The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

[Graham Stewart]

Top - RRF Companies, the 'West Midlands Regiment'.

AMF(Air Mobile Force) - Worn by ? Regular RRF Bn attached to AMF.

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

RRF Officers rank slides - light coloured for desert/tan uniforms. Have a full run of these from RRF H.Q.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

The UN badge from the DPM brassard - the "old" typein English only, an English / French version being the current pattern.

Ignoring whatever language is used, I find this type a more pleasing design.

[Graham Stewart]

RRF Officers rank slides off woolley pulley and dark green shirts. Again have a full set.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

Interesting backing shape to the crown on the Majors Wooley Pully slide - I've noticed that Brits in Iraq etc have been wearing "stars" instead of "pips" & crowns to denote their rank - anythng similar going on here?

[Graham Stewart]

Queens Fusiliers Officers rank slide - came with just unit title and pips/crowns were added. Only have this one in a tan colour, never seen in black on olive apart from O/R's.

Leigh,

Thanks for adding your input to this post, it's been nice to see that 'Fusiliers' title which has avoided me for years. I do have other cloth stuff which is RRF associated and will add as time permits.

Cheers,

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

Locally made (Cyprus) brassards with the white on red "FUSILIER" tabs applied - one offs (two offs?) worn on the one or two occasions uniform was worn on a NI tour with Int Corps.

Edited December 10, 2007 by leigh kitchen

[Graham Stewart]

Leigh,

Believe the unusual design for RRF officers(major and above) was in use long before the Invasion of Kuwait in 1992.

As a collector/researcher I'm suprised just how many types of badges can be found to one individual modern regiment. Many badge collectors I know are 'puritans', when it comes to collecting and will not continue into amalgamations, then moan because they 'can't find nowt'. I made it my mission to carry my NF/RNF collection over to include the RRF and can say that it's paid off with far more badges than I would have expected. I also ran it to include T.A., A.C.F. and C.C.F. units that are RRF affiliated and that brought more stuff in.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

RRF beret badge brush painted black for NI tours with Minden Day Roses, PRI purchased hackle (the norm for wear) with brown ceiling wax binding, issue hackle (with white rubber binding", gold & silver anodised beret badge with St Georges Day Roses.

The issue hackle is chicken feather, at some ppoint in the late 1970's the feathers became larger, with trimmed ends I think - rumoured to be goose, not chicken feather.

All insignia of the 1970's period, the badges having the straight flat prong fittings as opposed to the earlier manufacture anodised wire loop fittings. They have the round splayed "rivet" fitting holding the St George design to the ball of the grenade, as I recall some or all of the stable belt & perhaps loop fittings badges having a pair of little flattened out spiked blade fittngs instead.

[Graham Stewart]

1st Bn, RRF brassard from Balkans tour showing the new U.N. patch you describe.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

Leigh,

Believe the unusual design for RRF officers(major and above) was in use long before the Invasion of Kuwait in 1992.

As a collector/researcher I'm suprised just how many types of badges can be found to one individual modern regiment. Many badge collectors I know are 'puritans', when it comes to collecting and will not continue into amalgamations, then moan because they 'can't find nowt'. I made it my mission to carry my NF/RNF collection over to include the RRF and can say that it's paid off with far more badges than I would have expected. I also ran it to include T.A., A.C.F. and C.C.F. units that are RRF affiliated and that brought more stuff in.

Graham.

A good theme, I'm too much of a magpie to stay with one thing, but setting a target, preferably achievable even if it takes effort, is certainly the way to gain expertise.

A nice collection of insignia Graham, it's time we started a thread on NF / RNF.

I saw some of the "First Fusilier" brassards when I was floating around Republika Srpska in 1999 - 2000, a few Fusiliers I sighted in the Bnja Luka area.

I assumed at the time that they were up from Kosovo for some reason?

I knew a lieutenant of the Queen's Fusiliers in Banja Luka, he was attached to 2 Bn Light Infantry & so wore the Fusiliers badge & hackle but with a Rifle Green beret.

I wore the old version of the UN badge in woven white on light blue, also a silver wire on light blue felt version, both in English only although I also wore the English / French version as they came already applied to issue brassards (IPTF - UN Police ones).

