BRITISH COMMANDO INSIGNIA

[Guest 10thcommando]

Hello,

these insignia came from a old belgium para-commando ( he was in the '50 para-commando ).

I would like to know if these insignia are from the second war period of after war. I would like to have more information for the enamel badge with the dagger. the dagger seems to be the first sas dagger model.

the litlle enamel badge with the dagger has a mark on the back side : silver.

thanks to all for your informations

[Guest 10thcommando]

back side

[Guest 10thcommando]

enamel badge

[Guest 10thcommando]

back side

[Ardent]

Hello,

these insignia came from a old belgium para-commando ( he was in the '50 para-commando ).

I would like to know if these insignia are from the second war period of after war. I would like to have more information for the enamel badge with the dagger. the dagger seems to be the first sas dagger model.

the litlle enamel badge with the dagger has a mark on the back side : silver.

thanks to all for your informations

Won't guarantee anything without reading up on it later but certainly looks like the WWII commando Special Service Brigade which was disbanded due (in part) to its assumed similarity with the German SS at the time

As for the other badge it's certainly representative of a Fairburn Sykes fighting knife which is universally connected with commando forces rather than the winged sword (not dagger) of the SAS Regiment

[Avitas]

Hello Gents,

These pieces aren't metal, but I thought they were relevant. Here is a cloth wartime British Commando cloth insignia I have, and I also have the matching book "Combined Operations" printed in 1943 and inscribed "Col. John E Sandersen, Westview, BC (To?) RSM Burton". If anyone recongnizes these names please tell me their story. First pic is the cloth insignia.

Pat

[Avitas]

reverse of insignia...

[Avitas]

Here is the "Combined Operations" Book with the Commandos insignia on the cover. It was printed in the USA by MacMillan in 1943, Copyright 1943 by the Controller of His Britannic Majesty's Stationery Service, with lots of nice operational photos and information. I think it may be for soldiers, and it is inscribed from one soldier to another, which I will show next post.

Pat

[Avitas]

Here is the inscription, which I think says "Col John E. Sandersen, Westview, BC TG? To? RSM Burton. I think RSM is a rank as well and if anyone knows who these soldiers were please leave the info. Here also is a pic of the front page, with all pertinent information. Any and all advice and help on these items is welcome and thanks for looking!,

Pat

[tynesideirish]

The 2 Commando badge seems real enough (Special Service ) but would need inspecting. The other badge is an OCA lapel badge.

please visit this site if interested in Army / RM Commando's. http://www.combinedops.com/index.htm

[Avitas]

thanks Tynesideirish for your response, do you have any info on the book or cloth patch? Any and all information would be great!

Cheers,

Pat

[tynesideirish]

thanks Tynesideirish for your response, do you have any info on the book or cloth patch? Any and all information would be great!

Cheers,

Pat

Pat,

All the publishing details of the book are present in your posting. So I'm presuming your interest is in the apparent dedication. This is probably just what it appears to be, someone trying to add value or interest to a previous owner inscription by adding ranks and suggesting it was a dedication gift from an Officer to his Very SNCO. It is crude and the Sanderson name was obviously there first and the Blue ink obviously written in a different hand.

Non of my my large Commando book collection have mentions of, nor my knowledgable friends have heard of a Colonel or any other Officer rank 'John E. Sanderson' or indeed a WO1. (RSM) or (ASM) Burton with any connection with Combined Operations, or any other unit of WW2... That doesn't mean there wasn't any, they just arn't mentioned, which is not so strange in regards to the RSM but the Colonel should be mentioned somewhere.

If he's not in the index of your book (which I haven't got) I'd dismiss it as a fabrication.

Now the patch: This is an Army badge - a variation of the normal Combined Operations badge and worn during WW2. They were issued in pairs and this one worn on the right arm. (Eagle and MG facing to front when worn.)

Regards Mike

Edited October 25, 2007 by tynesideirish

[Avitas]

Thanks for the great info Mike, the two colour writing seemed a little strange to me as well. Are these books rare or fairly common (fake dedication notwithstanding) as they were published wartime, but I don't know how widely distributed they were. A great book nonetheless and I found it in a used book store for $3 so it was a heck of a deal any way you look at it, and the patch was in a bin for 50 cents, so another good find. Sometimes you get lucky and don't have to pay a fortune for wartime memorabilia!

Cheers and thanks again,

Pat

[tynesideirish]

Pat, These books are quite common. However added interest may be had from the fact it was published during the war, but that initself means the information may be restricted to things the germans already knew. In that they would have been aware obviously of attacks and raids, when, where but not necessarilly how. In the condition it's in with apparent waterstaining it may be worth $10.00 at most but only about $40.00 in VG condition with Dust jacket.

The Patch is a better deal a real bargain worth roughly $80.00 if someone was willing to buy it. Well done mate!

Mind... Just because the dedication looks dodgy doesn't mean its not genuine! The First signature may have been put there by a 20 odd year old in 1943 only to be handed to this Burton guy 40-50 years later as an old man, therefore the second bit of writing would certainly change. So I wouldn't dismiss it on the dedication alone.

Edited October 30, 2007 by tynesideirish