in connection with a raid into Lesotho, and revoked after his conviction for police death squad atrocities.

I've always thought this a very impressive decoration, both in its insignia and in the criteria for award. This is the original version of the SA Police Cross for Bravery, introduced in 1963 and replaced in 1989 by the smaller gold, silver and 'lower-grade silver" versions which are worn on the chest. I'm under the impression that the cross was made of solid gold. There were 11 or 12 awards of the neck decoration, most of them posthumous. Quite a few were awarded for saving, or attempting to save, lives.

Indeed you didn't, Laurence, and I didn't mean to give the impression that I was correcting you. I was just trying to place this badge in its context of the forestry and hunting service.

A quick google reveals that 'Reichsforstmeister' wasn't a military rank. A 'Forstmeister" is an official connected with forests and hunting. Apparently Goering was in overall charge of these services and, naturally, he had to have special insignia to show this.

Humberto, A very, very, rough translation, with the help of a dictionary : Successful Nuremberg Anti-Aircraft Artillery Increase in shootdowns to 134 Nuremberg, 2 April 1944 The sterling success of our air defence in fighting off a terror attack on Nuremberg on the night of 31 March, and the increase in the number of aircraft shot down to 134, are largely thanks to the distinguished operations of the Nuremberg Anti-Aircraft Artillery. On this occasion they shot down or destroyed a number of terror aircraft with heavy fire in the immediate precincts of the city and the Reich rally grounds. Presumably this relates to the RAF's famous Nuremberg Raid.

Interesting question. There were prosecutions after the revolt had been crushed, so it ought to be possible, with some effort, to compile a list of some names, at least, from newspaper reports and court records. They could then be compared with the RR nominal roll. Whether the result would justify the effort is another matter. No idea. There ought to be records at Defence HQ, which a researcher could locate.

Interesting. Today I was able to check the Government Gazette, and confirm that the notice establishing the unit, "during the period of hostilities in South Africa", was dated 1 December 1914 and was published in Gazette 611 dated 4 December. Evidently a case of "recruit first, gazette later". For the record, the other temporary units raised under the same notice were : 2nd Imperial Light Horse; Southern Rifles; 2nd Durban Light Infantry; 2nd Kimberley Regiment; 2nd Transvaal Scottish; SA Irish; the depot Battalion; and the Rhodesian Regiment.

Which reminds me that there is (or was) a railway siding named 'Rand Rifles' near Walvis Bay. That suggests that the RR's first task was guarding the railway line which was being built from Walvis Bay itself, through the SA enclave, to Swakopmund. The Dukes were also stationed at Walvis Bay, early in 1915, and the section which they guarded was named 'Gregory Siding' after their OC.

Brett, a few fragments : * Formed as a temporary Active Citizen Force unit w.e.f. 4 December 1914. * Disbanded 31 December 1919. * Postumously awarded the battle honour 'South West Africa 1914-15' in 1926/27. Maj (later Lt Col) Frederic Creswell was second-in-command. He was the leader of the Labour Party, and later defence minister 1924-33. I have an idea the unit was recruited from the goldmines (in which case, some of the veterans may have been involved in the Rand Revolt in 1922).

I'm open to correction, but I'd put this between 1855 and 1881, because that was the period when British Army officers wore their rank badges on their collars. A crown on the collar with lace edging around the top and down the front indicated a lieutenant.