I have no specialist knowledge of the Devons or their badges but it could well be your Great Uncle wore a WM badge which was lost and then replaced in or after the 1970s by this badge as a representation.
I’ve read the 3rd Bn Beds wore a WM badge at Gallipoli during WW1. So depending on when he served its plausible a WM badge may have been worn.
His father being the origin of the badge’s story makes it a secondary source rather than a primary. As such easy for some ambiguity/assumption to creep in i.e. G Uncle said this was his badge that he actually wore in service v’s this was G Uncle’s badge that I found his his possession/saw him wear at reunions etc. and he told me his Bn wore WM badges. The latter is putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 5 potentially if G Uncle forgot to mention it’s a replacement or the question was never asked and it was just assumed to be his service badge.
Naturally in the telling of the story to the next generation this can easily become a simple statement of fact - ‘this was his badge’ (which it was) but misses out the important nuance of how/when it came into G Uncle’s possession. Also I’m sure most of us would wholeheartedly believe our dad’s especially on family history.
Last edited by Luke H; 11-02-20 at 03:36 PM.
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