Royal Navy Badges (Funnies)

[royston]

Dear Guzzman & RCN

From what I remember, the stock book had a number of original (and rare) badges pasted into it. From an historical point of view, it must go to a safe repository has some of the badges have never been seen being worn and some have been seen but are very rare.

John

[Guzzman]

Hello John

I couldn't agree more. The sale of South Yard has meant the closure of the Devonport Dockyard Museum, the Dockyard Police Museum, lack of public access to the Execution Cell and the other historic buildings of South Yard (the oldest part of the dockyard) and the relocation of the Field Gun Museum away from the dockyard. The general answer to the question 'What has happened to everything?' is that 'it has been put into storage'. It is important that we keep track of these artefacts before they are lost forever.

Pete

[royston]

Pete

I will make a few enquiries this end.

John

[RCN]

Originally Posted by Guzzman

Hello Bryan

Here are a few pictures of my red-embroidered Hydrophone Operators badge. Out of interest I have included some extra images of the uniform to which it is attached. The last two pictures show the front fastening of the trousers and the lacing on the rear.

Pete

Hi Pete,

Thanks for posting the photos of both the Hydrophone rate the rating's uniform tunic - its a really nice example!

What size is yr red badge?

My gold example is 2 3/4" across the base & 3" high,
measured thru the H to the top of the arch.

Bryan

[RCN]

Originally Posted by royston

Dear Guzzman & RCN

From what I remember, the stock book had a number of original (and rare) badges pasted into it. From an historical point of view, it must go to a safe repository has some of the badges have never been seen being worn and some have been seen but are very rare.

John

Its a real shame to see a book like this go missing!

To be able to view the original & rare badges would be a real treat,

so few of them still around in this century....

RCN Bryan.

[Guzzman]

Hi Bryan

My badge is approximately the same size as yours - it's not a very big badge. To be honest, yours is the only other example I have seen before and I envy you for having it!

As I said previously, I did contact the Imperial War Museum to see if they could give me any more information on it and they confirmed that it was a Hydrophone Operators badge and dated it to 1918. The only other information they provided was to confirm that they had examples of it in their collection (including an example of the badge with a King's Crown above) and to state that the badge was never issued (obviously wrong!). I've never really been able to find out anything else about it.

Pete

[RCN]

Originally Posted by Guzzman

Hi Bryan

My badge is approximately the same size as yours - it's not a very big badge. To be honest, yours is the only other example I have seen before and I envy you for having it!

Well Pete I can say the same on you red example! I know I have never seen another. When you first mentioned it I said - Amazing, another one surfaced - so it exists in red too! Now perhaps someone will come up with a blue example!

As I said previously, I did contact the Imperial War Museum to see if they could give me any more information on it and they confirmed that it was a Hydrophone Operators badge and dated it to 1918. The only other information they provided was to confirm that they had examples of it in their collection (including an example of the badge with a King's Crown above) and to state that the badge was never issued (obviously wrong!). I've never really been able to find out anything else about it.

Pete

I have never seen any reference to the badge in any of the books I have, but it makes sense it would come in around the latter period of the war when anti sub technology & detection had moved ahead, I think hydrophones appeared around late 1916. I am sure I read that somewhere.
KC above would indicate a PO or CPO, wonder if badges exist with stars also?

I thought I had posted it on the Forum not long after I acquired it but I cannot locate it in search. I cannot even recall where I got it but thought obtaining one of these in Canada was amazing to me. Might have been brought over here by a naval veteran emigrating here in the 1920's - who knows?

I think it really great that yours is still intact on the rating's uniform tunic!

RCN Bryan