Please help to ID this

[DrT]

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!

[Mervyn Mitton]

On first appearance it would appear to be a ceremonial dress uniform signaller's arm badge.  With the circle probably representing the heliograph  ?    Will be interesting to hear other opinions.   Mervyn

[DrT]

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

[QSAMIKE]

Good Morning Tim......

This is a WW2 period Italian badge, colour of the material and the crown are a giveaway in this case.....  I am not near my books right now so I cannot give you an exact description.....

Mike

 

[DrT]

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

[Mervyn Mitton]

Mike  -  glad you spotted this as Italian  -  my mind was on the British connection.   Tim, your Grandfather probably took this from a POW  -  these gilt badges were very collectible.    Mervyn

[DrT]

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

[peter monahan]

I have to agree with Mike.  It is virtually identical to the Italian cavalry badges in my sole WWII badge book, down to the backing colour for the tropical uniform, which would make sense if it was picked up in Africa.  The only difference is that my source - Rossignoli - shows the regimnet number in the central circle, but this may be an arm of service patch worn in some dress orders, or an officer's version.

[DrT]

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

[DrT]

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

[colonial colonel]

my guess would be Italian, poss lancers

[Mervyn Mitton]

Colonial Colonel    -  welcome to GMIC .  We shall look forward to your participation.

Mervyn

[Michael R]

Hi,  I would go along with the opinions stated, Italian Army WWII..  Further, I can see no evidence of removal from a tunic or epaulet so would be inclined to think that it was probably liberated from a storage facility.  Also, the central disc is usually used to accommodate the regimental number but again, there is no evidence of any insignia ever having been attached!  In all, a very nice badge in my opinion.

Cheers Michael R

[peter monahan]

Perhaps an unissued example, liberated from stores, would explain the lack of identifying numeral as well - hasn't been applied yet.  That hadn't occurred to me but makes a certain amount of sense.  Good thought, Michael!