13IY - Boer War Slouch Hat Badge
 

Okay Chaps, I'm not really a Yeomanry collector and confess to having limited knowledge on Boer War insignia and especially slouch hat badges. That said I couldn't pass up this interesting 13th Company, 5th Battalion (Shropshire) Imperial Yeomanry badge, as I thought it would be a nice addition to my Shropshire collection (my sincere gratitude to the forum member to pointed this one out to me).

Size is: 40.5mm x 14mm

I would very much appreciated any comments on such badges in general and this one in particular, genuine? scarce?

I seem to recall that such badges are either shoulder titles and/or slouch hat badges, which is this or could it be both?

Also, if this is a hat badge would it have been worn with a rosette?

Any thoughts, comments, opinions or information either general or specific would be most appreciated.

Cheers, Roy.

P.s. forgive the impromptu photos, I'm rather unwell, so not on top of my game.

The construction of this is interesting would they have a box of seperate numerals and letters (as in letter stamps) and solder onto the 2 bars, you would be the best judge of that Roy if not soldered could be pinned and filed smooth? Cheers billy

Hi Billy,

I don't have a great deal of experience with this type of badge. Here is a few more pics which may show some more details.

Cheers, Roy.

Genuine, yes, scarce, very much so!

Could be 13th Battalion rather than company ?
http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol136sw.html

Thank you for that Frank, good to know.

In regard the 13th Company - I'm quoting some information off the Shropshire Regimental Museum website.

"First "Campaign Service" - as Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa 1900-1902

Although the Yeomanry were not intended for overseas or campaign service, such was the need for mounted forces during the Boer War (South Africa, 1899-1902) that the government allowed volunteers to serve in South Africa. Those drawn from the country's Yeomanry regiments were designated as Imperial Yeomanry and those from the Shropshire Yeomanry served as the 13th Company, 5th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry."

As mentioned a totally new area for me but always happy to learn something new.

Cheers, Roy.

Hi Roy can see file marks, black line between letters and strengthening bar suggests solder? but letters appear to have no gaps? also round dark rings could these be pins to join numerals, letters, in place prior to being soldered? These things are better assessed in the hand rather than photos, yours are good but mark one eyeball!!
Nice find though! Good luck billy

Roy,
A brief glance at it's reverse tells me it is original, I don't collect IY myself and never have, despite being very keen on both the Transvaal War and the Anglo Boer War since a small boy, although I have long had a special interest in the 113th Company, simply because of who those particular men were and where they had come from.
The IY had the habit of getting themselves into a devil of a mess at a quite alarming rate, however, they did play a very important roll in what became a very hard and highly mobile campaign and sometimes won the day by their dash.
In 1970's Johannesburg, you could certainly, on occasion, pick this sort of stuff up for very little, nobody wanted it, now of course, it's all the other way.
It is far more likely to be a specific company badge rather than a battalion, I should be absolutely delighted with it if I were you.
Kind regards Frank

Hi Frank & Billy,

Thank you indeed for that. Yes I am rather pleased indeed. After starting to study the history a little it appears that there were only 120 in this unit (if I'm reading it correctly) so this badge appears to be quite the find.

Can I ask is this indeed a slouch had badge?

Cheers, Roy.

13iy
 

Hi roy I collect I y among other things and as the lads before have said it is a battalion rather than a company title/badge, I have exactly the same title as you and it is very rare these days, I have always thought it to be a shoulder title but with the iy anything usually went so it may be a rosette cap badge, fingers crossed but still a nice rare thing.

Thank you for that Mike,

Great to hear of another one of these rare badges being out there. Would it be possible to see a photo of your example?

Cheers, Roy.

13iy
 

Roy when the grandson comes around weekend I will get a picture on

Thanks Mike,

Sounds like a plan.

Just to add a little background to this badge and the wonderful deal that came my way.

I was alerted to this rare badge by a forum member. I had to contact the ebay seller to get permission to bid due to me being outside of the UK. We got chatting as I noticed he lived in a small Shropshire town I used to work in. After winning the auction he mentioned this badge was from his Granddad's old collection, (who had himself served in the KSLI) and he had found a few more bits and was going to include them for free!

Well some lovely pieced turned up in the package, so it just goes to show you the generosity that is still out there.

Cheers, Roy.

Roy

If you are interested in the badge solely from a Shropshire point of view then a lot hinges on whether the "13" is a COMPANY or BATTALION number. To be honest, I don't know which it is and reading through the above posts there seems to be some confusion as to which it is.

If it's a Company No. then it is Shropshire related -
13th (Shropshire) Company, 5th Battalion IY was the only solely Shropshire IY unit during the SA war as far as I know. The original contingent comprised 158 men, the second contingent 124 men.

If it's a Battalion number then it has no particular Shropshire connection.

Either way, though, if it's genuine then it's a rare badge.

David

Hi David,

Thank you for that. Yes it is the Shropshire link that is of interest to me and until I'm proved wrong I'm happy to go with that identification.

As mentioned the badge was part of a large/old collection based in Shropshire and put together by a former KSLI solder a long while ago. The collection has long been disposed of now. I just got a few items from the grandson that he found.

Cheers, Roy.