What is a Slider?

[davidguthrie]

OK, I'm going to show my ignorance. I have been reading many of the interesting posts on this website to try to gain some more insight on the few British/Scottish badges I have. I am primarily a collector of military buttons, but picked up a few badges over the past year fascinated over the quality and variety of designs. The few badges I have picked up all have lugs. But I have read much about badges that have "sliders".

Can somebody tell me more about sliders, i.e. how these attach to the cap; when they were used; were lugs being phased out and replaced with lugs (or visa versa) or are sliders just an alternative to lugs? Does anyone have pictures of a cap from the inside that shows how a slider fits, I assume securely, in a cap, and not just fall out if the cap is placed upside down on a table? I tried searching old threads to try to get some more insight, but seems like everyone knows about these except me.

Thanks again to all the badge veterans out there that help us newcomers (who have silly questions) better understand and appreciate the hobby.

David

[wfrad]

The Prong or Slider is the single bar or tongue on the reverse of the badge used to secure the badge onto the head dress via a small cut or slit.
Used more often after 1914 replacing the shanks, metal loops and wire split pin

[AAC_GPR]

Originally Posted by davidguthrie

Can somebody tell me more about sliders, i.e. how these attach to the cap

I can't speak for Officers caps but on WWII berets and the like, a small slit is made and the slider is passed through this, a piece of leather sewn to the inside of the beret provides a pocket for the slider to sit in.

Originally Posted by davidguthrie

were lugs being phased out and replaced with lugs (or visa versa) or are sliders just an alternative to lugs

As far as I'm aware David, sliders were just an alternative to lugs.

Originally Posted by davidguthrie

Thanks again to all the badge veterans out there that help us newcomers (who have silly questions) better understand and appreciate the hobby

Hey, I'm a collector of 20 odd years and I can still ask the most basic of questions. No matter how long you collect, there's still something new to learn

Cheers,

Kev C

[hagwalther]

Hi David,

I can only speak for anodised aluminium cap badges but to extend what has been said.

Sliders and Lugs are boith used and the choice is made for two reasons:

a) Depending on how the badge sits on the head-dress either a single slider of multiple lugs were used. i.e. visual appearance.

b) Some badges (Queens Own Mercian Yeomanry) had the same body but a lugged badge for officers and slider for ranks. These two badges can be found in the IWM in the British Army collection dated 1970.

Regards

Chris

[davidguthrie]

Thanks so much for the replies. I know that this must be so obvious to most, I just wanted to understand how, when, who.
Thanks again,
David

[KLR]

Sliders - or 'vertical shanks' to give them their proper name - were first authorised in March 1903 and but did not get properly worn until March 1906.

It was all to do with the different headgear that badges were attached to and in 1903 it was the demise of the FSC and the introduction of the Brodrick, followed in 1906 by the SD cap.

So, in 1903 the VS was to replace 'lugs' though they were continued to be attached to badges worn by battalions in India who continued to wear the FSC !, though in 1914 the WO said that they were not going to continue making two types of fittings !
There were instances of lugs being attached to some 'new' badges in the 1st WW and later changed to sliders - all documented in various WO files.

I think in the 1950s ?? there was an order that sliders would be worn on all badges in all headdresses.
This of course, only refers to those types of badges for which sliders were appropriate - eg NOT Scottish glengarry badges.