Hi James
Yes, that's the marking. As I said, I think that there was a "what the heck?" moment and they gave up after a time. I also think that Bay was rather keen to mark his work (as can be seen from other examples). Oddly enough, I'd never noticed this number until someone told me about him registering his idea! This prompted me to have a closer look.
I'm fairly sure that National Archives will have this "improvement" listed under their Registered Designs holdings.
It's also clear that the designs were sequential as, with the RSA badge at RD 861 (1916) the "ring" has a number in the "1100/ 1011"(?) range which would make this around 1918. This being the date that the contract passed to Bay.
Reinforcement badges can also be "linked" to the creation of the relevant unit I think.
The RSA badge has many an untold story behind it, and one that comes readily to mind was a returned soldier who was taken to court by the RSA because he had cut the crown off his badge. His defence was that he had "fought for New Zealand and not for the King".
I can't recall all the details but I think in the end he told them what they could do with their badge!
In a similar vein, the watch house at Cook Street Police barracks held a small stock of "lost" RSA badges that were used to nab "sly groggers". Police constables were posing as ex-soldiers to obtain alcohol.
You will find an account of the case taken against the Police by the RSA to recover the badges and get an assurance that this would not be repeated in the future!
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