Leicesters Bazaar Badge
Hi Stephen
I thought you might be interested to see the below Leicesters badge which I recently acquired, and which reminded me of the one you posted up on this string a while back:
As you’ll see mine is also a cast badge, and I am assuming both this and yours are bazaar badges possibly made in India? In a similar vein to yours having “MBNM43” on it, my badge has “KCR44” stamped on the slider, even though the slider itself and style of letters are different from yours. It makes me wonder if the “43” and “44” on each badge are their years of manufacture? The same would go for your RA badge with “IMW42” on it of course. Presumably the letters would be for the maker’s name (rather than the soldier it was made for, though I suppose that too could be an outside possibility), and so what we might be looking at is a more cottage industry kind of casting with a number of individual casters working in a small area and all following a similar pattern in how they marked badges.
I believe the 2nd Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment did serve in India between 1943 and 1944, so this would fit with my thinking about the dates (haven’t looked to see if the RA was there in 1942 though). Could there have been a small town in India near where they were stationed where these could have been made? It would be interesting to know if someone with more knowledge about the places where bazaar badges were cast in India could identify any possible locations, which we could then try and tie into where the 2nd Leicesters were in 1942/43. Incidentally, both badges look to be castings of what I understand some collectors call the ‘kitten-faced’ design, though which I think looks more like a Scottish wild cat. Presumably someone needing a new badge would have just borrowed a mate’s, and the caster would have then made a one-off casting from it? Anyway, there’s a fair bit of speculation here, so I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts on things, or indeed any comments that more experienced Forum members might have.
Regards
Martin
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From Hindoostan, Gibraltar and Almanza; to Dunblane, Alma and Brandywine: Tigers, Steelbacks, Dutch Guards, Leather Hats, Nanny Goats and Red Feathers!
Interested in style and variation of post-1893 regimental cap badges for the Leicesters, the Northamptons, the Warwicks, the K.L.R., the R.W.F. and the D.C.L.I.
“Scutelliphiliacus in vestri insignia pergaudete”
Last edited by 'Ticker' Riley; 04-04-10 at 11:39 AM.
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