8th N.B.H. (Princess Louise's)

[N.S. Regt.]

A friend of mine bought a couple of large collections fairly recently from veterans families. some of these collections contained a good supply of insigina collected or used by these men. He asked me to post some here to get your collective oppinions on the titles themselves, rarity ect. I do not think he is planning on selling them at the moment as he collects shoulder titles and I have encouraged him to join the membership. There is a number of photos for you to view (about 20) most of this lot originally belonged to Capt T.L. Brown. Here are the first of them.

[N.S. Regt.]

Some more.

[N.S. Regt.]

More still.

[N.S. Regt.]

Last one.

Enjoy
Stephen

[Voltigeur]

Hello Stephen, well what you have here, IMO, are some of the most rare shoulder titles to the 8H. In the first series (pic 3, 4th MC Regt.) & 3rd series (pic 2 & 3 VIII P L NB H) is two patterns worn very early war-time and highly desirable (see info, very last pic,it says all). Again in the top series, last pic, is a printed shoulder title worn late-war. A good one. As for the first pic in the 2nd and 3rd series,these are shoulder titles worn by the unit and you have a bit of info in the last pic in the 2nd series. For the cap badges,collars and titles they are,again IMO, Officer's type (if they belongeg to Maj. Brown). Pic 4,first series is a windbreaker patch and next to it is the type of insignias worn in Italy, in summer dress.
What you have here is a real find. I'm sure some of the other members (BillA and ******** and boots & saddle, among others) can shed some more light on these titles.
Cheers
Jo
Stephen, just remembered. Have you checked or read the "Pictorial History of the 8th Hussars". You will find pics of some of your titles in there?

[N.S. Regt.]

Hi Jo

Thanks for the information. I am sure he will be pleased although he collects WW2 insigina there is some peices he had picked up he had never seen before and my knowlege on WW2 insigina is very limited and I did send him a link to the site. He has others he wishes to show so they may comming up in the next few weeks. I am not sure if he has the reference you mention but will point it out to him. He has also a impressive collection of battle dress from mainly local units.

Stephen

[Voltigeur]

Well Stephen, your friend is a very very lucky man. Christmas came two month early to him. Warm him about the sharks......
Cheers
Jo

[Bill A]

Morning Stephen,
Jo has given you the essential answers. I will add my opinions.
First, the cap and collars in the first posting are officer's pattern. The cap badge and collars in the second posting also appear to be officer's pattern. (There appears to be a hallmark under the pin?) Please check this string for more information about the pattern of cap badge illustrated. 8 PLNB Hussars.
The VIII Princess Loiuse's N.B. Hussars / 4 Can M/C Regt. is as Jo indicated an extremely scarce early issue WW2 title. (As confirmed in the notations by Maj. Brown. )
The fourth image is a regimental crest, as worn on windbreakers, etc. It is not an uniform insignia.
The armlet with the Canadian Armoured Corps title over the 8 NBH 5 CAD patch is the standard set of insignia worn by the regiment in Italy. The unit wore this arrangement of insignia from its arrival in theatre until after Op Goldflake, where 1 Cdn Corps was transferred to NW Europe. When the 8 PLNBH arrived in NW Europe, they were required to adopt the arrangement of insignia as worn by 1 Cdn Army. This was the regimental shoulder title over a plain formation patch.
The last image in the first post is an example of the printed shoulder title issued for the regiment. These according to LAC evidence were not available until the unit had moved from Italy to NW Europe.
In the second posting, the first title is the embroidered pattern of shoulder title as indicated in Maj. Brown's notes. Note that this shoulder title is identified as the pattern issued in Holland before the unit returned home. This is one of a couple of patterns that appeared around that time period.
The VIII PRINCESS LOUISE'S N.B. HUSSARS is as identified in the notes, a shoulder title worn after the unit was converted to armoured. Interesting notation in that the title was worn in the UK. These are scarce titles.
A couple of further comments. The two early titles, the M/C pattern and the single line VIII Princess Louise's NB Hussars are made in a method called flocking. In this technique, the lettering is sprayed on the backing material. They are flimsy and did not hold up well in use. This contributes to the scarcity. See the string on Flocked titles.
Last, from the images it appears that some of the titles have been scotch taped down. AHHHHHHHHHHH. Tell your friend to very very very carefully remove the scotch tape. If it appears that the tape will not come off without damaging the titles, leave them alone.
Hope this helps Stephen. Your friend has acquired an exceptional collection of 8 PLNBH insignia. Even more so, when it can be attributed to an officer.

[boots and saddles]

Certainly a great purchase and all original, & lots of info to go with it. Ray

[GregN]

Hi all, this is great stuff. What I like the most is that it appears to have come from a vet, who actually wore these titles during war time and establishes a sequence based on first hand knowledge. Fantastic stuff.

The badges are nice, the first pic is an officers set althought the hatbadge seems to be missing the cornet. I think the second set are ORs as the colours are reversed. It is nice to see the makers mark, and probably early war issue but still ORs.

Greg

[servicepub]

I would really like to use the M/C title in my upcoming motorcycle book. I have a chapter that addresses the Motorcycle Regiments. Wouild it be possible to get a hi-res scan e-mailed to me at clive@servicepub.com along with the name of the owner so that I can credit appropriately?

Clive

[Dwayne H]

The items are in great shape and in most cases fairly scarce. To me, the great value is in the annotations describing when and where they were worn. rarely do you get something with that much detail.

Dwayne

[N.S. Regt.]

Thanks Guys for all you comments.

Bill you have exceeded yourself again. I was talking to my friend and the second badge is maker marked "J.R. Gaunt Made in England" .

I have passed on your information hopefully he will respond himself soon.

Stephen