I have a Northumberlands photo I'd like to run by you.

Edited December 10, 2007 by leigh kitchen

[Graham Stewart]

The 'IFOR' brassard that was worn later on.

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

If we started an NF/RNF thread we probably would be in big trouble for hogging all of the download file space, as we could probably go on forever. If you do have any NF/RNF photo's you'd like like me to look at would look upon it as a pleasure to do so. Even though I have over a 1,000 photo's I still like to see other peoples as they inevitably(?) have a 'corker or two', which gets my adrenalin going.

Although not NF related saw a photo my mate bought last weekend, which was to me of great significance. The guy who was identified as 'Raphael Constantis' serving with 29th Div in Alexandria and is almost certainly 'Macedonian Mule Corps' of all things.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

Macedonian Mule Corps - sounds interesting. 20-odd years ago I met an old fellah in Tel Aviv a few times - he was ex-Zion Mule Corps.

There is / was a great little museum somewhere near Tel Aviv, dedicated to the Jewish Bns of the Royal Fusilers, it has a massive bronze RF cap badge on the wall outside.

There were some arch lever files with loose leaf inserts bearing details of ex-Fusilier & Zion Mule Corps members now spread all over the world, with photos of the men themselves in uniform, donated by the veterans & their relatives.

[Graham Stewart]

Final mystery RRF badge. A 'R.R.F./A.C.F.' shoulder title, again origin unknown. Had this title probably the longest in the collection and first seen late 1970's.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

I've never seen that ACF insignia, but there's little reason for anybody to have produced it as a fantasy item - privately commissioned by one of the units?

Another item from the 70's - I think this was the QM's vehicle pennant, I can't remember who carried which shaped pennant.

[Graham Stewart]

Check these MIC's for the Zion Mule Corps;-

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...mp;mediaarray=*

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

My feelings exactly. Items turn up within units that are in retrospect 'semi-official' and wouldn't meet with official standards. Among my NF collection I have an almost full run of post 1950's cloth Northumberland Home Guard shoulder titles, which were removed from a tailors book in Northern Ireland of all places. Seem to be 'one off's', as I've never seen the same again.

Graham.

Macedonian Mule Corps MIC's are here;-

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...mp;mediaarray=*

[Graham Stewart]

Funny how some things don't change. Taken from 'Standing Orders of the Northumberland Fusiliers(5th Regiment of Foot) - 1916'.

Graham.

[leigh kitchen]

Officers Bullion cap badge (as opposed to beret badge, officers & W.O. Is wear caps as well as berets whereas lower ranks wear only berets.

This badge is a cheat, however, as the mounted St George & Dragon is an Other ranks chrome or rhodiam type taken from an anodized aluminium beret badge, & not the officers superior silver version

Presumably prior to RRF usage this design of badge but with Royal Garter & Rose design mounted on the ball was worn by officers of the Royal Fusiliers, a component regiment of RRF.

[tynesideirish]

Here's a TRF in use now.

[tynesideirish]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I was one of the handful of Fusiliers who passed P-Coy in 1990 whilst 1RRF was in 5 Airborne Brigade. We where initially told we could wear Maroon berets and Para smocks as we'd earned them. This was quickly stopped as it would or could cause resentment with those not entitled to wear it. Instead just the parachutist wing was allowed. The full wing not the lightbulb as we where then serving in an Airborne Brigade.

However this attitude seems to have changed. I was recently sent these 4 PARA training photo's listed below. Can anyone tell me which TA RRF Bn these Fusiliers belong too? I can't find anything via google!

[tynesideirish]

Another Photo featuring Fusiliers attached to 4 PARA.

[tynesideirish]

Another Photo featuring Fusiliers attached to 4 PARA.

[leigh kitchen]

Interesting, it's a pity that maroon berets & para smocks having been earned could'nt be worn within an infantry battalion because of "resentment" - presumably resentment would be shown by aggression? Continual "let's see how tough you are", challenges, burned cherry berrets etc, life would'nt be worth living?

The 3rd photo - is that a white rose on black square shoulder patch?