Vincent
To answer your question on dating the Buttons Ltd makers mark, i had a look in my copy of Anodised Aluminium The 'No Bull' cap badges of the British Army written by Chris Marsh (Hagwalter) of this forum.
In the Chapter on the various manufacturer's of Anodised Aluminium badges he states that Buttons Ltd traded from Portland Street in Birmingham from 1907 to 1970 when they were taken over by Francis Sumner Engineering Company who were a part of the Francis Sumner Group of Companies. It is not know if they continued to make cap badges after this date (1970).
In Chapter 8 which covers the various marks used by the manufacturer's he shows two known marks for Buttons Ltd. The one we have seen stamped on the slider (without over stamping) he says if from the brigade era of cap badges but the exact useage dates are unknown. Buttons also used another mark over two lines with Buttons on the top line and Ltd below. This much rarer mark is only found on one badge - that of the Coldstream Guards and again the date of use is unknown.
Information within Chris's book indicates that at the time his book was written only 8 badges were known to exist bearing the Buttons makers mark. These are:
15/19 H
Coldm Gds
East Anglian Bde
Green Jackets Bde
KOSB
R ANGLIAN
358 (Suffolk Yeomanry) Med Regt RA (TA)
Royal Malta Artillery (Large)
So in short (Thanks to Chris Marsh) that is probably the best answer to your question at this time
Regards
Steve
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