Two Badges I'd Like to Identify

[onlinegenie]

Hi everybody.

I'd be grateful if anyone could help to identify these two badges that we found while clearing my mother-in-law's house.

They're not going to be for sale - they will have belonged to one of my wife's ancestors, and we would like to narrow down who it was.

Mark

[zob]

Originally Posted by onlinegenie

Hi everybody.

I'd be grateful if anyone could help to identify these two badges that we found while clearing my mother-in-law's house.

They're not going to be for sale - they will have belonged to one of my wife's ancestors, and we would like to narrow down who it was.

Mark

Hello Mark,

The first I would say is most probably a French 5th line infantry regiment button (I’m sure some of our continental scholars will be able to give better clarification here), and the second, appears to be a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) lieutenant’s lace cuff ring with associated “A” which I understand signifies the - Air Branch.

Regards,

Zob.

[btns]

The button is more likely to be Belgian. They used them well into WWI.
The French had identical designs until 1870.
Can you show us a picture of the rear of the button?

[Alex Rice]

Hi
The second 'badge' is part of the sleeve 'curl' of an officer of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Air Branch. The semi-squared curl was RNVR and the 'A' is as stated.
I've attached an image of some Air Branch shoulder straps but I expect the one you have shown came off a sleeve.
Cheers,
Alex

[onlinegenie]

Originally Posted by btns

The button is more likely to be Belgian. They used them well into WWI.
The French had identical designs until 1870.
Can you show us a picture of the rear of the button?

Thanks. Photo of the back attached.

Unfortunately, the writing isn't very clear. The word Brux is clearly visible through a magnifying glass, which may be helpful - I've googled "Brux badge" and found that it is probably a Belgian badge made by Fonson Brux (I'd made out the "son" part of Fonson and incorrectly thought it was part of "Brux and son").

I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me the significance of the number 5. I've found another thread on this board where Vincent has identified the regiments for numbers 2 and 3. I see from his profile that he posted earlier this week, so I'd be pleased to hear from him!

Meanwhile I'll do a bit more googling to see if I can find anything out for myself.

Thanks to everyone who's replied.

[Cribyn]

Hello

The new information you have provided confirms that btns was right when he said your button was Belgian and most likely First World War period. The 5 is the number of the regiment, the '5th Regiment of the Line' was the full title I believe.

Roger

[onlinegenie]

Thanks Roger. And thanks again to everyone else who replied.

We're still sorting, so I have a feeling I'll be back.

[fougasse1940]

Originally Posted by onlinegenie

The word Brux is clearly visible through a magnifying glass, which may be helpful - I've googled "Brux badge" and found that it is probably a Belgian badge made by Fonson Brux (I'd made out the "son" part of Fonson and incorrectly thought it was part of "Brux and son").

Brux is short for Bruxelles, the capital of Belgium, so in my opinion the reverse info is the firm of Fonson from Bruxelles.

Rgds, Thomas.