Has anyone seen a unicorn?
 

Got your anodised interest?

Here it is.

The first ever issued a/a cap badge to be introduced by the British Army in 1947.

A short lived trial as they were prone to breaking and this one has only one lug left.

I have been waiting for it to arrive for a couple of weeks to confirm that it was indeed anodised aluminium and not anodised base metal. It is indeed a/a and whilst not unique, the location of another one is not known to my knowledge. See page 4&5 of Chris' excellent book which states that one was last reported to have been seen in 1983.

Alan

Congrats Alan. Wait and you shall be rewarded. I would say unique if you will not.

One can see how breakage was an issue, the lug attachment looks quite precarious.

Jack

Pictures attached. It appears to me that the lugs are part of the badge and it was made in one piece with lugs as part of the one striking. They were then scored and bent over at right angles. Unsurprising with this amount of bending, an inherent weakness is created; so its not surprising that the lugs broke.

I found it in an Aussie dealer's stock of logistic and ordnance badges. The postage cost more than the badge so it was a calculated risk to buy it.

Superb Alan,

Indeed, in the early days they had massive issues with attaching lugs/sliders to badges and this must have been best practise at the time although still not satisfactory.

A very important find indeed!

Regards,

Chris

Chris

Thanks. Clearly they could not fix separate lugs on to the aluminium in 1947 so they first tried this one piece stamping and it failed. I always wondered why the delay between this trial and the first issued ones with sliders but that explains it.

If the initial trial was indeed a company's worth (circa 100?) I wonder what the chances of finding one with both lugs are?

Alan

Hi Alan,

A complete one would be very rare indeed - you may have to 'make do' with this broken one!

Regards,

chris

Chris

Should I ever find a complete one then I will send you this one. However that may take some time so I wouldn't rearrange your collection to create the space just yet.

:)

Alan

Congratulations Alan; a fine find indeed and great that you got it without breaking the bank.

This gives us all inspiration and I feel quite sure that I'm going to find at least one of these within the very near future.

William

Hi Alan,
Well Done! and thanks for sharing. I had often heard that this badge existed but had never managed to find someone who could confirm by picture that it actually does!
Looks like I will have to make another space in my collection for the early (wide) K.C R.A.O.C badge now.
Whatever next! Glider Pilot Regt K.C lol - now that would really be something!
Regards.
Colin

Royal Army Ordnance Corps King's Crown Anodised Cap Badges
 

To support Alan's recent excellent acquisition here is a picture of another "Sua Tela Tonante" RAOC KC anodised aluminium cap badge. This is from the collection of Rick Butterfield as discussed in an earlier thread. I have recently found that I have a set of thirty A4 pages made from photocopies of Rick's extensive anodised collection so apologies for quality!

He also had a 1949 pattern KC RAOC cap badge together with KC Intelligence Corps and KC Royal Army Service Corps.

I last saw these badges in about 1994 and lost contact with Rick in about 1997. Unfortunately I can't describe the fittings or makers marks although the badges definitely existed but where are they now?

Tim

Well unless he emigrated to Australia then that is the sighting of a second 1947 badge in the last 25 years.

:D As a Ordnance Insignia collector I am very interested (nay excited) re the discovery of this very rare badge, pity I did not find it :mad: even damaged as shown (please leave it as it is)

I spoke to an ex RAOC soldier (sadly now no longer with us) who was posted at COD Bicester circa 1947ish who said he had took part in the early anodised trail, and he said that they were indeed prone to breakage as the caps were thrown about, stuffed in epaulets and generally mistreated as a matter of daily use.

I have always been convinced since that conversation that this badge existed and it has been my holy grail for many years, and would like with your permission to download and store these pictures and possibly use one to illustrate its now confirmed known existence?

The style of fixing is new to me, as previously it was suspected that a mix of lugs & sliders were used on the early trails badges (and may well have been anyway) and this one piece pressing also means they were not simply pressed from an existing die available at the time?

I have been told by several people that a Rick Butterfield may have another example, but I have not heard of him or his whereabouts for many years?

I know of several examples of the 1949 'Slim Tonanti' and have a 'Sheppard's Crook' example in my own Ordnance Collection.

Just posted on Alan O's post - Is it me, or can I see slight evidence of bended lugs to the side of the black & white image?

Mike

Feel free to store and use the images as you wish. I can take some more if you need them.

I don't think that this has been struck from a brass die as the reverse is not detailed enough compared to my brass version and the lugs do appear to be integral to the badge.


At the time it was normal practice to put the beret under epaulettes and in trouser straps and this would snap the lugs pretty quickly.

Thank you for the contribution to the thread.

Alan