[pavocavalry]

This is a badge of Mysore Lancers

major agha h amin

Originally Posted by AnneA'h

I have two badges brought from India in 1921 to Australia by my father, who worked in Aligarh - in his words "about the middle of 1920 I accepted a position at Mr Johnson’s factory - Pioneer Lock Works - at Aligarh. The assignment was to install an electro-plating plant." He also wrote "The factory also produced army badges or ‘pips’. There were no presses or machinery then and the badges were moulded in very fine sand with a little oil mixed through, in boxes called flasks. These were oval in shape about 3 inches x 4 inches. The badges were moulded in the homes of the mistris* and then delivered to the factory. Any fins were filed off and small dobs of coloured enamel applied, according to the requirements of the regiment. To prevent the two halves of the mould sticking together the join was dusted with lycopodium powder contained in a cloth bag - parting dust.**The spigots were part of the mould and the badges were fastened to the uniform with a split pin through the spigot."
* Evidently a mistri is a master craftsman or foreman, so says Wikipedia.
** I left this as it seems to make sense.
I hope this is of interest to someone. I have photos of two badges made by Johnson's, one for the Aligarh War League, (there is a long story about that) and Mysore (I think a badge of the Mysore Light Infantry, to which my father was coopted - as an Australian they thought he could ride - another story) and will post them now. Looking forward to your responses. PS my dad, born in 1891 (Yes!) died some years ago at the grand old age of 92. He lived quite a life.