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Originally Posted by grenadierguardsman
I was wondering about the small gilding metal grenade myself Toby. Could i copy this photo please ?
Andy
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You are welcome to copy any photo that I post.
Ironically I rediscovered my own research of years ago and I can confirm that the grenade was worn by Corporals, but not by Acting Corporals (i.e. Lance Corporal Equivalent).
I enclose a photo of Corporal Ernest Bailey, of Ilford, who enlisted with the Grenadier Guards in the Spring of 1914. By the time his battalion deployed he had been appointed as an Acting Corporal and so was clearly doing well. He can be seen on parade at the right flank of the front rank in Wellington Barracks. In the second photo he is photographed with a group sat in a doorway in 1916 and has been promoted to Corporal (with the grenade above his two stripes). He was killed in action before the end of the war. It seems that in some battalions the cloth grenade was worn and in some others the brass grenade worn in lieu (or perhaps because they were more readily available in the field).
Another interesting feature of the latter photo is a Guards Corporal wearing a rarely seen other ranks pattern of blue patrol frock. These were not issued, but made up from scratch by the battalion tailor's shop. I imagine that they were worn for certain duties such as when employed in the messes, but further research is needed. They were clearly a form of undress and broadly equivalent to the blue undress uniform still worn by Guards for some duties today. No collar badge is worn and stripes are formed from gold braid, a single strand per stripe today, but originally formed by outlining the stripes with the braid. A practice that was emulated by the Rifle Brigade.