Quote:
Originally Posted by BWEF
More likely the town was where the wife and family of returning veterans could have had a holiday while the husband/father was walking around the old Belgian battlefields.
Blankenberghe was a swishy sort of seaside place, and why not knock up some more souvenirs for sale to the rich tourists?
I should imagine that the factory had the basic bayonet and fixed whatever town names to it that they thought would sell.
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I would suggest that the above comment is the right answer!
Pamela Caunt's second volume on 'Military Sweetheart Jewellery' illustrates a few bayonet brooches, one with 'Blankenberghe' and others with 'Waterloo', 'Bruxelles', 'Ostende' and 'Belgique', not exactly all noted First World War battles. She goes on to say that although these bayonet badges were made during the war and "inscribed with the name of the relevant battletown" they did continue to be made after the war purely as souvenirs for visiting tourists.
Roger