SAS badgeon red beret

[JON188]

Hi mate
wonderful items. Spot on.
Love the older capbadge that "he wore" and the embroidered HQ Malaya Command on maroon (got a spare?)
The embroidered slip on is exactly the same as one that i have posted elsewhere on this site asking for ID.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Jon

[johanwiegman]

Hi John,

Great pics indeed! If you could post some close-ups of the Malayan Command patches and wings in the frame, that would be great!

Thanks for this.

best regards,

Johan

[johnglen]

Just for interest on this subject I had a look at another beret nzsas malaya mate of my dad. His beret was dated 1955 maker J.Compton Sons & Webb Ltd remember my dads was 1946 maker Kangol Wear. Interesting to see the different dates and makers.

[HamandJam]

Jon,

The badge on this betet looks very modern to me like 70 or 80-ties.

JB

Originally Posted by JON188

Guys
i got this beret from auction the other month.
Nice enough piece, but the only part of the liner to not be shown (and to have physically been "scrubbed out?" is the date- still think its poss 1955?? ).
Therefore, i wondered if the date of this piece could poss be worked out from the cap badge, that looks like it has been put on originally.Where the cap badge sits, it appears that there has been a previous cap badge with slider fitted (HENCE doing away with the WW2 date of the beret), as i am not sure when Parachute regt cap badges changed to Lugged.
Of course, it may not necessarily have been a para regt badged beret prior to SAS service, but some corps (No shade mark on the front to indicate original badge).
Ialso have an unbadged 1955 beret of the same type.Attachment 17522

Attachment 17523
i look forward to hearing from you guys
Regards
Jon
Colloquendo Imperamus

[Frank Kelley]

I have to agree, to the best of my knowledge, wartime airborne berets did not have slider pockets, I have never seen one anyway, I have, however, seen a good number of original berets worn by members of the air landing brigade with their original slidered badges.

Originally Posted by Luc

What Dave means is that the parachute regiment and glider pilot regiment/army air corps didn't use slidered cap badges during the war. I agree.

Dave if your beret has a slider pocket I would like to see some further pictures, the only variation of the 1945 Kangol beret known to me is the black or khaki lining. I have never seen a slider pocket on a wartime beret or 1946, 1949 berets either. It sounds like your beret is post-war and has been sexed up with a more desirable date.

[Frank Kelley]

I can remember seeing several bundles of wartime Airborne berets, still tied together, over thirty years ago now and they had survived in that state because of their size, all were very large and very small, so had not been issued.

Originally Posted by Jibba Jabba

Chaps, I am afraid I am with Luc on this one. For those of you who do not know him he is something of an authority on the subject of the WW2 Airborne.

Dave as for smurf sizes, the wool often shrinks on war time berets if they have been washed or stored incorrectly.

[johanwiegman]

Sounds like typical Army sizes: too large or too small! Or does that only go for boots? :-)

Cheers,

Johan

[ORISKANY]

Originally Posted by saumua

Definately NZ Malaya period - want to move it along?

What were the dates that the NZ SAS served in Malaya? Any firm information would be appreciated. Thank you.

[johanwiegman]

Hi,

24 months between November 1955 and November 1957.

Good book about it: Regular Soldier, a life in the New Zealand Army, by Frank Rennie, who was CO of the NZ SAS at the time.

Cheers,

Johan

[cw2311]

I have handled many war time para berets over the years and have never found any ‘factory original’ berets produced with provisions for a slider badge. As Luc previously mentioned, this practice was conducted later than just post-war. I have however seen a couple war time berets which the veteran himself had hand stitched to accommodate the slider badge in order to prevent it from shifting. This is the closest I’ve personally seen to a war time slider beret.

Cheers

[cw2311]

Originally Posted by johnglen

Just for interest on this subject I had a look at another beret nzsas malaya mate of my dad. His beret was dated 1955 maker J.Compton Sons & Webb Ltd remember my dads was 1946 maker Kangol Wear. Interesting to see the different dates and makers.

Excellent stuff Johnglen!

I must say you have a phenomenal collection with a personal attachment. Good to see you’re keeping it in the family. Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the 1955 J. Compton Sons & Webb Ltd beret?... Love to see it.

Cheers

[Frank Kelley]

While you are waiting, here is one of mine, no SAS connection though!

Originally Posted by cw2311

Excellent stuff Johnglen!

I must say you have a phenomenal collection with a personal attachment. Good to see you’re keeping it in the family. Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the 1955 J. Compton Sons & Webb Ltd beret?... Love to see it.

Cheers

[cw2311]

Greatly appreciated Frank!

I would also assume the letter above the WD stamp is an ‘O’?...

Thank you

[Frank Kelley]

I think you are seeing something that is not actually there, the light was very bright on taking the photo, above the WD Arrow is just the date 1955, if you ever see this manufacturer's stamp in a rather differant "curved" form, it is fake, but, this tends to be with wartime dates.
This particular, rather grubby and mothed example, belonged to a member of 1st Battalion Parachute Regt who enlisted 1n 1956 and did an operational tour on Cyprus from June 1958.
kind regards Frank

Originally Posted by cw2311

Greatly appreciated Frank!

I would also assume the letter above the WD stamp is an ‘O’?...

Thank you

[cw2311]

Hi Frank,

I’m not referring to anything in the picture that can be seen above the broad arrow marking. However, if you turn your beret inside out and look along the perimeter or outer edges of the liner, you should see a white WD stamp with a letter above and number below. This is what I was referring to. Sorry for any confusion.

Cheers