OFFICIAL LAPEL BADGE - BOER WAR

[Mervyn Mitton]

This is an official bronze lapel badge for South Africa , and more specifically for Natal. I suspect it is for the Boer War (1899-1902) - on the other hand it may be WW1. The Crown looks to be Edwardian - so more probably Boer War. Named to the 5th District and then E + number it could be for a local militia guard - or, perhaps for a prominent local ( like the bank manager) who need ed to travel ?

Any thoughts will be welcomed ?

[Mervyn Mitton]

[peter monahan]

Mervyn

From the wording of your post it sounds as if these were worn during the Boer War, as opposed to after, to mark veterans. Was that the case? I'm only familiar with the [very similar] WWI badges issued to ex-servicemen. They are numbered as well and I'd always assumed that was to allow people to catch fakers and wanna-bes by running the numbers, as everything from preference in hiring to discounts in shops were available for pukka veterans.

Peter

[Mervyn Mitton]

Peter - I think it was to mark either an official - or, someone who needed to be identified in order to move around. The wording sounds official and the 'E' could be for a given area. However, the number was meant to change - and is quite high - so a fair number were issued. However, I've never seen one before ?