Hi Neville
Interesting badge you have there. It certainly looks as though it may have been a WO's badge, but when? AFAIK, the SAN adopted the army ranks of WO1 and WO2 when it took over the ex-Marines in 1955. At that time, the coat of arms was the WO1 badge and the crown the WO2 badge. From 1957, the WO1 wore the wreathed coat of arms and the WO2 the plain coat of arms.
If only two specimens of this lion badge are known, might they perhaps be protoypes which were not actually introduced? And possibly intended for the army and air force - didn't the navy wear embroidered rank badges?
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Regards
Arthur
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