CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum Badge Project

[Victoria Edwards]

Hi all, I came across this Badge Project which may be of interest. I wrote a short article on the project for e-veritas, the alumni journal of the Canadian Military Colleges

CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum has an extensive collection of official Canadian naval ship, naval establishments and naval air unit badges 1910-1948. Lieutenant-Commander (Ret'd) David J. Freeman heads the Badge Project and is in the process of completing a book on this subject. A detailed project is underway to capture photographic or digital images of all the badges worn by HMC ships before 1948.

The museum collection includes two colour badges for military colleges:
ROYAL CANADIAN NAVAL College - maple leaf, sword, book, anchor
ROYAL ROADS - a. name on a shield

The Museum has a list of black and white images already collected by The Badge Project for which they are now seeking colour images. These include a black and white badge for ROYAL ROADS - crown plus anchor, open book & spray of three maple leaves.

Although the actual badges themselves are not being collected for the project, if you hold a badge or insignia - or a photograph in which the badge or insignia appears - arrangements can be made to copy it. If you can provide any answers about the origins of any of the mystery badges, and the groups/organizations they represent, or can provide details of these or other badges from the list please contact the Badge Project at: Webmaster@NavalandMilitaryMuseum.org
Images for many of the badges from this collection can viewed through this site. http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.or...gegallery.html

[servicepub]

Originally Posted by Victoria Edwards

CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum has an extensive collection of official Canadian naval ship, naval establishments and naval air unit badges 1910-1948. Lieutenant-Commander (Ret'd) David J. Freeman heads the Badge Project and is in the process of completing a book on this subject.

Let me know if you are looking for a publisher as I (Servicepub.com) may be interested.
Clive

[Victoria Edwards]

Hello all,

The article that I wrote in e-veritas (Canadian Military Colleges' alumni journal) appears in the current edition. I have written e-veritas since I graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2003 and am always open to story ideas about the military colleges and alumni e.g. military badges, insignia, collectables, postcards, photos, tobacciana, trivia, paintings/art http://everitas.rmcclub.ca/


The Badge Project : RCN badges and Insignia 1910-1948 in www.rmcclub.ca

CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum has an extensive collection of official Canadian naval ship, naval establishments and naval air unit badges 1910-1948. Lieutenant-Commander (Ret’d) David J. Freeman heads the Badge Project and is in the process of completing a book on this subject. A detailed project is underway to capture photographic or digital images of all the badges worn by HMC ships before 1948.

The Museum has a list of black and white images already collected by The Badge Project for which they are now seeking colour images. These include a black and white badge for ROYAL ROADS – crown plus anchor, open book & spray of three maple leaves.

The museum collection includes two colour badges for military colleges:

ROYAL CANADIAN NAVAL COLLEGE – maple leaf, sword, book, anchor

ROYAL ROADS – a. name on a shield

A number of ships and establishments have no known pre-1948 insignia. Occasionally, badges or images of badges come into the possession of the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum that are a total mystery.

For badges prior to 1948 the following information is required: To your knowledge, was there or wasn’t there a badge or insignia for the ship?; Who designed the badge, or had a hand in its creation? Who painted the badge? When was the badge first designed? What is the significance of the design? Who organized having the badge made into another version, such as a jacket patch? Where on/in the ship was the badge displayed? Any other information.

Although the actual badges themselves are not being collected for the project, if you hold a badge or insignia – or a photograph in which the badge or insignia appears – arrangements can be made to copy it. If you can provide any answers about the origins of any of the mystery badges, and the groups/organizations they represent, or can provide details of these or other badges from the list please contact the Badge Project at: Webmaster@NavalandMilitaryMuseum.org Images for many of the badges from this collection can viewed through this site. http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.or...gegallery.html

[Victoria Edwards]

Hello Clive,

I passed your note on to the CFB Esquimalt museum website.

Regards,

Victoria Edwards

...

Originally Posted by servicepub

Let me know if you are looking for a publisher as I (Servicepub.com) may be interested.
Clive

[DavidS]

Originally Posted by Victoria Edwards

For badges prior to 1948 the following information is required: To your knowledge, was there or wasn’t there a badge or insignia for the ship?; Who designed the badge, or had a hand in its creation? Who painted the badge? When was the badge first designed? What is the significance of the design? Who organized having the badge made into another version, such as a jacket patch? Where on/in the ship was the badge displayed? Any other information.

In answer to this, the following is from the Naval Museum of Manitoba.

"No account of the early development of Canadian Naval badges can ignore the proliferation of unofficial badges during World War II which were an unexpected product of official policy. At the beginning of the war Canada had only a handful of ships, but over the next five years she developed a navy approaching 500 vessels. Finding names for all these was no small task and for the development of suitable insignias, a committee was struck under the chairmanship of Dr. Gilbert Tucker, the naval historian. One person who also contributed to this committee was Lt. WP. Wallace, RCNVR of the directorate of Naval Intelligence, whose knowledge of heraldry made him realize that badge designing was a job for experts. Since no one was available, he did yeoman work himself during the war years, steering the RCN around the numerous heraldic shoals that constantly developed.

Under these extraordinary conditions where the demand for ships outstripped the possibility of keeping up with official badge design, the committee recommended a policy, which was promulgated by the RCN, that commanding officers might devise their own badges. "These were to come under the scrutiny of the Captain D or the Captain of the port, to see that they contained nothing offensive to propriety or good taste (reference to the enemy excepted). These, as yet, unofficial badges were often humorous and risque; they included cartoon characters such as Daisy Mae, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, renderings of U-boats half submerged, bulldogs, Winston Churchill and Hitler, among others... . Only one of these "unofficial" badges was adopted without change and remains in the permanent collection - the badge of HMCS Algonquin."

One thing not to overlook are the gun shield cartoons, more like aircraft nose art than what (I think) you are thinking of as ship's badges. There are photos of some in the 2-volume history of the Royal Canadian Navy, No Higher Purpose and Blue Water Navy.

[Victoria Edwards]

[QUOTE=DavidS;124411]In answer to this, the following is from the Naval Museum of Manitoba.
Only one of these "unofficial" badges was adopted without change and remains in the permanent collection - the badge of HMCS Algonquin."[/I]
[QUOTE]

It is interesting that you mentioned the badge of HMS Algonquin since I put together a short trivia article in e-veritas (RMC alumni journal) on the connection between that badge & Royal Military College of Canada. http://everitas.rmcclub.ca/?p=4277

“HMS Algonquin’s name had been Valentine before she was turned over to the Canadians, and HMS Valentine’s ship badge would be easy to visualize. HMCS Algonquin was not as simple. I went to the library to learn about the tribe for whom we were named. Algonquins lived in Ontario and Quebec, and the name in their tongue indicated “the place of spearing fish and eels.” I made a drawing of an arm holding a spear over heraldic waves. Impaled on the spear writhed an eel, which was meant to represent an evil German submarine. I showed my drawing to the captain. His reaction was to show the arm coming up out of the water bent, exactly like the arm on the Royal Military College of Canada’s badge. I adjusted my drawing and we passed the design on to John Brown’s, our builder . . . .” The above quotes are taken from Latham Jenson’s book “Tin Hats, Oilskins & Seaboots”, published by Robin Brass Studio Inc., Toronto.