Shoulder Boards for the Aide-De-Camp to King George V

[Weixiang Liu]

Hi guys!

I just recently purchased a pair of heavy shoulder boards for an ADC to King George V and thought that this might be a great addition to the WWI topics!

Its quite a unique shoulder board as it only has the monograms of George V without any particular rank insignia, and the style of the gold cords greatly differ from standard military officers.

Was wondering if anyone has any idea if such a shoulder board was worn by normal military officers or reserved for ADC generals at that time as large gold shoulder cords were often reserved for the General officers.

Thanks!

Weixiang

[peter monahan]

Weixiang

I'm not very expert on diplomatic and ADC badges, but I would have guessed that the crown on each board is in fact a major's rank badge, which would be appropriate for an ADC to the king - fairly senior in rank. These are obviously full dress epaulettes and not unlike what was worn by senior officers in full dress.

Boris, a member from Spain, has recently started drawing all the rank badges for the British Army in WWI, starting with Generals, so you should check out his site for examples of Staff and other high ranking officers to compare their shoulder boards to these. Here is the thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/60340-ranks/. I'm sure Boris will be happy to share any information he has.

Thank you for sharing them! Please keep us posted on anything you find out aboput them.

Peter

Edited February 27, 2014 by peter monahan

[Weixiang Liu]

Hi Boris

You're welcome! I've seen the updates you've made to your WW1 rank insignia PDF too!

But just to clarify one matter, does this mean that any officer who was an ADC to the King would wear these shoulder boards or are these reserved for the higher ranking officers such as the ADC Generals? Because I would have thought that the large shoulder boards are usually reserved for General officers and above in their full dress uniform.

[Mervyn Mitton]

There is a difference between an ADC and an Equerry to the Sovereign. Usually both of these would have officers at about

this level - however, the senior Equerry to the Monarch is a General and is known as the Equerry General.

Remember, that Equerries are permanent appointments - Aides could be for any period - often for a particular occasion or,

visit. All officers who have served in this capacity have the right to wear the Sovereign's cypher - in miniature - beneath

the rank badge. This also applies to other senior members of the Family. You can therefore - have several cyphers

to one officer, covering different members of the Royal Family. Mervyn

[Weixiang Liu]

Alright thank you so much for the clarification Boris! Really appreciated!

[Weixiang Liu]

Yea it does seem interesting that Haig's insignia had an extra crown to it. I managed to find another field marshal of that time, Sir Henry Wilson, whom only had the field marshal badge without the crown too. Still not too sure what this extra crown would mean

http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2008/10/knightsbridge-michael-collins-and-the-murder-of-field-marshall-sir-henry-wilson/

I've also finally managed to find someone wearing the ADC shoulder boards which I've shown above. The person wearing it was Field Marshal Herbert Plummer, though at the time of the picture he was of a Brigadier General rank.

http://www.lighthorse.org.au/famous-battles/famous-battles-boer-war/famous-battles-onverwatch/