Signals armband, Japanese badge pairing.
 

Just been given this pair of badges. They came together joined by a very rusty safety pin so i assume that they were brought back by the same soldier A blue and white buckle type Signals brassard and a Japanese superior privates rank and name breast badge. The Brassard has an octagonal stamp on the back with what looks like SHAN over a broad arrow and 35 .Could this mean it was issued in Shanghai in 1935 ? there are a couple of other stamps including a strange square with two dots? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Indian connection ?

"India were not as consistent at using an ordnance mark as the rest of the empire, but when they did use the mark it was in the form of the /|\ above an ‘I’ "

Broad Arrow Markings

Could SHAN be SHAH as I saw a pith helmet listing:

"This classic pith helmet was manufactured in India and has a beautiful original "Shah & Co. Cochin" manufacturer label inside. "

NB. India also used the mark with the 'I' above the arrow on knifes etc.


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Cheers Mike,looks like you`ve hit the nail on the head and that would link up with the japanese badge as well.Excellent,many thanks.

Please please leave these together they are only original once.

Mac, the superior private rank insignia would have been worn on the collar of the tunic and has been later added to the green felt, as with the name tag.
The kanji (Japanese characters) reads 'Inukai Takeo' (犬飼猛推). The surname is first (Inukai) followed by the given name (Takeo).

Brilliant, many thanks,

I am wondering if the Japanese soldier was a prisoner of war or, perhaps one of the Japanese PoWs that we rearmed to help put down the insurrection in the Dutch East Indies in 1946.

I cannot think of any other reason that he might have a name tag that ended up in the hands of a British soldier

My dad would have been able to give more information, but he passed away on Saturday. His mum threw out all badges he brought back, both Japanese and TNI. My avatar items were my dad's, issued in Wolverhampton 1945.

Post war Japanese troopers were used under British command, my cousins wife’s father was a Cpl in the Signals in Far East he had a company of Japanese troops under his command he brought back the Japanese NCO’s Sword given to him by the Sgt under his command incidentally he ended up fighting the Vichy French in Vietnam area 1946 a little known part of WW2.

This may have some connection to the Arm band.

btns sorry for your loss

Regards

Stephen

The armband is made in India by Shah as mentioned. They made many uniforms and other items for the Indian and British Army during the war.
The rank and name tab, or pocket hanger, is typical of what was worn by Japanese soldiers in the later part of the war, when rank was normally not worn on the collars in the field anymore. They were field made and typically had a name, rank badge and often unit codes (which this example does not have), and or colored bits of cloth which indicated the arm of service, in this case green for medical.
They were made in all sorts of shapes and sizes and either had pins or button holes for easy removal in battle, and were usually worn on the chest pocket and sometimes on the side of the field cap.
I believe it is most likely from Burma, although it could be from elsewhere as well.

CB

Well, I have learnt something today, I was unaware that Japanese soldiers routinely wore name/rank badges towards the end of the war. The badge probably came into the original poster's father's possession as a trophy from a PoW, or was found on the battle field. I have a few portable souvenirs brought home by soldiers in my collection, mainly photographs of Japanese soldiers or documents or scraps of paper with Japanese script.