Black Diamond Sleeve Insignia On Royal Engineers Battledress - British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum

Spitace41 · #1 13-06-15, 02:03 PM

Hi all. I have recently acquired this Indian made Second World War battledress blouse (credit goes to members of War Relics Forum for identification), which as you can see bears the insignia of the RE.

I am wondering if anyone recognizes the black diamond insignia on the lower right sleeve as I cannot find reference to it anywhere. The blouse came with other items including a slouch hat which would indicate service in the Far East but I do not know if that is related to the insignia.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

Mike Jackson · #2 13-06-15, 06:44 PM

Unofficial but tolerated, I believe it was worn in lieu of a mourning band to mark a death (due to enemy action?) in the family. Happy to be corrected, or given confirmation. Mike

leigh kitchen · #3 13-06-15, 07:22 PM

I've read something to that effect within the past few days, possibly on this forum.
A quick interweb search brings up a number of items describing the "black diamond" used as a sign of mourning by civilians & military.
I read somewhere that a black lozenge is an heraldic.symbol of death & mourning.

Spitace41 · #4 13-06-15, 08:09 PM

That's very interesting, thanks guys. I would not have thought this would have been allowed on a military uniform, but like you say I suppose it may have been tolerated under certain circumstances. I will have to do more research.

Cheers.

BWEF · #5 13-06-15, 08:14 PM

I have seen WW1 postcards of soldiers in which one of their buttons is black.

I was told that this was worn as a sign of mourning.

leigh kitchen · #6 13-06-15, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWEF

I have seen WW1 postcards of soldiers in which one of their buttons is black.

I was told that this was worn as a sign of mourning.

Short thread re. the black "mourning button" here:

http://gmic.co.uk/forums/topic/28394...comment-268313

I didn't mention the black diamond because I didn:'t know about it.

leigh kitchen · #7 22-06-15, 07:48 AM

I thought I'd post the photo from the linked thread. I like it, partly because of the badge being worn - from what I remember the collar badge should have been worn on the cap.