[tcrown]

Originally Posted by Jack8

I have not yet seen a white metal example of the Gaunt pattern with a voided crown for wear by other ranks, I have also not seen an officers badge by Gaunt in white metal to the Parachute Regiment of typical officers construction.

This is precisely the interesting point: I believe the voided badge on the sealed card is white metal or nickel-plated brass. If we assume it was made by Gaunt which is quite possible, why is it that no other example can’t be found? This suggests that for some reason Gaunt produced the same pattern with voided crown for private purchase (silver or silver-plated) but decided to go with a non-voided pattern for ordnance issue (which I believe came much later).
In the meantime, other makers proposed their voided crown pattern (both in silver and WM) and we have evidence that these were worn by NCOs: I provided a photo of Sgt Lewis taken in Tunisia on Oct 1943. It looks like his voided badge is the Ludlow pattern.Sgt Lewis Oct 1943 Close-up.jpg

The Firmin pattern presents similarities with the original one on the sealed card and could have been ordnance issued in a simplified version (no fretted legs, as Marinus puts it, or carving around the lion’s tail) https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...1&d=1601743863.

I think the Ludlow pattern in WM was just available for private purchase (the solid back made it too costly for ordnance issue). That leaves the last voided pattern (https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...5&d=1602079130 thanks Jerry!) the best candidate for issuance to OR. This badge is not rare which I believe indicates it was at some point massively distributed by the Army Clothing Dpt. When was it issued? Impossible to tell but given the shortage of badge it could very well not have been issued before the end of 1943. Once again, my theory is that a modified pattern might have been accepted by the Army (ie with a solid crown) to expedite the production of badges. For this reason, the voided crown badges were probably issued first.

Originally Posted by Jack8

It is interesting that Army Clothing Instruction 757 of 1943 - Clothing Parachute Regiment Badges and Buttons states that officers cap badges are in silver and other ranks cap badges are in white metal. It also states that officers should wear other ranks badges in white metal for the duration of the war as a measure of economy. The following document was posted on this forum by member Graham Stewart a number of years ago:

Thanks for sharing. This is a very interesting document indeed. It clearly refers to potential difficulties for issuing the new badge on item #5 ‘…hastening action will not be taken since demands will be met as stocks become available.’ This more or less confirms the badge shortage in 1943.