[Guzzman]

Hello Laurent

When woollen pullovers and a new pattern of foul-weather gear was introduced in 1970 it was decided that shoulder badges should be issued to ratings. At first, only Chief Petty Officers were allowed to wear the badges on the shoulder straps of the woollen pullover. The shoulder badge adopted for use of Chief Petty Officers was of the same style as the one you have. Petty Officers and Leading Hands had to sew a red-embroidered arm badge to the woollen pullover. This was soon discovered to be impractical and so new shoulder badges were introduced in 1979.

The 1970 pattern Chief Petty Officers badge was then only to be used for wear on foul-weather clothing.

As can be seen on the attached label your badge dates from the period when the Chief Petty Officers badge could be worn on both the woollen pullover and foul-weather clothing (between 1970 and 1979).

I can't remember what dress No. was given to the woollen jersey for Chiefs in the 1970s so I'll have to look that up and get back to you.

There have been several changes in the design of shoulder badges for ratings since then and I'm not sure exactly how long this badge was used on foul-weather clothing. I'll see if I can find that out too - I know it was certainly in use in the 1980s.

I hope this helps a bit and I'll get back to you when I have checked the details.

Pete