Staybrite Cap Badge Fantasy List

[dragonz18]

Chris,
I saw a dealer list an a/a RFC cap badge on Ebay a couple of months back. Did'nt bother taking a good look or recording the seller, just had a chuckle & then disregarded it out-of-hand & moved on. Hardly worth putting on a list really ?
Definitely a complete fantasy of the worst kind.
Cheers !
Steve (NZ)

[hagwalther]

Originally Posted by dragonz18

Chris,
I saw a dealer list an a/a RFC cap badge on Ebay a couple of months back. Did'nt bother taking a good look or recording the seller, just had a chuckle & then disregarded it out-of-hand & moved on. Hardly worth putting on a list really ?
Definitely a complete fantasy of the worst kind.
Cheers !
Steve (NZ)

Hi Steve,

Wish I had seen that - probably a commission museum item or possible out right fake but fakes are still quite rare.

Lots of work still to be done on all this but I am following a logical trail - hopefully this will all come together in a month or two or twelve.

Have recieved some interesting information from official sources lately which I am (and will be) continue to follow up.

Regards

Chris

[hagwalther]

Hi Guys,

This week six CCF and school badges to think about.

1 St Lawrence College OTC
2 Clifton College CCF
3 Perse College CCF
4 Tonbridge School, Kent (Silver)
5 Wellington Collage, Berks (Silver)
6 Winchester College

Has anyone seen or even own one of the above?

Regards

Chris

[hagwalther]

Hi Guys,

No takers from last weeks list so assume from the forum that they are 'NO SHOW' items.

How about these being the last from the original list?

Bit of a mixture.

1 Blues & Royals
2 Royal Horse Guards
3 6th Dragoon Guards (trial pattern)
4 Berkshire Yeo (small beret)
5 Sherwood Rangers no "the" - Scroll stating - 'Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry'
6 The Staffordshire Regiment - 5th/6th Bn

Regards

Chris

[Mike H]

None of the above Chris,the Staffs badge is the one that an auction house described as early anodised.But i appears not to be aluminium.As for the week before St Lawrence college and Perse school ring bells for some reason.More investigation needed

[colin sinnott]

Hi
I have just joined the british military badge forun, and looking through the pages i see that you want answers to the wellington college otc badge i can confirm that they nevey issued a silver badge the three that i have are bronze(Metal) and two types of gold both given to me by the officer in charge of the OTC. i lived in Crowthorne home of Wellington College and my wife worked in the college for 25 years so i picked up the badges. the latest badge they wear i have again given to me two years ago is silver and gold with a red felt background with the added scrol the west riding when i can work out how to send phots of badge i will send one of if you can send me youe email address i will send it that way

Regards
Colin Sinnott
colinsinnott1@btinternet.com

[hagwalther]

Originally Posted by colin sinnott

Hi
I have just joined the british military badge forun, and looking through the pages i see that you want answers to the wellington college otc badge i can confirm that they nevey issued a silver badge the three that i have are bronze(Metal) and two types of gold both given to me by the officer in charge of the OTC. i lived in Crowthorne home of Wellington College and my wife worked in the college for 25 years so i picked up the badges. the latest badge they wear i have again given to me two years ago is silver and gold with a red felt background with the added scrol the west riding when i can work out how to send phots of badge i will send one of if you can send me youe email address i will send it that way

Regards
Colin Sinnott
colinsinnott1@btinternet.com

Thanks Colin,

Nice to have you here and thanks for the feedback!!!

I've been going through all known anodised badges for some time now and while some silver Wellington, Berks OTC badges may be around they are probably factory mistakes (together with about 20 others currently known of) and your posting certainly helps to confirm this.

Many Thanks for helping out here.

Regards

Chris

[Mike]

received this info via the "contact us" form:

"Hi there, If your fantasy list of staybrite badges is of those that were NOT actually produced then I believe you have some errors. I can verify this as I worked at the Central Ordnance Depot in Bicester from where army badges were actually held and issued. It was from working here that my own interest in badges began.

