Straight Australia shoulder title

[Donny B.]

In the "A wonderful collection in Belgium" thread by jeanpit-frenchy on the "Off Topic" forum, I was interested to note that photo 1169224JPG shows a straight "AUSTRALIA" title under an Australasian King's Colonials badge. I expect that it is meant to be a part of that set.

These straight titles pop up from time to time and I have often wondered where they fit in in the scheme of things.

Is Australasian King's Colonials correct and the place for them or were they worn elsewhere as well?

Donny B.

[slick_mick]

I was under the impression the straight AUSTRALIA title was World War 1.

Vigilanis will know more He is the Aussie title guru.

Mick

[Donny B.]

Maybe Vigilans will give an opinion.

I guess I had always thought that they may date from before the war....but I have no basis for that "thought". I was just interested in how they were classified in that Belgium collection. That bloke must have done an enormous amount of research. I hope it is recorded somewhere.

On the subject of shoulder titles, who (and when) wore the small curved Australia titles?

Donny B.

[badgecollector]

Hi
I thought they were for staff and general officers.
I have seen gilt on staff corps uniforms circa ww1 and sterling silver straight titles on AFC pilot’s uniforms. Have also seen nurses with straight titles but I suppose they are officers also.
I think in the Belgium collection the title shown is ww1 era?
BC

[vigilans]

The (larger) straight titles are definitely WW1 worn by OR’s often seen on "coming home” tunics that were made in the UK.
Officers sometimes wore the smaller curved AUSTRALIA titles so to enable the (physical) fitting of ‘pips’ etc on the epaulettes, they also wore a small straight title.
I have two sizes of the small curved titles and two sizes of the straight AUSTRALIA titles in my collection.
Interestingly I have about 13 different variations of the AUSTRALIA title, from Boer war to WW2
Geoff

Originally Posted by Donny B.

Maybe Vigilans will give an opinion.

I guess I had always thought that they may date from before the war....but I have no basis for that "thought". I was just interested in how they were classified in that Belgium collection. That bloke must have done an enormous amount of research. I hope it is recorded somewhere.

On the subject of shoulder titles, who (and when) wore the small curved Australia titles?

Donny B.

[KTW]

Donny B.

G'day.

I found the Forum and your Thread almost 4 years to the day after you posted the question.

I have a tunic worn by a Sergeant from 6th Field Artillery (Army) Brigade (Victoria, Tasmania). Researched this in 2007 and got reply from an Australian War Memorial Curator as follows:-

"The tunic appears to be of good quality and Sergeant Copplestone probably had it made up in England for his return to Australia.

You are correct that official 'Australia' shoulder titles were curved. However, straight titles are not unknown and were usually associated with the wearer's military fashion sense. They were most likely purchased from a local London military outfitter.

First World War Australian nurses wore straight shoulder titles, but these were smaller and usually silvered".

Further research showed that Copplestone went to Australian Flying Corps.

[MartinRF]

Hello,

With just over 1,000 sepia portrait/group WW1 postcard photographs in the collection, only the one is showing the straight "AUSTRALIA" shoulder title - they are definitely of the A.I.F. period. Whether they were private-purchase items or not - I don't know but I will look behind the pair that I own...

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