The following details extracted from several sections of my book Badges on Battle Dress explain the history of your sign.Some samples of the 17th Indian Division's sign are shown for comparison.
Jon
The 17th Indian Division which was formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1947 wore as its sign the black cat. There are several versions, all on neutral backgrounds.
Following Indian Independence several Gurkha Regiments transferred to the British Army and the decision was made to form a Gurkha Division. This took the title 17th Gurkha Division and adopted as its sign crossed kukris which at different times were worn on black or green backgrounds, The 17th Gurkha Division played a major part in the Malayan Emergency but when that ended a start was made in early 1962 on dismantling the division The revolt in Brunei which began in May 1962 halted this rundown and a renamed 17th Division which included British and Gurkha Troop was formed which served in Brunei and later in Borneo. In February 1964 the 17th Division adopted a new formation sign based on the wartime black cat of 17th Indian Division but with a distinct yellow background.
When the 17th Division returned to Malaya instructions were issued that from December 1965 the black cat would be worn on both arms by all unbrigaded units and personnel in 17th Division/Malaya District, replacing the maroon-backed kris where that was still worn. HQ, Brigade of Gurkhas and its Training Depot retained black-backed, crossed kukris on both arms but HQ, Gurkha Engineers, its 70th Park Training Squadron, 17th Gurkha Signal Regiment, HQ, Gurkha Transport Regiment and its 34th Squadron wore black-backed kukris on the left sleeve and 17th Division’s sign on the right. The Army Air Corps’ Theatre Flight and its REME 75th Aircraft Workshops wore FARELF’s sign on the left, the AAC eagle on the right. Your badges would almost certainly have been worn by an officer serving with the AAC’s theatre Flight. The Division’s brigades continued to wear their brigade signs.
The 17th Division and its cat sign disappeared when Britain decided to withdraw from its Far East commitments in 1967
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