Yes it is quite possible the 1NZEF NZ Ordnance badge remained in use up to 1923, as many individuals who served in the NZEF and then transferred to the NZAOD/AOC on RTNZ would have just kept on wearing the original cap badge, probably unofficially but one of those uniform infringements that was tolerated as there we many more important things to worry about.
From what I can gather stocks were returned from Europe at the end of the war so when the stocks of the original pattern NZ badge were exhausted it made fiscal sense to use the NZEF badge.
You are quite correct that it probably had a longer life after the adoption of the new badge in 1937, (well the evidence is telling us it did). I have several theory's on this
1. In 1937 the unformed strength of the Corps was only sitting at around 50, and with the massive expansion that the war brought on and the scarcity of resources it again made fiscal sense recycle the old badges, especially if there were residual stocks available in the system.
2. It was adopted as the badge for the Ordnance in the NZEF IP as distinctive unit identifier from other NZ Ordnance units.
3. the new pattern badge was reserved for officers and the old pattern remained in use with OR's.
Sources are scant and historically Ordnance fly under the radar in comparison to other NZ Army units and even the official NZ Ordnance history is vague.
Last edited by RNeil; 08-11-16 at 07:09 AM.
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