While I dont know what this is, I will say though that I have done a huge amount of research into the trade paches of Royal Signals, and I doubt it is a Royal Signals item. It looks like a hand made operator type patch perhaps of the 1940s or early 1950s. It may be an unofficial Royal Artillery Signals Wireless Operator trade patch. Thats my best guess. Second best it may be a
RAF signals trade patch on khaki uniform in the Middle East. There is a clue in the shape at the bottom where the corners are cut off. Some WW1 Australian signal flag patches had their corners cut off on all four corners. Perhaps it is not British. It does not look Dutch or Belgian to me but I have only seen a few of their signal trade patches. Edwards & Langley in their 1984 British Army Proficiency Badges on page 93 show a similar badge which they state was worn in WW2 and discontinued after the War. All those I have seen, and it has been quite a number, have been worn in the 1950s. All have white lightning bolts. Operator Wireless & Line White fist, Operator Wireless & Keyboard Red first and Royal Signals Infantry Operators Brown Fist. Please note about the sister trade badge which has the circle and the lightning bolt was worn by both operators and technicians in signals during WW2 and in the late 1940s. However the fist was used by operators in the 1950s. (cipher operators had the circle and lightnings in the 1960s for the B2 trade). The technical trades in Royal Signals trades wore the circle and lightnings in the 1950s.
I hope my ramblings are not too confusing. The information is based on about 20 different people corresponding with me by letter and email on this subject and my own experience. Hopefully someone can come up with a definitive answer.
Quicksilver
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