Were KRRC corded boss badges worn by Warrant Officers?
 

Folks,
You'll all be well aware that with both field service cap and side cap commissioned officers in the King's Royal Rifle Corps wore a red corded boss as their cap badge - the famous 'cherry' - rather than the standard blackened maltese cross.

In detail this was a 'beehive' shaped mounded coil of red cord surmounted by a silver strung bugle (see my avatar).

I am trying to find out whether the 'cherry' was also worn by WOI's and WOII's in the 60th.

Modern day practice in The Rifles is to wear the rifle green corded boss with the side cap for all officers and all WO's, but the strung bugle with the forage cap.


A more specific related question ...

The attached photo shows Richard Pennell in summer/autumn 1915. It is a detail of an officers' group of 18/KRRC taken at Gidea Hall in Essex.

Pennell joined 18/KRRC as battalion RSM in July 1915, but was commissioned later in the year (or possibly in early 1916 - I'm still hunting the London Gazette for the exact date).

I had assumed he was already a 2/Lt here, but am now thinking he may actually still be WOI.

All others in the group are commissioned officers, though one is Captain by virtue of being the Quartermaster.

All are wearing the 'cherry', bar one who is definitely attached from another regiment.

All have cuff ranks where visible, not epaulette ranks, though that's unsurprising in mid 1915.

None have shoulder titles visible.

All have 'Sam Browne' belt rigs. Digging suggests that would be standard for a WOI, but not for a WOII.

I think I can make out something on Pennell's epaulette, which looks more like a crown/royal arms than a blackened KRRC ST.

Is he here a 2nd Lieutenant or a Warrant Officer Class I?

Pennell was an amazing soldier - enlisted in 1904 and served in every rank from Rifleman to Lieutenant-Colonel including a spell as a temporary Brigadier. He began the war as a Lance-Serjeant and ended it as a battalion CO with DSO and Bar!

Your thoughts, both on this specific photo of Richard Pennell and more generally on corded boss badges being worn by WO's, very welcome :)

Cheers,
Mark

This failed to get a reply, but since I resolved it by another route, I thought it worthwhile to post an update in case others go down this same path in the future!

From a photograph of the 1927 2/KRRC shooting team, it seems that WO2 and higher wore the 'cherry', Colour Serjeant and below did not.

I've attached below shots of RSM Jagger, CSM Done (probably) and one of the Colour Serjeants.

Mark

That line of demarcation would make historical sense, Mark, as it fits with the previous divide between battalion staff and company level SNCOs.

From 1915, the new rank and appointment of CSM was raised to the same status as battalion staff (but the CQMS was not), the first ever company level appointment of the infantry to be so raised up (artillery first and cavalry (since the 1890s) had already done this decades previously). Traditionally battalion staff wore the same or very similar style of headdress badge (and for many years the headdress too) as officers.

For the infantry it was a highly significant change and yet is now all but forgotten. Its misunderstanding in more recent times has led to great confusion among those who do not fully understand the rank/appointment system and the collective term ‘staff sergeants’.

This momentous change is the reason why in parade dress CSMs of infantry wear a sword belt and ‘carriage’ (i.e. 2-slings), a privilege previously reserved for WOs and SNCOs on the battalion HQ staff only.