Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers souvenir

[High Wood]

A car boot find this morning in the shape of a large match box cover that has been overlaid with an Italy Star ribbon and a Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers officer's collar badge. both the 2nd and 6th battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers served in Sicily and Italy.

[irishhorse]

Looks to be a 6th Inniskilling Dragoons badge. Rather than Inniskilling Fusiliers.

[High Wood]

Originally Posted by irishhorse

Looks to be a 6th Inniskilling Dragoons badge. Rather than Inniskilling Fusiliers.

The first thing that I did was check the British Cavalry Badges section on the top bar and indeed it appears to be a 6th Inniskilling Dragoons badge. The second thing I did was to check the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons on Wikipedia and found that by WW2 had amalgamated to become the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. They didn't serve in Italy during WW2 so I am clueless as to why a 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards collar badge should be paired with an Italy Star ribbon.

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/br...h_dragoons.htm

[High Wood]

Thinking this through, it could conceivably have belonged to an officer of the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards attached to a another regiment that did serve in Italy. Possible but unlikely.

[Alex Rice]

It doesn't look like an Italy Star ribbon to me, that ribbon was red-white-green-white-red, not red-white-green. Not sure white that ribbon is unless it's an off colour KSA ribbon, though unlikely.
Cheers,
Alex

[John Mulcahy]

I wonder if it is the colours of the regimental tie or regimental ribbon of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons rather than the Italy star. Like IH I think this is cavalry related rather than Inniskilling Fusiliers.

John

[High Wood]

I clearly got up way too early this morning. You are right, it shares the same colours but is clearly not the Italy Star ribbon. Back to the drawing board.

[High Wood]

I have gently cleaned the front and I think that the ribbon is most likely to be that of the King's South Africa medal. The celluloid cover is slightly yellowed and is probably making the orange of the ribbon appear redder than it actually is.

For some reason I had it in my head that the Italy Star had three vertical stripes like the 1939/45 Star. It clearly hasn't.

[leigh kitchen]

So the ribbon is the colour of the Irish tricolour?

[High Wood]

Originally Posted by leigh kitchen

So the ribbon is the colour of the Irish tricolour?

As is the ribbon of the K.S.A. medal but you may be onto something. I am clearly overthinking the whole thing.

[mikewelsby]

I thought they were the regimental colours, the RDG stable belt is the same, but red at the top - I think.

Regards

Mike

[John Mulcahy]

Originally Posted by mikewelsby

I thought they were the regimental colours, the RDG stable belt is the same, but red at the top - I think.

Regards

Mike

I agree they appear to be the regimental colours of the 6th Dragoons.

Used on the cover of , With the Inniskilling Dragoons - The Record of a Cavalry Regiment During the Boer War, 1899-1902, Lieut.-Colonel J. Watkins, SEE LINK

https://antiquarianauctions.com/lots...-war-1899-1902.

Perpetuated by 5th RIDG ( in the stable belt as you mention and the regimental tie) and again by the RDG.

John

[leigh kitchen]

So it's red not orange? As the colours are in a different order to those shown in the link could it just be that a readily available little piece of almost correct Italian ribbon was used?

[High Wood]

Is it any wonder that I am confused about exactly it is that I have got?

Through the slightly yellowed piece of celluloid the ribbon appears to be red, white and green. The cover that holds the ribbon in place is attached to the match box cover by four metal prongs which could be straightened out, allowing the smaller cover and the ribbon to be removed. I am not going to remove the cover as disturbing the prongs is bound to break at least one of them off.

[leigh kitchen]

Sounds the sensible thing to do, it's a nice little item as is.