[Padre]

So I was chatting to a friend and he asked could this have been a transition badge between RFC and RAF badge being issued he said he thought he had seen 2 types of badges worn by female RFC staff ???

Very possibly. Years ago I had a cartoon which had originally appeared in some service publication or other around 1919, which showed an Airman with a mixture of uniform and insignia - Navy cap with RAF badge, Army tunic with navy rank etc., drawn to highlight the wide variety of uniform in use between about 1918 and 1920 (unfortunately its been lost and I have forever been on the hunt for it again!).

The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service amalgamated to form the new Royal Air Force (and Women's Royal Air Force) on 1st April 1918. All ranks wore a mixture of uniform and insignia for a while until supplies of the new khaki, and then blue uniforms could be issued to all, and insignia agreed upon. There was a period of 'wearing out' of existing uniform, although the order to officially withdraw khaki for Other Ranks did not come in until July 1924.

Officers were perhaps worse as they were generally not obliged to obtain a new uniform until their current one had worn out (within reason), a problem exacerbated by the introduction of the new light blue RAF uniform from the spring of 1918. It was not compulsory and by the time men had started to begin wearing it (having changed from khaki) it too was abolished in favour of the more familiar blue/grey as of 15th September 1919. The process of wearing out the light blue and obtaining blue/grey for all then began again.

So there may well be badges that were very short lived, never authorised or intended as a form of transitional badge whose origins are not confirmed.

This badge has been heavy been reproduced for some decades now. I once saw hundreds of these for sale at a fair some years back, I’ve picked up numerous examples overs the years but to be honest how anyone could claim any of them to be original is beyond me.

That is very true. This badge has been around for the 40 plus years I have been collecting, and while some are clearly poor reproductions, slightly gaudy, 'tinny' metal, enamelled sweethearts and the like, there are others that are solid, well made, and constructed 'of the period'. Cleary some were worn, but as with a handful of badges here and there, probably the only way to get an authentic one is to find one with provenance and perhaps a photo of it being worn by its original owner. Until then, some of the better ones can be considered 'examples of the type known to have been worn...'