27th Armoured Brigade

[Skippy]

So have I lurked and purchase on the forum here for a while now, but with a very recent acquisition and finally being able to lay hands on certain badges due to a home move, I thought I would start showing some off.

My main collecting interest is D-Day assault units, which I started out collecting US units first following a trip to Normandy in 2016. In more recent years I started collecting the corresponding British and Canadian D-Day assault units, within which I have a particular penchant for badges of the 79th Armoured Division and hope to start a thread here on those soon.

So as a vanguard to those 79th AD badges, here is what I have completed of the 27th Armoured Brigade badges. Left to right - front and rear:

27th Armoured Brigade - cloth formation sign. Lovely aged golden thread of the seahorse, black return threads usually indicative of British manufacture and good signs of having been stitched to a uniform having had the backing trimmed down for that purpose.

13th/18th Royal Hussars - KC brass cap badge with slider. Raised maker mark of FIRMIN LONDON on the rear, the badge has a pre-loved rub to it and curve/warp to the badge and slider that suggests wear on a beret to me, but who knows. Crimp marks above and below the bend of the slider (the one above is the stronger mark).

Staffordshire Yeomanry - QVC brass cap badge with slider. A visit to the SY regimental museum last year highlighted to me just how much the QVC badges were favoured, particularly during the desert campaign of North Africa where pictures show these being worn exclusively by the enlisted soldiers. Again has a beautifully rubbed smooth feel of a very pre-loved badge. No maker mark, but a strong crimp mark to the slider under the bend.

East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry - Bi-metal cap badge with slider. Brass fox in-flight and slider, with white metal FORRARD motto scroll. I can see no sweat holes to the rear, but they might be filled by what I assume to be very old and solidly present black paint, which appears to have covered the whole badge a some point - was that a WWI thing? No maker mark or crimp on the slider, which has a real right-angle to the bend probably from wear on a cap proper rather than any beret. The fox and slider have both rubbed smooth in part with age. Because of those features or lack there of, I am assuming this is most likely a WWI badge? I went for a slidered badge definitive of being for a cap, rather than the dearth of ERY collar-cum-cap badges out there. Plus research here on the forum identified a Normandy ground-find ERY badge with a slider, so that was good enough for me that these were still in use during the Operation OVERLORD invasion.

So there you go, my little 27AB put-together grouping. I would be very pleased to hear comments and observations and am broad-shouldered enough to learn if any of the badges turn out to be wrong'uns!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers......John

[NORMANDIE18]

I love the pregnant shrimp , thanks for sharing !
Normandie18

[Mike Jackson]

Originally Posted by NORMANDIE18

I love the pregnant shrimp , thanks for sharing !
Normandie18

Actually "Pregnant Prawn" I believe. Perhaps because PP sounds as though it should be related to DD (as in Duplex Drive)?

[NORMANDIE18]

Originally Posted by Mike Jackson

Actually "Pregnant Prawn" I believe. Perhaps because PP sounds as though it should be related to DD (as in Duplex Drive)?

absolutely right

[Skippy]

Thanks gentlemen. Learn something new every day, turns out according to the Imperial War Museum archive the patch was known unkindly as the pregnant pilchard! Super please to have secured one with a nice combination of worn yet fine condition

Anyone care to comment on whether I have succeeded in acquiring authentic cap badges?

Cheers......John

[Staffsyeoman]

For additional verisimilitude, your Staffordshire Yeomanry badge should be on a scarlet felt circle.

[cbuehler]

All look good with the exception of the ERY, which is a bad one I am afraid.

CB

[Skippy]

Originally Posted by Staffsyeoman

For additional verisimilitude, your Staffordshire Yeomanry badge should be on a scarlet felt circle.

Indeed! Is this something that would have been part of any uniform issue or sourced by the soldiers themselves, in which case any recommendations?

Cheers……John

[Skippy]

Originally Posted by cbuehler

All look good with the exception of the ERY, which is a bad one I am afraid.

CB

Ah, thank you CB. I did wonder with all the black stuff on it and the sharp angle of that slider, but it’s the only slidered one I have encountered so far. Are there any other indicators on that badge I should learn as tells of a bad badge as I now hunt for a replacement?

Cheers……John

[cbuehler]

I am no expert on these badges, but to my knowledge, most ERY have lugs. The collar badges are actually exactly the same as the cap badges. Lugs with braze holes on the reverse should be a safe bet.

CB

[Skippy]

Thanks again CB.

I went for a slidered version as it is then definitively a cap badge and was most enamoured with the Normandy ground dug slidered one shown in this thread:

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...moured+brigade

But I am now seeing that the bigger problem with the badge I have shown apart from the lack of sweat holes, is the lack of void between the two front legs.

So the hunt is on for a replacement!

Cheers……John