7th City of London Battalion

The officer in the attached photo appears to be wearing the gilt (imitation embroidery) cap badge, to the 7th City of London Battalion:

7th a.jpg7th b.jpg

In volume 2, of K&K, this cap badge is listed as being to 7th City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) [Fig.2406]:

KK2406.JPG

You will notice that the officer is also wearing the collars of the 7th City of London Battalion, with the letter 'T' below the grenade:

7th c.jpg

Given that, in 1922, the 7th City of London Battalion, and the 8th City of London Battalion, amalgamated to form the 7th City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles), and that the collar badge adopted at that time was a smaller version of the old 8th City of London (Post Office Rifles), and not the grenade seen in this photo, would I be correct in concluding that this photo (and therefore the wearing of this particular pattern cap badge) pre-dates the amalgamation of the two units?

With thanks,

Peter.

[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by Peter J

The officer in the attached photo appears to be wearing the gilt (imitation embroidery) cap badge, to the 7th City of London Battalion:

Attachment 54810Attachment 54811

In volume 2, of K&K, this cap badge is listed as being to 7th City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) [Fig.2406]:

Attachment 54813

You will notice that the officer is also wearing the collars of the 7th City of London Battalion, with the letter 'T' below the grenade:

Attachment 54812

Given that, in 1922, the 7th City of London Battalion, and the 8th City of London Battalion, amalgamated to form the 7th City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles), and that the collar badge adopted at that time was a smaller version of the old 8th City of London (Post Office Rifles), and not the grenade seen in this photo, would I be correct in concluding that this photo (and therefore the wearing of this particular pattern cap badge) pre-dates the amalgamation of the two units?

With thanks,

Peter.

I cannot answer your question Peter, but I was interested to see that this was yet another regiment that wore the 'Universal Grenade', which must be a contender for the longest and most widely worn collar AND shoulder title badge in the British Army and which finally had its demise in 2006, along with its last wearers, the RWF.

Originally Posted by Toby Purcell

I cannot answer your question Peter, but I was interested to see that this was yet another regiment that wore the 'Universal Grenade', which must be a contender for the longest and most widely worn collar badge in the British Army and which finally had its demise in 2006, along with its last wearers, the RWF.

Toby,

Point taken.

As Keith recently commented, this particular image shows this collar badge to be a regular grenade, as opposed to the flat-bottomed example usually attributed to the 7th (Churchill - Fig.1941).

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Regards,

Peter.