['Ticker' Riley]

Many thanks for the responses John and Alan, and apologies for the delay in replying. It certainly seems, if the anodised aluminium three-quarters size badge wasn’t sealed until 1972, and by that time the regulars has been re-badged with cap badges of the Forester Brigade, the tiger was indeed only worn by territorials and cadets (I wonder if there is any significance in the fact that, after being reduced to a ‘cadre’ in 1969, the territorials were, apparently, reconstituted in 1971 as B (Royal Leicestershire) Company, 7th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment?).

Anyhow, when I started collecting cap badges back in 2009 I was merely looking to obtain a couple of Great War examples, to regiments in which family members served (little did I know then how much of a ‘mine field’ badge collection can be!), but this soon changed into an interest in style and variety of the post-1893 badges, particularly in those for the Leicesters. At the beginning of my studies I didn’t intend to cover their so-called ‘beret’ badges, especially the A/A ones, but after a while, for the sake of completeness, and because there was more variety than I had initially expected, I did include them.

Accordingly it has been a bit of a shock to realise that they are unlikely to have actually been worn by the Regiment, as such, which I had simply assumed would have been the case. It therefore appears this all needs further investigation, particularly as to how long these tiger badges were worn by the territorials and cadets before being replaced, presumably, by those of the Royal Anglian Regiment. Interestingly, more than ten years ago now, the dealer Martin Warren told me it was the full size bi-metal “Royal Leicestershire” badge that had been worn by cadets.

I know that there is no evidence that such a full size badge was worn by the regulars of the Regiment, apart from as an O.S.D. badge which looks to have been approved in 1950. Despite John Gaylor’s assertion in his Military Badge Collecting, p. 33, that “In November 1946 the Regiment was granted the Royal title and the badge was re-struck with a ‘Royal Leicestershire’ scroll in standard size and later in small pattern for beret”, which I take it is behind comments elsewhere about the full size bi-metal cap badge being worn “for a very short time after 1946 before the small sized beret badge came into use” (in the light of my recently learning about ‘Gaylor fakes’ here on the Forum, I’m concerned what he put in his book might have been an attempt to justify the existence of something he had, in fact, commissioned himself!?).

In any event, I have now come across an entry in the on-line ‘Inventory’ for the National Army Museum to “Cap badge, Royal Leicester Regiment, nd; sealed pattern, sealed 11 Jul 1968”, though what is not clear from this, to me at least, is if this is just for a cap badge to which the sealing information has been added as part of its description, or if it is for the badge on the actual sealed pattern card from 1968. Consequently I have made enquires, and am awaiting a reply. I am wondering now though it Kilpling & King, when they came to putting the sealing dates into their published work, given, like Gaylor, they note the full size “Royal Leicestershire” bi-metal cap badge, got them the wrong way ’round? If I do hear back from the N.A.M. about this, I’ll obviously share their reply!

Best regards

Martin