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  #1  
Old 12-07-13, 08:25 AM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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Default SA Military Nursing Service

So I have managed to find a couple of epaulettes (although mismatched) to the South African Military Nursing Service, as from the enclosed pic.... even the orange tabs are mismatched, one being actually red!
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File Type: jpg SA Military Nursing Service_1.jpg (73.9 KB, 31 views)
File Type: jpg SA Military Nursing Service_2.jpg (72.6 KB, 22 views)
File Type: jpg SA Military Nursing Service_3.jpg (74.6 KB, 26 views)
File Type: jpg WAACS_PIC_1.jpg (52.5 KB, 35 views)
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  #2  
Old 12-07-13, 12:51 PM
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Milmed Milmed is offline
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Hi Loupie,
Nice find. These dont come by all that often. I have a few as this is my area of interest and all of them are different. The ones you have with cloth 'pips' were mostly worn on battledress in Italy as picture shows. These are for a nursing sister (captain rank).

The ranks were as follows: (Adopted 1942 and worn through 1950)
Colonel = Matron in chief
Commandant = Senior or Principal Matron
Major = Junior Matron
Captain = Nursing Sister
Liutenant = Staff Nurse
2nd Liutenant= Probationer Nurse

Steven
Attached Images
File Type: jpg SAMNS rank epaulettes.jpg (54.4 KB, 37 views)

Last edited by Milmed; 12-07-13 at 01:03 PM.
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  #3  
Old 14-07-13, 07:21 AM
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Brian Conyngham Brian Conyngham is offline
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Steven

Why is the main section of the original epaulettes as shown is Loupies nice finds a different colour to the plate you have posted? Originals appear to be purple.

Loupie I have many of the "orange tab epaulettes" (although not nursing) but they are almost always a different shade of red or orange unless they are a matching pair from one source. And yes, some are definately red hence it is recorded in a few sources that the South African troops had "red tabs" on their shoulders!

Regards
Brian

Last edited by Brian Conyngham; 14-07-13 at 07:27 AM.
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  #4  
Old 15-07-13, 05:26 PM
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Hi Brian,
The official colour is ruby, but just as the 'red tabs', the colours can vary from maroon through to purple. They were made by various manufacturers and after many years of laundering and or weather exposure, you can see how variations exist. The drawing I did is representative of the ruby colour.

Steven
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  #5  
Old 17-07-13, 03:52 PM
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Brian Conyngham Brian Conyngham is offline
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Thanks Steven for clearing that up.
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  #6  
Old 23-07-13, 12:48 PM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Milmed View Post
Hi Loupie,
Nice find. These dont come by all that often. I have a few as this is my area of interest and all of them are different. The ones you have with cloth 'pips' were mostly worn on battledress in Italy as picture shows. These are for a nursing sister (captain rank).

The ranks were as follows: (Adopted 1942 and worn through 1950)
Colonel = Matron in chief
Commandant = Senior or Principal Matron
Major = Junior Matron
Captain = Nursing Sister
Liutenant = Staff Nurse
2nd Liutenant= Probationer Nurse

Steven
Thank you Steven, extremely interesting!
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  #7  
Old 07-03-14, 09:11 AM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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a matched pair of epaulettes to a probatory nurse in the SA Military Nursing Service. These are actually ruby, and they have got an interesting construction, since the ruby cloth has been sewn on a pair of KD slip ons...
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File Type: jpg SA_Military_Nursing_Service_B_2.jpg (77.9 KB, 13 views)
File Type: jpg SA_Military_Nursing_Service_B_3.jpg (92.7 KB, 8 views)
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  #8  
Old 07-03-14, 10:07 AM
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Frank Kelley Frank Kelley is offline
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Those are lovely, I like them very much, did you buy them in South Africa?

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Originally Posted by loupie1961 View Post
a matched pair of epaulettes to a probatory nurse in the SA Military Nursing Service. These are actually ruby, and they have got an interesting construction, since the ruby cloth has been sewn on a pair of KD slip ons...

Last edited by Frank Kelley; 07-03-14 at 10:15 AM.
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  #9  
Old 07-03-14, 10:27 AM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Kelley View Post
Those are lovely, I like them very much, did you buy them in South Africa?
Thank you Frank: no, in the UK
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  #10  
Old 07-03-14, 12:06 PM
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Hi,
Thanks for posting these. Probationer nurses were issued with khaki drill bush jackets and skirt, hence the ruby on khaki epaulettes. Only those who saw service outside of the Union got service dress tunics in a khaki gabardine material and also wool battledress for colder weather. Very few probationers served outside of the Union.

The shoulder boards for probationer nurses prior to 1942 (when military ranks were adopted) was the shoulder title SAMNS SAMVD worn on the orange/red tab. I have attached a picture of these as well as a line drawing of the shoulder ranks for SAMNS nurses prior to 1942.

Regards
Steven
Attached Images
File Type: jpg SAMNS probationer.jpg (37.8 KB, 23 views)
File Type: jpg SAMNS rank epaulettes 1940-42.jpg (43.4 KB, 27 views)
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  #11  
Old 07-03-14, 12:49 PM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Milmed View Post
Hi,
Thanks for posting these. Probationer nurses were issued with khaki drill bush jackets and skirt, hence the ruby on khaki epaulettes. Only those who saw service outside of the Union got service dress tunics in a khaki gabardine material and also wool battledress for colder weather. Very few probationers served outside of the Union.

The shoulder boards for probationer nurses prior to 1942 (when military ranks were adopted) was the shoulder title SAMNS SAMVD worn on the orange/red tab. I have attached a picture of these as well as a line drawing of the shoulder ranks for SAMNS nurses prior to 1942.

Regards
Steven
Extremely interesting, Steven... so it would be interesting to know how these epaulettes landed in the UK... possibly after the war, i guess!
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  #12  
Old 07-03-14, 01:02 PM
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It is possible this nurse did serve out of the Union. Just that these shoulder boards would have originally been issued to her with the khaki drill bush jacket. The nicest SAMNS boards I have are knitted ones I suspect made by the nurse herself. Cant remember if it was a p/n or a s/n

Steven
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  #13  
Old 07-03-14, 02:14 PM
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Frank Kelley Frank Kelley is offline
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A great find, I only have Great War period SAMNS in my collection, they provided a hospital at Richmond for the SA Infantry Brigade that was serving in France at the time.
Perhaps I should move forward in time and cast my net a little further.
Kind regards Frank

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Originally Posted by loupie1961 View Post
Thank you Frank: no, in the UK

Last edited by Frank Kelley; 07-03-14 at 08:23 PM.
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  #14  
Old 16-03-14, 10:45 AM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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A single metal SAMNS title. It is not brass, stamped, not voided metal sheet. No clues about vintage and theater of operations?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg SAMNS_Title_1.jpg (44.1 KB, 16 views)
File Type: jpg SAMNS_Title_2.jpg (35.7 KB, 13 views)
File Type: jpg SAMNS_Title_3.jpg (40.1 KB, 12 views)
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  #15  
Old 16-03-14, 01:38 PM
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These are s/t worn by Probationer nurses c.1941-42 before recieving rank pips. There are two variations of the title, the one you have shown and a lead version as seen in my earlier post.

Steven
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