Queen's Regiment (1966-92) Badged Beret But With 1940's Date Mark

[leigh kitchen]

This beret appears to be a Supak, 1940's dated (1949?).
It has an anodised aluminium Queen's Regiment badge fitted, the regiment existed from 1966 - 1992.
It's been carefully shaped (not apparent in the photos) so that it is pulled down not just on the right-hand side but also the left - but far enough back on the left to avoid the "double fold" effect associated with the RTR.
The fabric "bag" of the beret seems small compared to berets of the 1940's.
The badge, which has been carefully and deliberately shaped to be slightly convex is fitted to the beret by means of its anodised aluminium slider and a few black thread stitches have been applied to prevent it from slipping out.
Previously the beret has had a cloth badge backing approx. 6cm high X 4.5cm wide.
There are four piercings, presumably from a previous badge, two of them approx. 4cm apart at either end of the "Queen's" scroll, and two about 3.5cm above them.
I don't think that the beret's been tampered with in terms of the markings or badge applied to deceive but that it's been worn by a member of one of the component regiments of the Queen's Regiment (or, given cross postings within the Queen's Division one of the component regiments of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers or Royal Anglian Regiment) with one of those regiment's and perhaps the slidered Home Counties Brigade badges, or perhaps by an army cadet wearing dad's old army beret?
I can't think of any of the "old" regiment's badges that would have had lug arrangements to fit the four piercings.

[JerryBB]

Wartime Supak's had a white line above the makers name.

[leigh kitchen]

Yes, but I think this one reads Supak, and why fake up 1940's markings on a beret badged up for the 60's - 90's.
Unless it's a game of bluff - "I'll fake up the dates so a buyer thinks it's an earlier and more valuable beret than it really is and pay over the odds with a view to replacing the badge with a 1940's units one?
(I could be overthinking this).

[JerryBB]

Why these things are done are beyond me Leigh.

[oc14]

Regarding the four holes for fitting of a badge, it's always possible that the original badge was of a school CCF who later adopted a "regular" regimental cap badge (I know for instance that Worksop College, Trent College, Mount Saint Mary's College and Nottingham High School CCFs all had their own unit cap badges which were worn into the 1950s/60s after which they adopted the cap badge of the Sherwood Foresters until 1970 at which time they adopted the badge of The Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters Regiment and from 2007 The Mercian Regiment). Might be something similar for a CCF unit in one of the Queen's recruiting counties ??

PL

[leigh kitchen]

Thank you - I'd thought of legitimate changes of badge and of cadet use but not of change of cadet unit badges (I got distracted by counting the trees and walked past the wood).