Admiral Shoulder boards

[RCN]

Have not posted in the RCN section for quite some time now so thought best to get back to getting some more info on.....

The RCN has only had one Admiral since 1910, that being Admiral Percy Nelles who was a major figure in the pre 2WW RCN. Nelles was Chief of the Naval Staff from 1934 to 1944. On 15 Jan '44 he was appointed to HMCS NIOBE (Canadian naval Base in UK) as Senior Canadian Flag Officer & promoted to Admiral. Nelles retired a year later as an Admiral. He died on 13 June 1951 & was buried at sea.

Recently I was able to acquire a set of 2WW period Admiral's shoulder boards, which is a first for me as I have never seen a set in the past.

This is the insignia Nelles would have worn in 1944-45.

Bryan

[Gino]

It is of interest to note that Admiral Nelles' full dress uniform (ie tailcoat and cocked hat rig) in the rank of rear-admiral is on display in the offices of the Commander Maritime Forces Pacific in Esquimalt. He was obviously a man of diminutive stature. Not long ago someone pointed out that his bullion epaulettes were on the wrong shoulders because the points of the swords crossed with the batons were pointing aft. Unfortunately, this was incorrect since after Unification our flag officers adopted rank insignia with a mameluke sword pointing forward in the army fashion. It would be nice to see our flag officers readopt the naval practice of wearing their shoulder boards and slip ons the other way, but there appears to be very little will to even consider it.

[Gino]

Further to this, I'm not sure if you were aware, but in 2001 the RN changed their admiral's rank boards to be along the lines of the USN with 4 stars for an admiral, 3 for a vice-admiral and so forth. Who'd have believed it?

[RCN]

Interesting something I did not know, but -- Why are you placing this in the RCN section? Its obviously RN so it should be in the RN section I feel,

RCN Bryan

[Gino]

Originally Posted by RCN

Interesting something I did not know, but -- Why are you placing this in the RCN section? Its obviously RN so it should be in the RN section I feel,

RCN Bryan

Good point, I guess I just assumed that anyone whose primary interest was RN badges would know this.

[RCN]

I don't collect modern RN badges Gino & don't follow the current RN or RCN situation as regards Insignia as I have no interest in modern (ie: post 2WW badges). I am primarily pre 2WW right back to VR era.

But I would ask --- has the RCN gone this route for Flag Officer's Insignia as well?

But I do think you might post the Illustrations in the RN section as some members may not know this & might be interested.

RCN Bryan

[Gino]

Originally Posted by RCN

I don't collect modern RN badges Gino & don't follow the current RN or RCN situation as regards Insignia as I have no interest in modern (ie: post 2WW badges). I am primarily pre 2WW right back to VR era.

But I would ask --- has the RCN gone this route for Flag Officer's Insignia as well?

But I do think you might post the Illustrations in the RN section as some members may not know this & might be interested.

RCN Bryan

After Unification, our flag officers all wore the green uniform with the single synthetic gold broad stripe and shoulder straps with the crown, baton, and sword above maple leafs showing their rank. When we returned to blue uniforms 85-87, this did not change, although rank shoulder boards with gold lace for commodores and above were introduced for wear with short sleeve white shirts, white tunics, and white mess dress jackets. Slip on shoulder rank for sweaters, coats, and work dress remained yellow thread on blue background. When we readopted the executive curl in 2010, the shoulder straps on service jackets were eliminated and pre-Unification ranks were returned to. Shoulder boards and slip ons for flag officers, now defined as commodore and above, remained the same however. One of the success stories of the return to the executive curl was they bit the bullet and swallowed the expense of making all officer ranks gold lace once again.

[RCN]

Thanks for posting the Illustrations Gino - very helpful.

The rank for Sub Lieut is new (1 1/2 lace) - In the pre 1968 RCN Acting Sub Lieut & Sub Lieut wore the same insignia.

B

[Gino]

Originally Posted by RCN

Thanks for posting the Illustrations Gino - very helpful.

The rank for Sub Lieut is new (1 1/2 lace) - In the pre 1968 RCN Acting Sub Lieut & Sub Lieut wore the same insignia.

B

Affirmative, they still wanted to keep in line with the rest of the CF.

[RCN]

That one at least makes sense!

B