Those badges that you list but which I have actually seen on the shelves are:

Royal Horse Guards (I am told that like the 17/21L, when troopers arrived with these they were told to go to the regt shop and buy a gilt/brass one)
Essex Yeo 47mm (These were very small badges which made them stand out. I saw about 10 of these which were earmarked for disposal as the unit was no longer wearing them, only the collar dogs (which were incidentally the same size).
Leicestershire Yeomanry
Warwickshire Yeomanry (found because they were mixed in with a load of Worcs and Warwicks Yeo badges)"

[hagwalther]

Originally Posted by Mike

received this info via the "contact us" form:

"Hi there, If your fantasy list of staybrite badges is of those that were NOT actually produced then I believe you have some errors. I can verify this as I worked at the Central Ordnance Depot in Bicester from where army badges were actually held and issued. It was from working here that my own interest in badges began.

Those badges that you list but which I have actually seen on the shelves are:

Royal Horse Guards (I am told that like the 17/21L, when troopers arrived with these they were told to go to the regt shop and buy a gilt/brass one)
Essex Yeo 47mm (These were very small badges which made them stand out. I saw about 10 of these which were earmarked for disposal as the unit was no longer wearing them, only the collar dogs (which were incidentally the same size).
Leicestershire Yeomanry
Warwickshire Yeomanry (found because they were mixed in with a load of Worcs and Warwicks Yeo badges)"

Thanks to all involved here.

Going through each of these:

Royal Horse Guards - still not found any evidence in List of Changes or other material but that is not to say that they did not exist.

Essex Yeo 47mm - Yes, we have examples of this and the smaller 32mm version.

Leicestershire Yeomanry - Sealed on 31st May 1950 and recorded in List Of Changes 1950 so examples could exist.

Warwickshire Yeomanry - Sealed on 6th Feb 1952 so examples could exist.

Many Thanks for this - Initial list updated with comments.

Regards

Chris

[David Lockley]

With regard to the above badge in gold staybright,it is Mercian Volunteers Officer's pattern No 2 dress cap,they wore goldwwire on cloth in their berets,OR's wore Bi-metal staybright up untill break up into origional units cica 1995-6,I was a Cpl in C (Staffordshire) Co Anti-tank platoon 1975-83

[2747andy]

Originally Posted by David Lockley

With regard to the above badge in gold staybright,it is Mercian Volunteers Officer's pattern No 2 dress cap,they wore goldwwire on cloth in their berets,OR's wore Bi-metal staybright up untill break up into origional units cica 1995-6,I was a Cpl in C (Staffordshire) Co Anti-tank platoon 1975-83

David,
welcome to the Forum, not quite sure what badge you refer to here? Officers do not wear No 2 Dress? If you mean Service Dress, the cap badge probably would not have been Anodised Aluminium? The Officers Service Dress badge for the Mercian Brigade was in silver and gilt and the same pattern as the ORs badge, I'll get one posted in the morning!

Andy

[Stanley_C_Jenkins]

What about the "Oxfordshire Territorials" staybright badge - see the discussion elsewhere on this forum, in which a senior NCO states that, as far as he is aware, they were never issued.

[David Lockley]

Originally Posted by 2747andy

David,
welcome to the Forum, not quite sure what badge you refer to here? Officers do not wear No 2 Dress? If you mean Service Dress, the cap badge probably would not have been Anodised Aluminium? The Officers Service Dress badge for the Mercian Brigade was in silver and gilt and the same pattern as the ORs badge, I'll get one posted in the morning!

Andy

The Mercian Brigade badge was used for the Voluteers,we called it the strangled chicken,origional the officers were in brass SB only,not popular,The officer's thought they looked cheap compared to the OR badges I "scrounged" one of my boss,cost me a nights free beer,,I no longer have it,a fellow collector pesterd so much I finnaly swapped it to shut him up,by then I was out of the T A so could not replace it.I know they cost twice as much as ours to replace them in the stores.Google 1 Mercian Volunteers,"C" Coy Thats my Mottley crew,we where the only ones to wear this badge,apart from HQ and depot staff at Whittington barracks,they only wore it under protest,Brigade Btn's wore origional regt badges,flattly refusing to wear the Chicken.

[matti467]

Having been at 87 Sqdn Nottingham Sig Sqdn in the mid 80s I can confirm that the infantry there were D coy 1st Mercian. They wore a silver and gold a/a cap badge before they were rebadged WFR and went to 4 WFR.
Matti

[engr9266]

I can confirm that I had in my collection, until stolen, The 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles in Staybrite(a/a) in both voided and non voided versions. Alas I do not have photo's to prove this.