RAF veteran makes a recovery . . !

[Sonofacqms]

I went to a local car boot sale on Sunday and saw a man with a whole lot of items such as buttons and coins all in the state of which he had found them, muddied with imperfections, amongst them was an RAF W/O's kings crown cap badge which I bought. I asked him where he found it with his metal detector and he said it was on or near the former airfield at Bottisham which is between Cambridge and Newmarket.

After a quick scrub with soapy water and a little panel beating the badge is more or less as it was some seventy years ago. The makers name is LUDSKI & SON, LONDON which I think is the earlier name of LUDLOW.

There does not appear to be any traces of blades or loops and I am wondering whether this badge was one that was attached by sewing onto a hat.

Any comments and help is warmly welcome.

Rob

[fougasse1940]

The name change from Ludski to Ludlow was in 1933.

Rgds, Thomas.

[leigh kitchen]

Are you sure there aren't traces of lugs having been fitted on the central spines of the inner leaves. about level with the bottom of the tail?

[magpie]

look at your 2nd picture and you can see the blade stub.

[Phil2M]

Originally Posted by leigh kitchen

Are you sure there aren't traces of lugs having been fitted on the central spines of the inner leaves. about level with the bottom of the tail?

I agree, and possibly on the crown too.

[Sonofacqms]

Thomas, many thanks for that information, the badge is a lot older than I'd thought, I will have to look into the history of the airfield, although I think it was a second world war base.

Leigh, Phil and Magpie, there may well be small traces of something on the central spines of the inner leaves but certainly not a stub, that photo (the second) was taken before anything was done to the badge and I think it was probably soil stuck to the reverse that looked like a stub.

I have checked under a magnifying glass and there is no trace behind the crown, I did wonder whether this badge would have had a red insert behind the crown, but again no trace of any device to hold it in place.

Many thanks all of you for your interest and I will probably get blades fixed in the suggested place.

Rob

[Sonofacqms]

Having looked on their website I have found that this airfield was as I thought a wartime base being founded in 1940 and had RAF, USAAF and Belgians based there.

The badge being made by LUDSKI was probably worn by a regular W/O who had owned it for many years, no doubt he was probably very annoyed to have lost it.

Rob

[Mike B]

I hope this helps - a Ludski with fittings etc. Bought from Geoff Newman.
Excavated items are fascinating - you can't help but wonder how they got where they did and whether loss resulted in a bo**ocking - even for a WO (nah ... most unlikely)
Regards
Mike

[Sonofacqms]

Mike, many thanks for posting this badge, an absolute stunner and with an OSD finish, this was going to be one of my questions which I should have posted as the badge looked to me to have possibly had this type of finish.

As to whether my badge had blades fitted as per yours is doubtful from looking at this badge, more like the positions on the inner leaves as previously suggested. Also no trace of anything to hold the red insert in, although I do have an idea of where to put one.

Regards Rob

[Mike B]

Rob
Thanks for the kind comments - When I saw the badge I wanted it straight away, I think Geoff was almost sad to part with it. Yours will have an interesting tale and you have done well to straighten it out - what a fascinating find. Thanks to Paul Bell for the images - my photography is naff.
Regards
Mike

[Sonofacqms]

With a pair of blades soldered on and an old piece of red insert stuck into the crown this is certainly an improvement on Sundays purchase.

Thanks for your help.

Rob

[tonyb]

Nice job Rob.
Tony.

[Mike B]

Is that the same badge?

The term 'Lazarus' springs to mind

Mike

[Sonofacqms]

I think I may look out for a better red insert in the future, this was a piece from an old badge that was kicking around with some old bits and pieces in the shed.

Regards Rob

[FZ1]

Lovely restoration job.