Thank you all, Gentlemen; your comments are much appreciated!
Keith, It's a long way from "nailed down", but nonetheless this is a badge that I feel is not out of place.
Martin's article was written in 1939, so although not contemporaneous is still many years closer to the era the badges were worn than anything we research / produce now. It is therefore highly likely that such a badge did exist.
Martin clearly describes it as a cap badge, but it is quite small. Some VTC badges were small, though, so that does not rule it out. Mine is on NS lugs, so perhaps more collar that cap, but, again, there are VTC cap badges on NS lugs.
Mine is brass, rather than white metal, which might be a contra-indication; most Kent VTC badges were white metal. However, Kent Police (and every other uniformed service in Kent, as you point out) have a long history of wearing this type of badge as a collar, and usually white metal / silver. This is why I'm leaning towards non-police.
My 'quick check' has always been the scroll. Mine has just the central piece, with the ends rolled upwards, as does Martin's. The same as pairs 5, 6 and 7 down the LHS of your card.
Most similar badges attributed to the police or yeomanry have either the scroll ends extended into two shorter outer scrolls, with no text, and / or the scroll ends rolled downwards. You have examples of all of these, at the bottom left and top right of you card. Without definitively identifying or attributing any of them, I can say that they are not the same as Martin's example, and therefore not VTC.
Looking at your three pairs of similar badges, I very much like the top pair, 5th down. The big issue I have is that they are a pair, so clearly collars, and Martin say's it's a cap badge. That said, there are other examples of collars being used as OR cap badges, so both could be correct! Old instinct (rather than documentary evidence) would have me tending to rule out pairs 6 and 7, thinking they are probably police, but I really don't know!
Thanks, and best regards,
Tim
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