The letter suffix on the rear of the badge relates to the particular Roll it was issued from. The rolls were held by the General Secretary of The Old Contemptibles Association, who issued the badges once the credentials of an applicant had been checked. Initially badges were stamped with consecutive numbers as issued, and it is known that in May 1930 Badge No. 11596 was sent to a Chum of the London S.W. No. 2 Branch in Brixton. The first suffix was introduced two years later, Chum James Robb of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Branch being issued with Badge No. 453A on 27 May 1932. A Chum of the Croydon Branch was issued Badge No. 2497B in May 1936, and Badges 569E to 753E were sent out by Headquarters in December 1950. Somewhere around 50,000 badges were issued between 1925 and 1974, when it was reported that stocks had been exhausted.
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