Boer war fern badge

[pukman]

Hello all.

I have a Boer war sidecap on appro and it has a fern badge on it.It is 60mm.Given that some other Boer war Cap are 95mm (volunteer,circa 1895,without NZ) and 87mm (Volunteer ,circa1900) and would like to know from others if the one on the cap is a cap or collar,and whats the value of the badge alone.The cap itself has a service number to a trooper in the 9th contingent .

cheers iain

[atillathenunns]

Pukman, sadly Dave Corbett’s and Geoff Oldham’s books are a bit vague when it comes to the origins of the NZ fern leaf badge.
As yet I have seen no proof that the fern leaf badge without the ‘NZ’ was ever worn prior to the Boer war.
In reality, the (fat) NZ fern leaf badge (2/10 & 2/12) was adopted as a national badge around January 1901.

For those who are interested, I have included details of the first manufacturer of these NZ fern leaf badges in a post I did on the Militarianz forum. (Just scroll down to the bottom of the “Silent Sixth Contingent.”)

http://militarianz.freeforums.org/ne...ent-t1650.html

Given that the side cap in question is attributed to a private in the Ninth Contingent, I would have thought that the badge that he was issued, would have been the fat fern type.

The type of badge that is currently on the hat is more in keeping with those that were worn by NZ officers, or could be better termed as ‘private purchase.’

IMO the combination is possible, but I am guessing that you will be hard pressed to find a period photograph of this combination being worn by an ordinary ranker of the Ninth Contingent.

Brent

[pukman]

Hi Brent,

yes the badge is not original to the cap.Added when hat was on display in various museums.But,the lugs match the original lug holes that were on the cap.So we may have to use a little forensics to solve this one.Do the other NZ boer war hat badge lugs match a 35mm spacing?.I have now been told by a leading badge collector /expert that this badge is not uncommon(in respect to Boer war NZ badges) although not pictured in reference books.As you know our badge reference books are not complete.If it is fairly common would it be an officers badge?


Anyway there we go,still ,more research to do.The cap is the main item and will make an appearence on NZMR.org when i can get more information on the soldiers personell files.

I went through the entire copies of the ""Auckland Weekly News " 1899-1902,and would i think you would be hard pressed to tell the different varieties of fern badges from the thousands of portriats that are pictured

cheers iain

[atillathenunns]

Too true Iain old boy, a bit of research on the hat in question is well worth the effort.
In answer to your question, yes the “NZ National Fern Leaf Badge” (As pictured below) will match the holes in your cap. However, you must appreciate that the fat fern badge had a long period of service (Also worn in WW1), as such there have been a number of different manufactures who have made these badges, so lug gaps will vary.
(Fortunately the badge below is a good early example complete with slouch hat hook with 35mm-lug spacing)



This well-known photo is of the Klee brothers, all of which served with the 7th Contingent.
Louis Klee (No. 26 Company) seated on the right, Victor Klee (No. 26 Company) standing in the middle, and George Klee (No. 23 Company) seated on the left.



As for the badge already on the cap? I would suggest that it should be removed and sold separately.
To be honest, due to the long service of this particular style of fern badge, unless a good definition photograph turns up of it being worn, it will probably remain a mystery.
However, it does resemble the badge style as worn by the officers of the later contingents, who knows, it could well be Boer War period.


Family member Chris Neale has kindly provided the following photograph of Charles Neale. The picture shows Charles Neale wearing his 10th Contingent uniform
Veterinary-Surgeon-Captain Charles Neale embarked with the South Island Regiment of the Tenth Contingent and sailed from Lyttelton on the 19th April 1902.
(The Tenth Contingent was disbanded in New Zealand on the 23rd August 1902)

[atillathenunns]

I should point out that although I have seen no proof that the fern leaf badge without the ‘NZ’ was ever worn prior to the Boer war, I do have unsupported evidence that the Zealandia Rifles (G company Wellington Battalion) did adopt fern leaf badges as early as August 1898. (Manufactured by Mr. C. H. Williams of Willis-street in Wellington)
However, I as yet have not been able to find a period photo of the Zealandia Rifles to confirm the information.
(I suspect these are the ones that Geoff mentions as Circa 1895)

I have also tried to trace the Native Rifle Volunteers fern badge without much success. The only evidence that I have found is the medal made for the New Zealand Natives Association manufactured by Coates and Co in July 1898.
The medal design is in the form of a shield, on one side there is a fern leaf, which bears the letters “N.Z.N.A.” and on the reverse are inscribed the words “Christchurch centre.”

