[dubaiguy]

I show two badges below associated with the Women's Legion, one being a winged representation of Victory and the other a wingless Victory.

Having trawled both the Forum for previous threads and external sites such as the IWM, there is plenty of photographic evidence available of the wingless badge being worn in WWI. It is worn both in the hat and collar by the WL and also sometimes as a collar or breast badge in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) where in the main the WL eventually merged in 1917. However, I haven’t come across a single photograph of the winged badge being worn in WWI. In fact I haven’t seen a photograph of it in use at all.

My confusion comes from other posters and also Cox which attribute both badges to WWI. One or two posters have also gone so far as to say that the winged badge is the earlier WL badge. Bosley’s on the other hand in all their internet and auction illustrations, state the winged version is post 1934. I couldn’t understand Bosley’s attribution until I read the following on the internet:

The Women’s Legion, a new successor to the Women’s Legion of the First World War. That original, private society had been formed by Lady Londonderry to provide cooks for army cookhouses that lacked sufficient staff. The girls were all volunteers but the Army Council did pay for those it hired through the Legion. It continued in existence into the thirties, by which time it had a Mechanical Transport Section. In 1934 Lady Londonderry was asked to set up a new organisation for women who might be trained in some way that would prove useful in any future emergency. She became president of this, assisted by Dame Helen as chairman, but, confusingly, they kept the title of Women’s Legion. After much discussion they decided to concentrate on anti-gas training (which only lasted for a couple of years) and officer training. In 1936, for various reasons this ‘new’ Women’s Legion was disbanded. The original Legion, still in existence, provided a Motor Transport Section.

So, what do members think? Is the winged version indeed a post 1934 badge? Are Bosleys right and has Cox got it wrong (once again!)? Does any member have photographic evidence of the winged badge being worn?