AA para badge by Gaunt
 

A recent find, a 1964 maroon beret named to A.B. Alston with an AA para cap badge to it made by Gaunt. There is a nice ghost image of the badge so I suppose it is genuine to the beret. However the Gaunt stamp is much less pronounced than the one shown on the Makers Marks page; any opinions?

Hi Luc,

The mark is good and first used (as far as I can deduce from Gaunt documentation) around 1966.

At this time I believe that the slider marks were hand stamped and are therefore to be found variable in strike, position etc. on the slider. I have a feeling that this process was automated later on due to the more consistent markings found on later era badges but I have not been able to confirm this.

Regards

Chris

Excellent news Chris, thanks!

Hello Chris,
Would their earlier examples carry their London mark on the sliders?
Regards Frank

Luc,
A very nice find of a beret that shows a lot of wear and bleaching, being well contemporary for service in Aden 1964 -67. All three Parachute Regt Bn's served there.

However whilst the beret has service wear, the badge does not and one would expect to see some on an anodised badge - rubbing on the front and marking on the neck of the slider. So I would suggest that the badge is not the original badge for the beret from issue as it were and it may have had one or more others before the badge it now sports. It could well be contemporary for a later date, also bearing in mind that even though the date of manufacture is 1964, it may have sat on a store shelf for a few years before issue.

There are many different anodised aluminium makers for this cap badge and one would probably expect to have seen an earlier maker than Gaunt B.ham. (the ghosted outline in the beret fabric would be pretty much be the same for any maker with a slider)

A great find, especially if it was for a decent price!

Regards all

Bess

Hello Bess,
I think it important to remember that a beret does not have to have been issued in the year it was actually made, but, the badges are of very considerable interest, what would you have expected to see on this beret?
Regards Frank

Hi Frank, probably an early Smith & Wright example I would think.

All the best

Bess

Okay, that's very interesting, I know Gaunt made two versions of the original Queens Crown rankers badge in white metal and I have always just assumed they followed those up with an anodised version as soon as they were adopted by the regiment.

Hi Frank,
I would suspect that this is true but I have no direct knowledge here. Gaunt were one of many makers of this badge. A generally accepted earlier mark for Gaunt would be a Gaunt London marked slider as opposed to the Gaunt B.Ham mark. This what I would have expected to see on a Gaunt made badge for this era. Chris Marsh has done a considerable amount of research in this area and would recommend his book for more detailed info.

I have this badge in variations with sliders marked;-

J R Gaunt London
J R Gaunt B.Ham
H W Timings
Dowler Birmingham
Smith and Wright
London Badge and Button company
Grove MFG (metal slider)

There are other marks on badges with lugs instead of the slider.

Hope this is of help/interest.

Regards to all

Bess

Hello Bess,
Well, that does answer my original question, I would have thought the Gaunt London, Timings, Dowler and Smith and Wright to be the early ones.
Regards Frank

Not forgetting Grove MFG with the metal slider from that list. I believe that is probably the earliest of all.

Cheers,
Jack.

Hello Jack,
I don't collect anodised, but, those worn by this regiment are well worth collecting in my opinion, I had always just assumed a Gaunt badge actually marked "London" would always be earlier in terms of manufacture than their "B'ham" marked badges.
I don't know anything about Grove, so perhaps you might tell me more?
Kind regards Frank

Hi Frank, I don't particularly collect anodised myself but as you say they are worth getting as part of an airborne collection.

All I know is that Grove Manufacturing apparently produced some of the earliest anodised badges which had metal sliders rivetted to the badge with the Grove MFG name applied.

I have one example to the Parachute Regiment in my collection.

I believe there are examples of the mark in the makers marks section on here.

Cheers,
Jack

The differing makers may have overlapped in dates but I would date the brass Grove slider earliest, Smith & Wright, Timings about the same date, then Gaunt London and then Bham. LB&B are the most recent.

Jack,the Grove Parachute Regt is one of the rarer badges by them. I wouldnt use the word "riveted" to describe the way the slider is fixed . The slider has a slot in that fits over a little stub of aluminium which is then squashed flat to grip the slider . The slider is similar is similar to the J shaped slider that is found on the earlier pattern narrow RAOC kc badge.
If i recall correctly there are no more than 20 Grove badges to different Regts and Corps