Berkshire Yeomanry silver anodised aluminium
 

Hello all,

I need some agonised ally help.

Does the Berkshire Yeo in silver AA legitimately exist?

Recently seen this badge on a website. However the mark looks duff and you can see on the reverse what appear to be the marks of loops so I suspect it’s a casting from a metal badge - I’m sure it’s fake.

I’ve seen a sil AA badge with loops which has been described as a NCOs arm badge. However I’m again dubious as to authenticity.

I do own a gold AA badge made by Timmings (thanks Michael) which I’m 100% sure is kosher. So just wondering if I’m missing a badge or not.

Thanks in advance,

Luke

Nicely made, and would consider hard to make if a copy? Look forward to seeing how this pans out? Good luck acquiring it!

The silver badge is to the Berkshire Territorials not the Yeomanry.Looks like its had lugs on at some point . The slider looks wrong,I'm sure the slidered version is usually blank.
The arm badge is lugged,you can find it in gold or silver. Pretty sure that one is to the Berks Yeo the other to Berks and Westminster Dragoons.

Mike is right.

The Berkshire Yeomanry in the 1950s wore full sized gold a/a badges as well as reduced size brass ones.

Post amalgamation they wore the a/a Berks &WD badge.

Circa 1968 the silver large horse was designed for the Berkshire Territorials which included an element form the BY. This badge does exist and it is recorded in the BY regtl history that it was briefly worn on a red oval.

Soon after the Berks Yeo Sqn rebadged to Royal Signals and has moved between 31 Sig Regt (V) and 39 Sig Regt. They wear the horse as a lugged arm badge in No1 Dress.

I’d actually say the opposite is true Billy. If you zoom in you see the definition and detailing is actually poor. The lettering is not sharp or crisp with square ends as it should be but rounded, poorly defined and in low relief compared to the scroll.

Also look closely and you can see divots and pock marks on the surface of the horse yet these are filled in with AA. Along with my concerns regarding the back these are the hallmarks of a cast copy.

Throw in the spurious Firmin mark and a slider with a crimp(?) and I’m convinced we have a very good fake.

If anyone is interested it’s on Cultman Collectibles (no connection) priced at an eye watering £75. Personally I wouldn’t give a fiver for it and am convinced the potential buyer will be wasting their money.

That’s interesting, thanks Mike and Alan.

Do either of you have an example of a good one to show?

I have an image of the example that was in my collection. I'll post it for you later on Luke.
You have brought something up there Luke,mentioning cast badges. I read an article somewhere that said at one point the MOD was not going to fund new anodised arm badges for the Yeomanry. Certain regiments approached to Azzams in Lahore to produce their arm badges for them.
I've seen a Warwick and Worcs pear leaf arm badge and a Duke of Lancasters Own Yeomanry crown arm badge. I'm sure one of the DLOY journals actually mentions them sourcing the new arm badges from Pakistan.
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the Berks Yeo did the same thing. I would be pretty sure the slider has been added to the badge Luke and as you say it's not good.

Here you go Luke.
Blank slider

Cheers Mike

Here's another with blank slider...
Attachment 211538

Attachment 211539

Note the crimp mark at the top of the slider. Not a good sign.

This is the Firmin silver one I have. Like so many of these 1968 TA units badges, I am ambivalent as to whether they were ever actually worn or made for collectors' market. I have examples of nearly all of them recorded but primary evidence of them actually in use is non-existent. The Keep Museum at Dorchester has an example of the Dorsetshire Territorials a/a badge but states that it was never worn.

Firmin is not a mark to fake as the firm still exists and has copyright on the mark. The badge is die struck rather than the cast ones seen earlier.

Hi Guys,

I never found a FIRMIN LONDON mark like this one when I researched my book although there is a genuine FIRMIN LONDON mark (with and without out the full stop) the gap between words in the real deal is quite pronounced.

Neither did I come across a slider like this which I attributed to FIRMIN. However, it seems to look like a LB&B slider to me and for those who have a copy of my book check out page 71 - sliders 7.1 and 7.3.

What is worrying is that I can see no crazed lines from the FIRMIN LONDON mark which implies it was added pre anodising and colouring which further implies someone stamped the slider before it was completed which further (again) implies someone has been quite naughty.

Seems to be a 'genuine' fake so to speak and quite rare in the A/A arena.

Regards,

Chris

The mark is original to slider and there is no evidence that the slider has been refixed to the badge. LB&B were not founded until 1973 which was 4 years after the regiment had converted to RSIGNALS. I can't believe that LB&B would counterfeit Firmin's mark. It's one thing to add a fake Gaunt London mark to a badge but to use an existing firm's trademark to fake a badge sold for a few pounds would be very foolish. The fact that theses badges are not found in any numbers is odd if some one has gone to the trouble of producing this one. The die struck construction is very odd if it did come out of LB&B workshops as it's not characteristic of their badges at all.

Another, I hope may add to the discussion. This one I picked up in a recent auction and had dumped it in a pile of broken and badly worn anodised badges as a fake.

It's cast on two loops, being slightly different from the others shown earlier as the face of the Uffington Horse is seeded (or it could be just the stippling produced by the casting process).

Anyway retrieved temporarily from the rubbish pile whilst this thread pans out.

Merry Christmas
Mark