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  #16  
Old 26-06-13, 07:08 PM
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Brian Conyngham Brian Conyngham is offline
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Dudley

Thank you, this confirms the info I have. Sadly I do not have my grandfather helmet flash, wish I did. He also served in the Eastern Rifles in GSWA, their flash is also illustrated in diagram.

Attaching a picture of my grandfather on service in GEA.

Brian
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  #17  
Old 27-06-13, 05:47 AM
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Dudley,

nice post on the helmet flashes, thanks for sharing.

Steve,

I've come across a reference in the book to Ghurkas of the 2nd Kashmir rifles so you were spot on, thanks.

Brian,

nice pic of your Grandfather. I dont recall seeing a close up of a unformed SA Horse trooper of the period.
I'm intrigued by the short boots and the piece at the front of the spurs.

regards, Iain
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  #18  
Old 27-06-13, 06:11 AM
Madziro Madziro is offline
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Thanks for posting the photo, Brian.

The spurs are typical of those also worn in Rhodesia by the BSAP at that time. The BSAP continued to wear this pattern into the 1960s. Have attached a photo of the ones I have in the collection for interest.
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File Type: jpg BSAP spurs SRG stamp.jpg (53.0 KB, 13 views)
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  #19  
Old 27-06-13, 06:01 PM
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Guys

Yes, such photos of SAH chaps are rare.

The leather flap in front is to protect the boots and boot laceses from wearing out on the stirrups.

Brian
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  #20  
Old 29-06-13, 03:55 AM
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Hi Brian,

its makes sense that the leather piece is to stop wear from laces etc; I always presumed they wore long boots.

Dudley thanks for posting the pic of the spurs, it also makes a clearer picture.

regards, Iain
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  #21  
Old 02-07-13, 03:27 PM
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A quite remarkable point of Interest; Von Lettow actually had Jan Smuts in his sights at one time but did not take the shot as he recognised his opponent and considered it unsporting!

Iain
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  #22  
Old 02-07-13, 06:44 PM
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Gentlemen,
This is a most interesting thread do any of you have any original 25th Royal Fusiliers badges?
Regards to you all
Frank
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  #23  
Old 03-07-13, 06:13 AM
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Hi Frank and welcome to the Forum.

I personally dont have any of the original 25th (Frontiersmen) Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) insignia; I dont know if the other guys do.

Kind regards, Iain
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  #24  
Old 03-07-13, 06:43 AM
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Good morning Iain,
Thanks for the welcome, the whole East African campaign was fascinating, from a badge point of view I'm going to have a have a look at what I can add to your thread.
I'll have to go into 20th Century mode on here!
Kind regards Frank

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Originally Posted by iaindh View Post
Hi Frank and welcome to the Forum.

I personally dont have any of the original 25th (Frontiersmen) Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) insignia; I dont know if the other guys do.

Kind regards, Iain
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  #25  
Old 03-07-13, 06:51 AM
natal01 natal01 is offline
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I have this cap badge and a sweetheart brooch. The cap badge is cast and it comes with no guarantees. I picked it up many years ago, when I was reading the history of the WW1 actions in GEA. I thought that it would be nice to have a tangible momento of the 25 Royal Fusiliers ( my house is full of such tangible momentos !) . This is what I found and it was many years before I was able to find a couple of medals to a soldier who 'was there'.
Regards
Mike
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  #26  
Old 03-07-13, 07:22 AM
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Hi Mike,

An interesting pair; the Sweetheart badge being enamelled is almost certainly genuine and the cap badge could also be.
As I understand it, the Frontiersmen were raised for the German East Africa campaign so the badge would have been created then so there's no reason why it shouldn't be a cast badge, (IMO!)

regards, Iain
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  #27  
Old 03-07-13, 07:25 AM
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Hi Frank,

please do have a check amongst your tins,, this post is getting more & more interesting!

kind regards, Iain

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Originally Posted by Frank Kelley View Post
Good morning Iain,
Thanks for the welcome, the whole East African campaign was fascinating, from a badge point of view I'm going to have a have a look at what I can add to your thread.
I'll have to go into 20th Century mode on here!
Kind regards Frank
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  #28  
Old 03-07-13, 07:37 AM
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A very fine original badge, many people seem to think that they were all die-struck, almost all of the copies are.
The cut down slider is a give away too, every example that I have seen of this particular pattern has a thick copper slider, in fact they are rather like the driving band from a shell.
A really superb example!
Kind regards Frank

Quote:
Originally Posted by natal01 View Post
I have this cap badge and a sweetheart brooch. The cap badge is cast and it comes with no guarantees. I picked it up many years ago, when I was reading the history of the WW1 actions in GEA. I thought that it would be nice to have a tangible momento of the 25 Royal Fusiliers ( my house is full of such tangible momentos !) . This is what I found and it was many years before I was able to find a couple of medals to a soldier who 'was there'.
Regards
Mike

Last edited by Frank Kelley; 03-07-13 at 08:10 PM.
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  #29  
Old 04-07-13, 05:24 AM
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Captain FC Selous of the Legion of Frontiersmen, 25th Royal Fusiliers.
He won the DSO for conspicuous gallantry.
He was killed on 4th January 1917, aged 66.
His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character.

FC Selous.jpg

Iain
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  #30  
Old 04-07-13, 06:10 AM
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Good morning Iain,
The problem is with this campaign, as far as South African badges go, there were not that many metal examples being worn, many South African units wore a cloth flash, they have not survived in any quantity and others just wore the general service badge, the Union coat of arms, though most did wear metal shoulder titles.
Anyway, of those that did wear unique badges, my own favourites are those thin rolled brass types, which, although they are not unique to the East African campaign, as they were also worn in German South West Africa too, examples are quite rare and seldom turn up these days.
Of those units, I very much like the South African Rifles, two regiments were raised in just two weeks, following a request by the British Government.
They sailed up the Zambezi and marched over 500 miles the help the hard pressed Rhodesians.
The badge of the 2nd Regt is very nice as it has the addition of the title under the Bok's neck, the Springbok is South Africa!
Kind regards Frank

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Hi Frank,

please do have a check amongst your tins,, this post is getting more & more interesting!

kind regards, Iain
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Last edited by Frank Kelley; 04-07-13 at 07:20 AM.
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