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#1
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Mystery patch - SA Irish?
In my family's archives is a patch on red cloth which looks to be a regimental patch with Irish associations. There is a crown and an Irish harp, overlaid by a pair of crossed somethings - maces or batons? Definitely not swords. It may be a sleeve badge indicating rank as well as regiment. I would appreciate any suggestions. My family are all South Africans or English; we have no record of an Irish regiment in our history. This patch is most likely from the Boer War or WW1.
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#2
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It is a British Army bandsman (not Royal Artillery) proficiency arm badge, worn on the upper right arm, consisting of two crossed trumpets and a harp. The crown dates it to post 1902. The harp in this case has nothing to do with anything specifically Irish.
Rgds, Thomas. |
#3
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Thomas, I believe you have hit the nail on the head. I know that my maternal grandfather, Carl Richard Horn (b.1891), served in Prince Alfred's Guards in Port Elizabeth as a bandsman in the early 20th century, although I don't think he served overseas. For many years we kept his old instrument - a cornophone, a valved brass wind instrument (E flat) with bore profile intermediate between french horn and sax-horn and played with a mouthpiece like that of a french horn. They are not in common use nowadays. One of my cousins bagged it.
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#4
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Excellent. You could check the cornophone for any military markings.
Rgds, Thomas. |
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