Royal Artillery Pagri badge
 

Another find this morning, I think it is a pagri badge, but it is die-struck with a pin on the reverse to secure it, was it made in the UK or in India?

Thoughts please . . !

Rob

Only officers had the gun style pagri badges and this is an other ranks from the look of it.

I dont recognise the rear pin as any type of fitting off an RA pagri badge.

I believe its had its slider removed and a commercial pin added later in its life.

regards

Simon,
Thanks for the reply, the area where the slider may have been has now the pin fixture brazed on to the badge, looking at it under a glass I can see no evidence of any other fixture being present, this is the reason I have added this thread, it's quite unusual and the first fixture like this I have ever encountered.

Rob

I’m with Simon B. On this one. Some Wiley Oriental Gentleman has possibly adapted an OR’s badge for his own reasons, if he were working as a mess steward in India, Their badges WERE pinned on the reverse!. D.J.

Royal Artillery Pagri badge
 

DJ, thanks for your thought, I forgot that some mess stewards and waiters wore badges of the Regiment's mess they worked in.

Rob

Rob,

The Royal Artillery had their own style of Bearer/Mess Waiter head dress badges, see attached.

Your badge was slidered and has had an after market, commercial 'sweetheart' type pin attached.

regards

To be honest it looks like the sort of fitting you find on a cheap sweetheart or brooch

It is a cheap looking brooch fitting, however the braze used to fix it probably cost more than the brooch fitting . . !

I cannot see why anyone would go to the bother of all this, after all Royal Artillery sweetheart brooches were available in various styles and prices ranging from basic to precious metal.

It is I will say an oddity and something I will add to my Artillery badge collection.

Rob

Rob,

They went to the trouble of doing it because in them days your average soldier couldnt afford to buy a specially made sweetheart badge but had a lot of DIY skills or knew a bloke who could braze stuff, either at work or in his shed so it was free as a favour or a pint.

I have my Great Grandfathers RE cap badge, fittings removed and brooch pin fitted just the same and also the photo of my Great Grandmother wearing it. They were as skint as anyone could be with and had 7 kids to feed and clothe.

regards

Exactly.

Simon has about said it all here. Fixings are so often mistakenly used to place a badge's particular application. Brooch fittings or long sliders do not always indicate they are for the Pagri.

CB

Thank you for all of your comments on this little item, as I said it will go on my Royal Artillery board, but in the box of badges and buttons where I found it there were mainly Royal Artillery items, collar badges, titles and buttons which made me think it could have been made to fit issued headgear.

Rob

I have seen lots of WW1 era photos with the cap badge being worn on a jacket lapel in civilian dress: I suspect a pin modification would be far better that a slider sitting badly in a buttonhole.

Sliders and buttonholes
 

When I found my first cap badge in 1952, a Royal Engineers GviR which was my Fathers, I stuck it in the buttonhole of my school blazer and proudly wore it to school, soon others followed and by bribery and exchanges I soon had a few more which started what has become a lifelong interest.

All original issued badges have a story to tell and I am sure some if put to print would become best sellers, this is part of the attraction to collecting for me.

Rob