YMCA / CVJM shoulder title

[Kevin Elliott]

Hi there,

I recently bought a small collection of military shoulder titles amongst which was a single, smaller title which has YMCA above CVJM (which I understand are the letters for the German equivalent organisation).

Can anyone tell me any information about this title please? I have tried "Googling" without much success. One was sold on E-Bay in South Africa and the description suggested a military connection?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Kevin.

[Postwarden]

The sale of an example in South Africa suggests that your title could be South African, the abbreviation being Afrikaans rather than German.

Nearly all South African shoulder titles of the 1930s and 1940s carried English and Afrikaans abbreviations together.

Would be interesting to see a picture.

Jon

[manchesters]

In Germany (and Austria and Switzerland) the YMCA is called CVJM - Christlicher Verein junger Männer.

[Kevin Elliott]

Originally Posted by Postwarden

The sale of an example in South Africa suggests that your title could be South African, the abbreviation being Afrikaans rather than German.

Nearly all South African shoulder titles of the 1930s and 1940s carried English and Afrikaans abbreviations together.

Would be interesting to see a picture.

Jon

I'm away from home and unable to photograph right now but here's a link to an identical one.
https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/2985...sociation.html

[Alex Rice]

Seems unlikely that it would be South African as the letter 'C' isn't used in Afrikaans, it would be a 'K'.

[Milmed]

Hi,
I have this title in my collection and it is the WWII South African YMCA shoulder title. The CVJM stands for 'Christelike Vereniging vir Jong Mans'

There are cap badges that go with this as well and if memory serves, cloth shoulder titles as well.

These guys served with the UDFI (Union Defense Force Institutes) in all the campaigns that the UDF served in during WWII. They worked alongside the SA TocH and fell directly under the control of Quartermaster General.

Steven

[Alex Rice]

Thanks Steven. One of the rare times 'C' is used in Afrikaans then...
Cheers,
Alex

[Kevin Elliott]

Many thanks Milmed. I got very few hits on Google, so I guess not all that common? Don't suppose you have any photographs of this unit wearing the insignia?

Kind regards,

Kevin.

[Milmed]

Hi Kevin,
The badges are very hard to come bye. I have only seen 3 or 4 titles and 2 to cap badges in my 40+ years of collecting. All badges are hand made so possibly a once off for the few uniformed YMCA guys who were part of the UDFI.

I have a rare official copy of the UDFI history that was published shortly post WWII and though there are quite a few pictures, unfortunately there are none showing insignia been worn. Most of the pictures are of vehicles or buildings were they ran canteens, libraries and other entertainment for the troops.

I too would like to see uniformed personnel showing the YMCA and or TocH insignia been worn.

Regards
Steven