Dorsetshire wide wreath cap badge dating

[Alan O]

I believe this to be the only photo I have seen of a wide wreath Dorsetshire badge in use.

It dates to 1916 from the subject's service records. He transferred between several regts which narrows his service down to mid war. He was a wartime soldier and not a regular.

[Sonofacqms]

This badge was worn by the 1st Btn in India c1906, it is 45mm wide and stocks could well have been issued in the Great War.

Rob

[Alan O]

Rob

Have you any evidence for the 1906 date because this man enlisted in the UK at the start of the war and never served with the 1st Bn?

This was not a sealed pattern as far as I am aware but would be interested to discover otherwise.

Alan

[magpie]

Rob, I was told they are a 2nd btn badge.

Andy

[Alan O]

Exactly my point! As yet the only evidence for wear is the photo of a Service Bn soldier circa 1916. The challenge is there!

Dealers ask for big money for these badges so lets see if we can establish their true identity rather than 'sales spin'.

[Sonofacqms]

Alan, Andy, I was actually quoting from the short lived publication "Military Advertiser" which ran from September/October 1985 to July/August 1986. The editor wrote about The Dorsetshire Regt badges at length and he quoted that the wide wreath Dorsetshire badge was 45mm wide as opposed to 40mm and believed to have been worn by the 1st Btn in India on the service dress cap c1906.

As you can see this was published nearly thirty years ago and possibly fresh information has appeared since, possibly the Regiment had a stock of these badges and they were issued during WWI.

I had one of these spare a while ago and knowone seemed interested, not even dealers.

Rob

[Alan O]

Rob

I am not sure that SD caps were worn in India in 1906. Field Service Helmets and Side caps were still the norm until the start of the war (and the return to UK and khaki wool) rather than the khaki drill worn in India. There is some more research needed here so I might try and get down to the Regtl Museum.

Alan

[Sonofacqms]

Alan, the editor lived I believe in the Weymouth area and I think he was well acquainted with the museum, I have not been to the museum for nearly forty years and there may well have been some more developments since those days, I was slightly bemused by the fact that he quoted SD caps being worn in India c1906, but as we say "never say never" with badge collecting.

Rob

[Jim Maclean]

That's the first photograph I've seen of one being worn, at last we can put one date on it's use. The Keep has one in it's display with the caption "Ca 1906", so not much help there. I think to find any other reference you'd have to look in the archives.

[Frank Kelley]

I've always rather liked those badges, but, I would not have described them as Edwardian.

[2747andy]

Well,
the museum seems to think they date pre 1910, so if accurate "Edwardian"? I think the answer lies more c.WW1? I have a lugged KK 651 so that style of fitting was in use between KK 650 and the adoption of sliders! It probably falls into the same stable as the slidered East Surreys with the Victorian style crown and the slidered "Long Key" Northants? Namely a WW1 production in time of need?

Andy

[Alan O]

Originally Posted by magpie

Rob, I was told they are a 2nd btn badge.

Andy

I think that this designation may be because of the Cigarette cards printed in 1930 that use the wide wreath badge as the 2nd Bn's design. I have not seen the 1st Bn's card but suspect that there is some artistic licence being used by the publisher rather than an 100% accurate representation. Ebay is full of the cards.

[magpie]

That may be the case but as the information was given to me by an extremely Knowledgable and well respected member of the badge collecting world i'd like to think of it being more than just a picture on a cigarette card.

Andy

[Alan O]

More than happy to be shown that the badge was worn specifically by the 2nd Bn but I would like some evidence if that would be possible. Perhaps you could ask your friend if he can support the attribution?

Alan

[Jim Maclean]

A thing that's always raised my curiosity with this badge is the method of construction. Very similar to the Victorian badge and totally different to other "Gib" castle types.