[pukman]

Theres no doubting ,you know your stuff alright Brent.

Just so i can clarify the point you have made.Is the badge you have pictured with the 35mm spacing ,the 87mm hat badge or the smaller collar.Looks like on on the prowl for another fern bage,but they do turn up resonably frequently.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

iain

[atillathenunns]

Iain you have to understand the fern leaf national badge was specifically designed to be worn on the collars.
This can be traced back to a NZ Defence Department order issued in November 1900, inviting Officers commanding districts to submit designs for the national badge referred to.

The national fern left and right collar badges (5cm) were first issued to both the NZ volunteers and men serving in the 6th contingent. From there it was a natural progression for these collar badges to be worn on the field (side) cap, and with a hook added so it could be worn on the slouch hat.

I would think (excluding officer and field made badges) that fern leaf badges longer than 5cm would most likely be post Boer War.

Brent

[pukman]

So Brent ,just to clarify your last point that all NZ fern badges not being 50mm ,are post Boer war.Where do the larger 87mm ones fit in .I see a lot of the left /right 50mm collars matched with the 87mm cap in a few collections as well as Corbetts Book

cheers iain

[atillathenunns]

Iain, Corbett’s book (Pg 125) shows a picture of a large fern leaf cap badge with two smaller collar badges. However he states that the Cap badge is the same size as the collar badges.

Interestingly, the badge size mentioned is 2 ½ inches by 1 ½ inches. ( I can only speculate that the ½s are a print error)

I can only guess that the collections you have seen, have assembled their badges according to the pictures in Corbetts book.

[pukman]

Hello Brent,

heres the cap with the correct badge (i persume).This one has been blackened .The lug holes are original to the cap and the replacement badge fitted to order.

cheers iain

[atillathenunns]

It looks much better

[pukman]

Heres some interesting insignia worn by NZers in the Boer War taken from period newspapers

[pukman]

I have just been through a set of NZ Boer war era papers(Christchurch Press and Christchurch Weekly) ,which covered the full 10 contingents and covered soldiers throughout NZ.Hundreds if not of Individual portraits and group shots(maybe several thousand men pictured all up).

I would like to make some observations on what i saw,given that i was concentrating on Badges and Insignia

Given that i have told by a Boer war collector that their are no wavey type ferns worn in the Boer war;;;!!!!!!

Several early contingent men (first to fourth) wore two variations of the wavey type fern.The first similar to the badge termed the Native Company badge(pictured above ,worn by Sergeant Heslop,actually )The second a smaller teardrop shaped one.A third type of fern ,consistant with being Oldham's 2/11 was also seen.

Badge(collars) wearing in these early Contingents was not the norm,with most men not wearing any collar badges.

From about the sixth contingent,the wearing of the collar badge was more standard with the fat straight fern(Oldhams 2/12) being consistant as well as the volunteer buglehorn collar badge.I would say that these two collar badge typess made up 90% of all the insignia identifable.

The other badges identified were from coronation contingents.In the 1902 Jubilee, Native contingent photo ,only the senior officers wore badges prior to their leaving.And Oldhams 2/13 ,the fat fern with a hook for a slouch hat.(pictured below)Also pictured other ranks of the 1902 Native Contingent.Last photo,returning invalided soldiers




These Newspapers(Two bound books) are likely to come onto the market shortly,and will be an invaluable research tool for the Boer war .i must add that they are 100% original,pictorial sections of the papers ,spanning 1899 -1902,extremely rare to find bound like this outside museums collections.

[5WWCT]

The NZDF better watch out or they might be hearing from the NZRFU lawyers