Buttons

[Frank Kelley]

Hello Roger,
Don't get too excited, the "South African Welsh" was just a nick name that was used at the time and I am sure that was as far as it went regarding Wales.
They had men in their ranks from all across the empire, but, there were plenty of men with the surname "Jones" and the odd "Owen" etc, an interesting exercise would be to look at WO126/101-104 and see how many of them were actually Welsh or were of Welsh descent.
They were raised as an anti commando unit on the 18th of January 1901 in Capetown and were disbanded on new years eve of the same year in Middleburg.
Most of their time out on the veldt was actually spent chasing that bugger Christian De Wet around!
Regards Frank

Originally Posted by Cribyn

Hello Madziro,

An excellent display of buttons and thanks for sharing them with us.

I must say that the I particularly liked the 'South African Welsh' shown by Frank Kelley! I am green with envy!

By the way, just in case there are some button collectors who only look through limited sections of this forum you might consider making a note of these in the 'Military Buttons' section as well. I have noted recently that a lot of button queries are being posted under 'General Topics' or 'It's a mystery ....'.

Just a thought, but it seems a shame to have a forum specifically devoted to military buttons if it is not going to be used.

Regards
Roger

[Cribyn]

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

Hello Roger,
Don't get too excited, the "South African Welsh" was just a nick name that was used at the time and I am sure that was as far as it went regarding Wales.
They had men in their ranks from all across the empire, but, there were plenty of men with the surname "Jones" and the odd "Owen" etc, an interesting exercise would be to look at WO126/101-104 and see how many of them were actually Welsh or were of Welsh descent.
They were raised as an anti commado unit on the 18th of January 1901 in Capetown and were disbanded on new years eve of the same year in Middleburg.
Most of their time out on the veldt was actually spent chasing that bugger Christian De Wet around!
Regards Frank

Hello Frank,

Thank you very much for the additional information. A very rare button it would seem given the short life span of the unit.

Even if not 'proper' Welsh, a very nice button with a Welsh flavour!

All the best
Roger

[Frank Kelley]

Hello Roger,
Generally speaking, many buttons are rare, if you look at those that Dudley has shown on this thread, I don't think you could just go out and buy any of them tomorrow, you would struggle, but, it's just the way things have gone, when I originally collected badges as a school boy, people did not seem at all interested in buttons.
Although, of course, many were actually very rare even then, they just have not survived in the numbers that badges have, notwithstanding, you can pay a kings ransome for a single button these days and people often do.
The buttons I like are those that depict something that is not on the rest of a given units insignia, so they become a "badge" in their own right.
Kind regards Frank

Originally Posted by Cribyn

Hello Frank,

Thank you very much for the additional information. A very rare button it would seem given the short life span of the unit.

Even if not 'proper' Welsh, a very nice button with a Welsh flavour!

All the best
Roger

[Milmed]

Here are a few buttons from the collection including two I mentioned earlier that I said I would post. Apologies for the delay in posting

They are the following:

1. Roberts Horse - officers gilt tunic button Boer War
2. Johannesburg Mounted Rifles - troopers white metal button (badly pitted)
3. South African Mounted Rifles - Gilt officers full dress tunic button (Note Afrikaans spelling of SABS instead of the usual ZABS seen)
4. Cape Coloured Labour Regiment - Officers service dress jacket button WWI
5. Border Light Horse - blackened and white metal varients
6. First City Highland Company - officers doublet button 1906-13
7. Cape Light Horse - blackened and white metal varients

Enjoy

Steven

[natal01]

Very nice buttons, Steven.

[Mike_2817]

I collect all types of insignia to the Ordnance Corps and am missing more than a few early versions, not many dealers seem to do buttons



At least I know what they look like

The 1947 Ordnance Button with Title (HR522) is rare in Anodised for example but fairly common in Brass or Gilt

I was issued with a Greatcoat with KC GS (HR549) Plastic Buttons in 1970 but was not into collecting at the time, oh what I missed over the years..

[Traist]

Hi Steven, the JMR button is particularly nice. Regards Andrew

Originally Posted by Milmed

Here are a few buttons from the collection including two I mentioned earlier that I said I would post. Apologies for the delay in posting

They are the following:

1. Roberts Horse - officers gilt tunic button Boer War
2. Johannesburg Mounted Rifles - troopers white metal button (badly pitted)
3. South African Mounted Rifles - Gilt officers full dress tunic button (Note Afrikaans spelling of SABS instead of the usual ZABS seen)
4. Cape Coloured Labour Regiment - Officers service dress jacket button WWI
5. Border Light Horse - blackened and white metal varients
6. First City Highland Company - officers doublet button 1906-13
7. Cape Light Horse - blackened and white metal varients

Enjoy

Steven

[Milmed]

Andrew,
Unfortunately not in best condition, but an extremely hard one to find. If I remember there are about 3 variations of the JMR button.

Steven

[Alex Rice]

Originally Posted by Milmed

Here are a few buttons from the collection including two I mentioned earlier that I said I would post. Apologies for the delay in posting

They are the following:

1. Roberts Horse - officers gilt tunic button Boer War
2. Johannesburg Mounted Rifles - troopers white metal button (badly pitted)
3. South African Mounted Rifles - Gilt officers full dress tunic button (Note Afrikaans spelling of SABS instead of the usual ZABS seen)
4. Cape Coloured Labour Regiment - Officers service dress jacket button WWI
5. Border Light Horse - blackened and white metal varients
6. First City Highland Company - officers doublet button 1906-13
7. Cape Light Horse - blackened and white metal varients

Enjoy

Steven

Jeez, very nice!
Cheers,
Alex