Irish gate formation signs.

[rolfi]

For those who've asked. This is the the article I wrote for the Formation Sign.

THE IRISH GATES, AND A PIGEON.

The various Irish gate formation signs of World War Two seem to have been as confusing to those who wore them as to those who now collect or study them. It is hoped that this short article will answer some questions about these signs.
Contrary to what some collectors believe there was a 6 Corps; raised after Dunkirk with its headquarters in Lisburn it was disbanded sometime in early 1941. British Troops Ireland, later British Troops Northern Ireland, was established in July 1940.

On 14 November 1940 H.Q. B.T.I. sent a letter to its subordinate formations, Northern Ireland District, 53 Division, 61 Division and 148 Infantry Brigade, about the Irish gate signs worn on uniform. It stated that…

Certain non-divisional units have now been designated B.T.I. Troops.
(b) Units of B.T.I. Troops will wear the following sign :-
An adaptation of the “IRISH GATE” in RED on a black background.
(c) Corps Troops Units will wear the following sign :-
An adaptation of the “IRISH GATE” in GREEN on a black background.

The appendix to the letter lists the units to wear each sign as follows…
B.T.I. Troops; Irish gate in red on black background.
H.Q. Royal Artillery
218 Army Troops Company Royal Engineers
6 Field Survey Depot Royal Engineers
6 Command Signals
No 1 Motor Coach Company R.A.S.C.
No 2 Motor Coach Company R.A.S.C.
No 3 Motor Coach Company R.A.S.C.
10 Reserve M.T. Company R.A.S.C.
10 Troop Carrying Company R.A.S.C.
4 Bridge Company R.A.S.C.
Base Provision Officer
9 Motor Ambulance Convoy R.A.M.C.
16 Casualty Clearing Station R.A.M.C.
19 Casualty Clearing Station R.A.M.C.
1 Mobile Blood Transfusion Unit R.A.M.C.
2 Mobile Blood Transfusion Unit R.A.M.C.
37 Field Hygiene Section R.A.M.C.
4 Mobile Bacteriological Laboratory R.A.M.C.
4 Mobile Hygiene Laboratory R.A.M.C.
14 Ambulance Train R.A.M.C.
15 Ambulance Train R.A.M.C.
6 Advance Preventative Medicine Stores R.A.M.C.
B.T.I. Traffic Control Group
109 Provost Company
47 Section F.S.P.
20 Salvage Unit

VI Corps; Irish gate in green on black background.
H.Q. (Kent) Corps Troops R.E.
277 Corps Field Park Company R.E.
297 Corps Field Park Company R.E.
582 Army Field Company R.E.
583 Army Field Company R.E.
584 Army Field Company R.E.
515 Field Survey Company R.E.
6 Corps Signals
H.Q. Corps R.A.S.C.
6 Corps Troops Ammunition Column R.A.S.C.
6 Corps Troops Supply Column R.A.S.C.
6 Corps Ammunition Park R.A.S.C.
6 Petrol Park R.A.S.C.
206 Field Ambulance R.A.M.C.
3 Army Field Workshop R.A.O.C
5 Army Field Workshop R.A.O.C
5 Ordnance Field Park R.A.O.C
2 Mobile Laundry and Decontamination Unit
6 Corps Postal Unit
26 Mobile Bath Unit

H.Q. B.T.I.’s letter also stated that Tn (Transportation) Units would wear the Northern Ireland District sign; at that time this would have included…
6 Movement Control Group R.E.
8 Railway Construction and Operating Coy R.E.
671 General Construction Company R.E.
109 Workshop and Park Company R.E.
117 Road Construction Company R.E.
118 Road Construction Company R.E.
120 Road Construction Company R.E.
802 Road Construction Company R.E.
805 Road Construction Company R.E.
806 Road Construction Company R.E.
807 Road Construction Company R.E.
808 Road Construction Company R.E.
809 Road Construction Company R.E.
1 I.W.T. Section R.E.

