The photo shows most of the group in stetsons. IIRC, there was no badge worn on that headdress. That raises the question of when the hat badges were taken into use? If the unit wore the stetson overseas, they would not have had many badges made.
The supposition that the unit wore the collar as a hat badge is a sound theory. Several other units wore collars as cap badges due to shortages. The 9th wore the 101st collar badge as a cap badge for a period of time, and there is photo evidence that some officer's recruited into the 159th wore the collars of the 97th Algonquin Regiment.
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