MTTC Petrol lighter

[Bunk]

Hi All
My name is Dave and I am new on here so please bear with me incase I am doing something wrong.

It's a long story but I Will try to keep it short.

My sister gave me a bag of old lighters one caught my eye as being different so I started to find as much as I could about it this is what I have found
It has the letters MTTC which I believe stands for Meconised transport training corp.
I think that was from 1939
The lighter is a lift arm petrol type from that era
It has a royal blue what lookalike leather wrapped body with what looks like a bronze badge on the front again it lookalike a cap badge from the photos I have seen.
I can't find anymore information especially as it's a lighter forgot to say there's no maker's mark on it and the main body is brass.
Two questions I have are anybody know anything history on the lighter
and does it have a value
Thanks in anticipation
I will try to put photos on if I can
Regards
Dave

[Bill A]

Hello Dave, welcome to the Forum. Your account is active and open for posts.

[wardog]

Welcome Dave. Interesting lighter and will have a value to those who collect lighters and those who collect to WWII women's organisations. There is a forum rule that if someone wants opinions on value they state if they are intending to sell the item in the near future. Regards, Paul.

[Bunk]

Hi
To be honest the value is secondary as I said my sister gave me it so now it's sentimental to me. So at the present all I am trying to do is find out more about it as I have found out about the MTTC although I understand that there not a lot of information about them I can't find anything about the lighter it self. Questions like is it a one off, were a few made for promoting the corp and after looking through thousands of lighters it looks like a design from the era but I can't attribute a maker as there's no maker's mark but somebody must-have made it.
Any help to find anything is greatly appreciated.
Regards
Dave

[Cribyn]

Hello Dave

'MTTC' does indeed stand for Mechanised Transport Training Corps, formed early in 1939 but early in 1940 the 'Training' element of the title was dropped and the unit became the Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC). New badges (and buttons) were created using just the initials 'MTC' but I doubt if all members of the unit changed their badges immediately, after all there was a war on!

Personally, I don't think your lighter was produced to promote the MTTC. It may have been produced in quantity but much more likely is that someone just took an outdated collar badge (it looks as if it might be a collar badge) and fixed it to a commercially produced lighter, possibly choosing blue just because that colour was used on some of the Corp's cloth insignia.

If you want to know more about the Mechanised Transport Corps I can wholeheartedly recommend a book called "Within The Island Fortress No. 4, The Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC)" by Jon Mills (who just happens to be a member of this Forum). It's a very good book, well illustrated, on a little known subject.

Roger

[Bunk]

Thanks for your reply Roger I had thought that abouts a commercial produced lighter and the badge that's why I have been looking to see if I could find a blank one for a better word but I haven't being able to find even a model close to the design yet and there is no maker's mark. The badge I do believe is as you say but looking how it is attached to the lighter it looks like it's been attached in the construction of the body So I was thinking maybe someone has commissioned it to be made for some reason at that time although I am open to stand corrected.
Regards
Dave

[Bunk]

Bump

[Alan O]

It's typical of a lighter made or adapted with a regtl badge in regimental workshops.

[Bunk]

Thank you for the information that's probably why I can't find any other examples to compare it with.
Regards Dave