Badging a WW2 RE Jacket
 

Hi All,

I'm trying to badge up a battle dress blouse as per a relative's service and am looking for a bit of help.

I know he was in 712 General Construction Company for most of the war and was evacuated from La Panne.

I have got a pair of red cloth Royal Engineer shoulder titles and I know he had 4 years service chevrons. Are the red cloth shoulder titles correct or should I have brass or slip on's?

I'm also at a loss about what div badges to get, can anyone help with that?

Thanks a lot,

Michael

Michael,

Much will depend on the period for which you want to badge the BD. If you have cloth titles it must be after 1943, the year they were officially introduced.

You would then need to establish where and with which formation the unit served and it should then be possible to establish which formation badges are appropriate. Brass titles are not usually found on wartime BD and for any date after Sept 1940 you would also need a pair of RE arm of service strips.

Happy to answer any further questions.

Jon

Thanks very much Jon,

In that case I think as I have the titles already I'll go for the end of the war, that way I can put his 4 year service chevrons on as well.

I'll try and find out which formation the unit was part of and go from there.

Michael

The National Archives only seems to hold two war diaries for 712 General Construction Company, the frst with the BEF from March to June 1940, the other from July 1940 to December 1941. This suggests that the Company may have been re-roled or renamed, or possibly disbanded.

Do you have a copy of your father's service record? It should list all his units.

Jon

Hi Jon,

I do and his pay book. He appears to have been with them all the way through the war until his discharge in 1945.

I'll put a copy of his postings on here when I get home in a few hours.

Another funny is that he was a Lance Sergeant but I hadn't heard of them in the engineers.

Michael

Hi Jon,

Hopefully this will help.

Michael

Hi All,

I'm still trying to badge this jacket and have just found out that in August 1944 the unit was posted to the BLA.

According to the tinterweb almost every unit in the BLA was assigned to the 21st Army Group so if that is the case I'm almost there but need some help again.

Do I need the shield on it's own, the shield with one sword straight vertical or the shield with two crossed swords?

I get the impression the crossed swords were for HQ staff so an engineer company would not be that but I can't find what the single sword was for.

I'm also wondering about the Lance Sergeant bit, does he need 3 stripes (and a full Sgt would have had 3 stripes and the grenade above them) or 2?

Thanks in advance.

Michael

Three stripes and a flaming grenade doth a Sergeant make. From t'internet

A Lance Sergeant, also abbreviated to L/Sgt., is a military rank in the armies of the Commonwealth given to a Corporal so they could fill a post usually held by a Sergeant. The appointment is retained now only in the Foot Guards and Honourable Artillery Company in the British Army. In these regiments today, all corporals are automatically appointed Lance Sergeant on their promotion, in effect performing the same duties as Corporals in other regiments and are not acting in place of Sergeants. The Household Cavalry equivalent is Lance Corporal of Horse.

The appointment originated in the British Army and Royal Marines, in which it could be removed by the soldier's commanding officer, unlike a full Sergeant, who could only be demoted by court martial. Lance Sergeants first appeared in the 19th century, however, the appointment was abolished in most regiments and corps in 1946. Some cadet units also retained the rank in addition to Corporal into at least the 1980s. Lance Sergeants wear three rank chevrons, the same insignia as a Sergeant. In full dress, Foot Guards lance sergeants are distinguished from full sergeants by their white chevrons (full sergeants wearing gold); and in working dress, primarily by wearing an other ranks cap badge instead of a senior Non-commissioned officer variant.

Brilliant, thanks a lot. Three stripes it is and also explains him saying he never got his bomb up.

So just the 21st Army Group badge to sort now.

Thanks again,

Michael

Original poster on eBay :

WW2 21st ARMY GROUP FORMATION SIGNS. 8th May 1945.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303382647931

Large photo on picclick:

https://picclick.co.uk/WW2-21st-ARMY...l#&gid=1&pid=1