What have we here? No 15

[Bill A]

From LAC, an interesting photo of officers awaiting repatriation in the UK. Have a look a the insignia.

[IMG][/IMG]

[jubilationtcornpone]

The soldier in the center is wearing what appears to be US jump wings above his right breast pocket. I am assuming the wings above his left breast pocket are also jump wings, i.e. a parachute qualification badge. If he were an American the position of these badges would be reversed and I am assuming that is the case here. Hope this helps.

Don

[Bill A]

Hi Don, The soldier with the two sets of wings was a 1 SSF officer. Note the cross arrow cap device. (Which was worn on the collars as well.) Canadians that had qualified at Helena Montana in the US were awarded US jump wings.

[DavidS]

Too bad the FSSF officer's collars are not visible: s/b a crossed arrows collar disk on one side and a "Canada" disk on the other. The crossed arrow on the cap is the US Special Services officer's collar which was worn as a cap badge. (Any chance the photo is clear enough to count the feathers, Bill?).

As for the Geegee on the right (I think), why does he not have collar insignia?

Final question, as all have the volunteer service ribbon, when did the forces overseas start getting that awarded?

[WJ Miller]

Simple DavidS...,you don't wear collar badges on BD. Shouldn't you be working right now anyway?

[jubilationtcornpone]

Hello Bill,

I have only a passing knowledge of the 1st Special Service Force, mainly from the movie, not the best, or most accurate, source. It's too bad the picture doesn't show if he is wearing the brigade patch. Here's a link to this patch: http://www.angelfire.com/md2/patches/ranger.html

Is the crossed arrow badge for the 1SSF? I was unaware of it, not too surprising as I don't collect Canadian. For this badge I could make an exception. I would think it is very rare and much copied. I do have an example of the patch. The base in Montana where they trained is, I believe, still used by the Montana National Guard.

Don

[Voltigeur]

Hi Bill. I would answer,since I know the origin of the photograph so, I will let someone else give you the right answer.
Jo

[Bill A]

Hello everyone,
Here is the caption for the image:
Officers awaiting repatriation to Canada, No.17 Canadian General Hospital, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (R.C.A.M.C.), Crowthorne, England, 1 February 1945. (L-R): Lieutenant Fred Carey, Governor General's Foot Guards; Lieutenant David Johnson, First Special Service Force; Captain B.J. Kruger, a Canloan officer serving with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (R.A.O.C.). (Sic.The naming should be right to left.)

To address some questions. Collar badges were not to be worn on battledress, but towards the end of the war the practice of wearing collars on bd was re-introduced. It was not widespread, but it did happen. As Bill M says, the basic rule was no collars on bd.
Don, By the date of this photo, the FSSF was disbanded, and the officer should not be wearing the patch of a disbanded unit. If he was, it was against regulations.
I thought that someone would comment on the GGFG officer's cap badge. It appears to be much smaller than normal issue, and appears to be the same size as the GGFG's rank stars. Could it be a rank star worn as a beret badge?

[Bill A]

Sorry, missed one point. IIRC, the CVSM ribbon was issued starting 1943. The actual medal wasn't issued until after the war.

[WJ Miller]

Bill, what was the duration of time you had to serve before being approved to wear the CVSM. Among all the service records I have (mostly guys that joined in '42-'43), it seems one had to be overseas for a year before wear was awarded?

The GGFG badge does look small, in the photo, there appears to be a shadow under the centre of the badge indicating a raised centre? DO GGFG rank stars have raised centres?

The FSSF officer in the photo looks to be wearing a private purchase beret (wide sweat band).

[Voltigeur]

On the subject of the CVSM (Canadian Volunteer Service Medal).
Jo
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/s...u/group04/cvsm

[WJ Miller]

There was already a thread regarding the GGFG badges, Clive posted a nice photo of two officers wearing different size cap badges on their berets.
http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...ead.php?t=2964

(regarding the CVSM link, thanks Jo.)

[Bill A]

Thanks for the reminder of that thread. One of the problems with the format of forums is that topics that have been discussed fall off the burner, and disappear into the mists of old threads. It is important to use the search functions to find earlier postings.

[boots and saddles]

That photo is pretty good, I got 3 out of 3. The GGFG badge looks regular to me. i'm not impressed with the way they are wearing their berets.

[servicepub]

Originally Posted by WJ Miller

The GGFG badge does look small, in the photo, there appears to be a shadow under the centre of the badge indicating a raised centre? DO GGFG rank stars have raised centres?

.

This is the standard GGFG officers' six-pointed beret badge which was occasionally worn on the SD forage cap. The GGFGrank badges are identical to Brit Guards Regiments and are 8-pointed Order of the Garter stars.