7th Rajput officer's collar badges.
 

Could anyone please enlighten me about the correct style of collar badges needed to replace the ones missing from this uniform? Thank you.

Looking unsuccessfully for an illustration, but I think, perhaps, a conjoined 'RR' in a simple wreath.

Many thanks.

I have narrowed down the possible original owner from the combination of medal ribbons.

The most likely is Lt-Col R E Scott of the 2/7th Rajput Regiment. He saw service in the Great War and obtained the rank of Lt-Col on the 1st February 1944. I am still looking for his I.G.S.M entitlement.

Lt-Col Harold Cecil Latham 2/7th Rajput Regiment was in the running as he was also entitled to a British War Medal and Victory Medal and made T/Col by 3rd November 1943, however he went on to become an A/Brigadier and was awarded the O.B.E. which I would expect to see amongst the ribbons.

Wilfred Edgar Norrish also reached the rank of Lt-Col whilst serving with the 1/7th Rajput Regiment. He was entitled to the I.G.S.M with Marsud Clasp but does not appear to have had Great War Service.

Kenneth Davidson Marsland is another contender. He was a Lt-Col with the 2/7th Rajput Regiment from 4th January 1944.

I am confident that I can narrow it down further.

Oh, well done! The kind of connection I love to find in my own research. Not that I own such a fine tunic, but having possible owners makes it much more 'real', IMHO.

I take back my suggestion! Brain f**t there, as the 'RR' is the Rajputana Rifles badge. The only thing I've been able to come up with is a post '47 badge from which the collar might be inferred: 'VII' in a wreath. The shoulder badge is as shown, from the IWM collection.

Thank you. There are about 30 Lt-Cols listed as serving with the 7th Rajput Regiment in the 1945 Indian Army List but they are not listed by battalion. The 1st, 2nd and 4th battalions served in Burma and other officers were attached from other battalions and saw service in Burma.

I have to find a Lt-Col who ended up in the 7th Rajput Regiment but who was also entitled to a British War Medal and a Victory Medal. I have found Lt-Cols with this entitlement but who do not have the India General Service Medal. Proving the entitlement to the Burma Star is the most difficult as records are not in the public domain. Other candidates have M.I.D.s or O.B.E.s whose ribbons I would expect to see on the uniform. They can be ruled out of the equation.

Cever work, based on your extensive knowledge of the IA and researching it, obviously. :)

These are the two unlikely candidates.


Marriott. John Richard. Commissioned:14/12/1918. BWM & Victory. 99th Infantry. GSM: Clasp Iraq. 99th Infantry. Lt- Col:14/02/1944. I.A.994. 4/7th Btn. Retired 28/03/1947


Ansell. J W. Commissioned: 04/03/1918, BWM & Victory. 8 Rajput Regt. GSM: Clasp Iraq. 2/7th Rajput Regt. Lt-Col: 04/03/1944. I.A.971. 2/7th Btn. Retired 24/10/1947.

Uniform
 

The IGS ribbon 1908 shown on the uniform never had a bar ‘Iraq’ ,this was on the general service medal 1918-62. This ribbon is dark green with central purple stripe.
Regards pete

Pete,

many thanks for putting me right regarding the General Service Medal. I am clearly getting confused by researching so many names at once. It is clearly the I.G.S.M. 1908-1935 ribbon on the uniform.

This is the document that I appear to have been misreading.

Simon

Going through the medal rolls again on Ancestry again, the problem seems to be with how they have listed the medal entitlement.

One of the men on my list, H.M. Day. Lt. 5th Cavalry is listed as follows:

Name: H M Day. Service Date: 1920-1935. Service Place: India. Campaign or Service: India. Regiment or Unit Name: 5th Bombay Cavalry.

They have clearly confused Indian Regiment with Indian campaign or service as the medal roll is actually for the 1918-62 General Service Medal with the Iraq clasp.

This occurs when searching the campaign medal rolls by an individual's name and not by campaign.

Medal entitlement
 

All very confusing, but you seem to be getting there! You probably know all this but if they thought he was entitled to Iraq, dates Dec1917 to November 1920.
Does this mean the likely bar on the IGS1908 would be Afghanistan 1919,warziristan 1919-21, or Mahsud 1919-1920; last two bars nearly always found on same medal. The most likely bar being the Afghanistan 1919.

It would appear that many of the battalions that later became the 7th Rajput Regiment served in the Waziristan Campaign. However, the medal rolls for the Indian Regiments that served in the campaign are not on Ancestry. They may be at the British Library but I haven't been able to locate them yet.

The uniform definitely did not belong to Lt-Col W E Norrish as I have managed to locate a photograph of him. He had no Great War medal entitlement and wears only the ribbon of the G.S.M.

This, taken from the same group photograph, is of Captain David Donald Blythe, (164424), The photograph was taken in 1943 and the officers of the 7th Rajput Regiment were still wearing brass shoulder titles on K.D. I wonder if the cloth slip on shoulder titles were first introduced for service in Burma and were then adopted for service in India. I have seen 1945 dated photographs of British troops wearing cloth shoulder titles in India.