Edmonton Regiment: Cap/Collar Badges, Brass Titles
 

I'm new to the forum and this will be my first post, so please forgive any formatting errors or anything else of the sort that I may have made.

I've been interested in second world war Canadian history and militaria for quite some time, and thought cap badges would be a good place to start my collection. I've mostly kept it to items relating to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment as that's the nearest big city to where I live as well as the regiment that my great grandfather had enlisted with when he moved there in 1934 from Quebec (where he had moved to from Thornbury, England, in 1933; finally settling in my hometown after his time in service). Because of the connection, I've been thinking of putting together a replica uniform of an infantryman in the regiment, and so I'm wanting to know what in my collection would be accurate for wartime display? That and which cap badges go with which collar badges, what would proper shoulder titles for the time look like, and what else would be needed to put on a battledress tunic for an accurate early-mid war period display?

On the attached images,
- the first is cap badges (not sure which pattern the bottom is and there are no markings, the top is 1946 pattern I think, marked SCULLY LTD/MONTREAL)
- the second is a matched pair of collar badges (again, I am unsure of the pattern/year of manufacture, J.R.GAUNT/LONDON is stamped on the back of the windmill blades on both)
- the third is another cap badge (1931 pattern I believe, unmarked)
- the fourth is another set of collar badges (this time with the "Loyal" designation, also unmarked) as well as two sets of brass titles, one of which includes regiment underneath Edmonton.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to any and all replies,

William

Hello William, welcome to the Forum. Your account is active and open for posts.
If you are assembling a representation of early war (say up to 1942), you need a cap badge as shown in your third image, the 1931 pattern. Collar badges and metal shoulder titles were not to be worn on the battle dress. If you were to put together the tunic, you need the cloth shoulder titles, 49th / EDMONTON REGT, and the red 1 Canadian Infantry Division formation patches.

Hello Bill, thanks for the reply and info. Would the collar badges and metal titles be for service dress then? As for the cloth titles, would those be the green thread on French grey variant, and with or without Canada on the bottom?

Hello William, service dress was withdrawn except for officers during the war. Brass was a controlled material, and its use for collars and metal titles prohibited (officially). The titles worn were the 49th Edmonton Regt, green thread on French grey, with a separate Canada nationality title, and of course, the 1 Canadian Infantry Division red rectangle.

My wife's grandfather shortly after the declaration of war in 1939. No idea how long they continued to wear brass insignia on their battle dress.

Great image. The brass collars and badges were prohibited shortly after the outbreak of the war, but some regiments continued to wear them. When cloth became available, they adopted the fabric shoulder title.