SAS G SQN

[canny lad]

Hi Guys
Regards to a previous thread which has now been removed about the G sqn badge, i would like to shine some light on the subject ( please dont ask me to back it up for obvious reasons), take this info as you please.
I have been very reliably informed that the sas beret badge on the guards flash was worn for a short period of time when they were formed, only worn for about two years, it was worn again in the 80's but again only for a short period of time.
Attached is a Genuine beret with guards badge, like i say, take this information as you will, im not one for getting into debates over badges, its just not worth it, its entirely up to you wether to beleive or not but i for one stand by this statement.
Thanks
Brian

[tynesideirish]

Brian, Thanks for posting the picture. Lovely photo.

[airtrooper]

Cheers Brian but i have to concur with above.

Why would a squaddie, SAS or other really be ar*#d bothering to sew a patch behind his badge, especially when it might make him stand out.

We HAD to sew the bloody things onto ours and it was a pain !

[Pretani]

To add to the debate.....
Many years ago (1988) I saw an official portrait of the late Capt Westmacott, where the artist had painted him wearing one of these berets.

[Faugh-A-Ballagh]

I am definitely no expert on special forces items, but having followed this and the aforementioned thread with some interest, my comment would be that the Guards flash behind the badge is very discrete, and wouldn't necessarily be seen at a quick glance.
I remember reading somewhere years ago that members of Guards regiments attached to the UDR wanted to wear the flash behind the cap badge, but this was overruled. I think it may have been a library copy of Badge Backings of the British Army, but not 100%.

John

[Flatdog]

Brian,

Just an observation. I have seen many years ago a similar way of including the Guards flash. It was as I recallvery closely cropped approximately 3 mm round the badge, all you could see faintly were the red bars on either side. Very subdued but still there.

Flatdog

[Colin S]

I remember a Guards Recruiting Team visiting Southsea Common in about 1979. Their display highlighted G Sqn and included a 1959 ptn Denison smock with sabre wings and a sand beret with the winged dagger on top of the Guards ribbon, as shown in this thread.

[tynesideirish]

Whats Next?

[NorthStafford]

Knowing the Guards mentality (or perhaps Esprit de Corps) I wouldn't be surprised to find that they wore the Guards flash on their pyjamas. The thing about British Army dress, in all it's forms, is never say never because you'll almost certainly find an exception somewhere.

[platypus44]

would be keen to track down the portrait,

can we look into that ?

who painted it etc

access to Messes ?

[platypus44]

can we find the Westmacott Portrait

in a mess or somewhere?

find who commissioned it etc ? so late 70s

he was KIA
Surname: Westmacott
Forename: Herbert Richard
Unit: G Squadron
Rank: Captain
Number: 491354
Date Of Death: 2nd May 1980

Additional Information: parent unit 2 Bn Grenadier Guards
award M.C.
shot by IRA in Belfast,Northern Ireland

[platypus44]

portrait of Captain Westmacott

[Alan O]

There is another full size one in the Westmacott Ante Room at RMA Sandhurst.

[grip]

Just as an aside and for the giggle,as a young Cop in the early 80's I recall a vagrant coming in under arrest for drunk and disorderly and having been received by the Station Sgt,an ex Grenadier Guardsman Sgt Major,he noticed that the said vagrant was using his Guards tie to keep up his oversized pants. I recall the most severe dressing down of a poor fellow that I have ever witnessed,the vagrant,an ex Guardsman himself,left the Police Station in nearly new clothes,smart shirt and wearing his tie in the correct manner,proceeds of a local charity shop that yours truely was dispatched to with funds from the Xmas party collection,ran by the Station Sgt. They are rather fiercly proud chaps. Sorry for the digression but I laugh every time I think about it and this thead lends itself to it.
Regards,Ivan

[Alan O]

Just to answer the Westmacott question there is a second painting of him at RMAS. It is him with a SAS beret on and it does have the blue-red-blue patch behind it. I recently came across a photo of it is the RMAS 200 year annisversary book and it sparked a memory. It is not a practice in use now.