E Yorks Cyclists and Army Cyclist Corps

[bobblehat44]

Would welcome comments and thoughts on the following:

I think it is 5th[ Cyclists] Battn East Yorkshire Regt
looks original with broken slider BP&Co Ltd but ...

Army Cyclist Corps
a popular one for copies?

[Chipper]

Hi

I have a keen interest in Cyclists, so I thought I would give my amateur opinion. Of course, my East Yorks notes are missing in action at present, sadly.

From memory, the EY cyclists wore the standard cap badge, but blackened. The problem with that is obviously folks can take a standard badge, blacken it, and pass it off as a rare cyclists. I seem to also remember they may have had lugs rather than a slider, but I am not 100% sure there.

For me, (having had many attempts to get one, and seen many of the tricks - in particular, passing officer collars off as a cyclist cap badge) I would be very hesitant to either categorise any badge as a bonafide "cyclist" without provenance, and certainly wouldn't pay over the odds for one, given the above. Yours doesn't appear to have any blackening, so I am wondering what made you think it's a cyclist? Was it sold to you as such?

Cheers, Tim

[Deejayuu]

East Yorks badge looks to be the standard pattern as there is no sign of the required black paint. Not sure if it the case for all 5th bn badges but the applied central rose on all the badges i have seen including the one in my hand is brass. Always made me smile a little being a true Yorkshire man but brass roses generally are worn in Lancashire! Lancashire rose on a Yorkshire badge!!!! Badge fully painted so you cannot see the colour of the rose.

I`ll try and get a scan but scanner playing up. I also have the collar to go with it, wm cycle wheel with wm rose (not blackened).

[Chipper]

Hi Deeejay

now you mention it, the brass rose does ring a bell. Is the badge you have from a known cyclist? Be great to see some pics, as well as the collars when you get your scanner fixed

cheers, Tim

Originally Posted by Deejayuu

East Yorks badge looks to be the standard pattern as there is no sign of the required black paint. Not sure if it the case for all 5th bn badges but the applied central rose on all the badges i have seen including the one in my hand is brass. Always made me smile a little being a true Yorkshire man but brass roses generally are worn in Lancashire! Lancashire rose on a Yorkshire badge!!!! Badge fully painted so you cannot see the colour of the rose.

I`ll try and get a scan but scanner playing up. I also have the collar to go with it, brass cycle wheel with wm rose (not blackened).

[Deejayuu]

Hi Tim,

pictures as promised. I purchased the badges separately and like most , have no provenance.

The 5th bn badge is a nice example and took some finding. So easy to fake so there are far too many bad examples. Easy to spot a good one though if you know what to look for, ie the brass rose.

The other cyclist badge i purchased a long time ago at Pudsey from Norman Litchfield i beleive. Paid £100 for it which was a lot for the badge 25 years ago. I purchased it as a FSC to H (cyclist) company to 2 VB East Yorks who later morphed into the 5th bn. Colin Churchill has a line drawing example of this badge in his wonderful book on Infantry collars. Described as being a collar worn only by H company of the 1st VB and 2nd VB East Yorks regt. However, Colin does advise that this badge has been seen on a contemporary 1902 photograph being worn as a FSC badge. Was the use of the collar on the FSC official or improvised?

Regards, Dave

[bobblehat44]

Gentlemen,thanks for your observations-much appreciated.
I was told it could be a East Yorks Cyclist badge as some references show a standard East Yorkshire Regt badge for the 5th Batt. and others a blackened version . It is therefore not a 5th Batt. one-it seems ,and your knowledge would confirm this, that most cycling battalions had blackened badges-why was this ?
I did see a recruiting WW1 poster for cyclists saying 'Bad teeth- No bar' which was quite amusing!

[Chipper]

Hi Dave,

thanks very much for the pics. Can I ask you, is the badge two piece? ie it's not a blackened one piece badge? I expect there may be some one-piece around, after the 1916 economy were issued, but as the 5th was circa 1908 till circa 1920, I would assume most are 2 piece.

Cheers, Tim

[Deejayuu]

Hi Tim,

the rose to the front is a separate piece. Likely used the same dies as the regulars badge just used a different metal for the rose.

[Alan O]

A badge so rare that EJ martin's article on Cyclist badges from the 1940s said that he had never seen an example but only ever heard that one existed.

[Hoot]

Originally Posted by bobblehat44

Gentlemen,thanks for your observations-much appreciated.
I was told it could be a East Yorks Cyclist badge as some references show a standard East Yorkshire Regt badge for the 5th Batt. and others a blackened version . It is therefore not a 5th Batt. one-it seems ,and your knowledge would confirm this, that most cycling battalions had blackened badges-why was this ?
I did see a recruiting WW1 poster for cyclists saying 'Bad teeth- No bar' which was quite amusing!

Blackened badges were worn by battalions with "Rifles" origins.

[Luke H]

Hi Dave,

Wonderful badges, thanks for sharing. As the brass rose is a separate piece can you confirm if there’s a braze hole in the underlaying metal?

[Deejayuu]

Originally Posted by Luke H

Hi Dave,

Wonderful badges, thanks for sharing. As the brass rose is a separate piece can you confirm if there’s a braze hole in the underlaying metal?

I don`t think there is as the back of the rose is flush.