The Irish gate vehicle signs differed in presentation from those worn on uniform, the descriptions that follow are taken from “G.H.Q., Corps and Divisional Signs 1940” and its successor publications. The drawings are based on contemporary photographs and are to scale with each other, The exception is that of the first sign of H.Q. Northern Ireland.
A 3-barred gate flanked by pillars on a green background was the sign of VI Corps and Corps Troops, the sign was removed from the official list of signs in November 1941.
A 3-barred gate flanked by pillars on a white background was used by H.Q. B.T.I. (later B.T.N.I.).

On 9th May 1943 B.T.N.I. was amalgamated with Northern Ireland District to form H.Q. Northern Ireland. The first sign of this H.Q. was the red hand of Ulster superimposed on the cross of Saint Patrick on a white background.

In the 1944 publication “Formation, etc, Vehicle Signs” the sign of H.Q. Northern Ireland had been changed to an Irish gate in white on green background.

The vehicle sign of Northern Ireland District was described in “G.H.Q., Corps and Divisional Signs 1940” as a pigeon on a black bough. The description was later amended to include the nest.

[PeterMc]

Rolfi - a very interesting article. The bird in the nest sign arose out of the designation for Northern Ireland District's abbreviation of NID (or nest, in French). I didn't know it was a pigeon and I wonder what was the significance of this bird.
My father was stationed near Bangor towards the end of the war. I seem to recall he said he wore the 'nest' badge first; which was later replaced by the gate; but I may have got this wrong. The gate, and the curious gateposts, are typical of the Ulster countryside. Legend has it that the conical points to the posts are designed so as to discourage the fairy folk from sitting atop them and spoiling the cows milk as they pass through. Perhaps there is some truth in that.

I should add my father was in the Army Educational Corps, attached to the Inniskilling Regt.

[ellis]

I've scanned a copy of my grandfather's badges and uploaded them to Flickr. He was in 4 Bridge Coy RASC. His red gate badge is slightly different to the ones you have shown:

Here is blue gate on black so what is this for

peter

BRITISH TROOPS IN NORTHERN IRELAND FORMATION SIGN (1).JPG

[rolfi]

Hello Ellis
The reason your grandfathers badge is different to my illustration is because the latter shows how the sign was applied to vehicles. Signs painted on transport often differed in detail from those worn on uniforms.
The blue gate badge has been attributed to WRENS based in Northern Ireland (unlikely) and some, myself included, have speculated that it's a brigade sign.

[tonyboyle]

I have just seen a picture of a WW2 womans battle dress. At the top of each shoulder it has the 'Woman's Transport Service' FANY titles and beneath these a white Irish gate on green background. Is it a repro or if not how does this fit into the scheme of things?

[Mike Jackson]

The battledress badging referred to above seems entirely logical - a member of WTS/FANY serving in NI. Nothing suspicious about that. I imagine that a female would prefer to wear a gate than a bird in its nest! Fast forward to 1950 - what did the American troops in Korea make of members of 40 (British) Inf Div arriving on the scene wearing the bantam formation sign (a yellow chicken to the uninitiated!). There's an excellent image of this on page 204 of Cole's Badges on Battledress.

[Peter Brydon]

Mike,

I know the picture you are referring to, I wonder what the americans made of the officers walking stick ?

P.B.

[tonyboyle]

Referring to my earlier post my query was more about the colours of the Irish gate badge than its usage. Most of the earlier posts in this thread describe the darker colours, red on black or green on black. I just wondered where my white gate on a mid greem background fitted in as there is no earlier mention of these colours. It is on a FANY uniform, with a FANY WTS cap badge so were these the colours on their NI formation signs as opposed to ATS?

[Old Smelly]

The uniform sounds correct. The white gate on green is for NI District, the other colours are for British Troops NI, in May 1943 the two groups amalgamated and all wore the white on green.
Lee

[tonyboyle]

Thank you.