Blackened Gloucestershire Cap Badge
 

Hello all,

I've just purchased this blackened Gloucestershire regiment cap badge. The dealer I bought it from said that it would clean up into a decent OR silver example which is what I wanted.

I've heard of cap badges been blacked in the Great War and wanted to check that this badge isn't valuable in anyway becaus of the finish, before I clean it off.

Many thanks,

Hello,

By silver I understand you to mean White Metal and with that in mind I can say that WM does not go that colour on its own with dirt.

It has had a finish applied to it by a person.

the 4th (TF) Bn wore a blackened badge but with a blank plinth. There is no reason to think that some members of the Bn. who didnt have a blank plinth badge didnt blacken up a regular pattern like yours and so thats a possibility.

the other possibility is that a chemical coating has been applied to make a fake badge look real.

I would hope its the former and not the latter but would welcome comments from others.

In the meantime please dont clean it.

regards

I agree - don't clean it (I did that once and since learning more about badges I deeply regret having done so)


Apart from the 4th Bn there are other possibilities - both on private initiatives.


In the 1st WW badges were often blackened in order to prevent a glint being seen.


In the 2nd WW the Home Guard units that wore a county regiment badge (quite common) are also thought to have blackened these badges - for the same reason !

Im sure this is a nice example of a post WW1 upto 1925/6 5th Bn badge. prior to losing Rifles status.
I would leave it as is or I could swap you for a whitemetal version:rolleyes::D
Paul

You should not confuse the 4th with the 5th despite what some books say

There are lots of photos that show the 4th and 5th Bn in WW1 wearing white metal badges. Here are some:
http://www.ww1photos.org/regiment/gl...hire-regiment/


The badge looks genuine enough but I would need convincing that the blacking has a TF connection.