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  #1  
Old 22-03-14, 07:34 AM
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Default CFA Imhoff Battery Cloth Flash

Hi All

One of the gems I picked up on my visit to Cape Town this week.

These cloth flashes are reasonably scarce especially if you do not live in the Cape as I do. I found this 1950's tunic in a second hand store devoid of all its badges and buttons however the most scarce and important cloth badges were still there!

The I in the flash stands for Imhoff Q Battery. The other two batteries are Amsterdam P Battery and Wynyard R Battery, all named after old Dutch batteries situated at the Cape.

Link to CFA info: http://www.rfdiv.mil.za/docs/CAPE%20...0ARTILLERY.pdf

Needless to say I never hesitated a second, my wife was not impressed at my purchase "more junk" was the comment!

Brian
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File Type: jpg DSCF4542.jpg (38.5 KB, 20 views)

Last edited by Brian Conyngham; 22-03-14 at 01:00 PM.
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  #2  
Old 22-03-14, 07:49 AM
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Excellent! I have never seen either title or sign before. If those are typical of the period for the South African Army it must be an interesting time for collectors and historians decades later. Mike
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  #3  
Old 22-03-14, 07:53 AM
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Mike

The shoulder titles pop up from time to time but the Battery Cloth flashes are seldom seen, yes, we have a lot of variables which make collecting out here in the "colonies" interesting.

This is my second interesting find in the past month, the other being an early Natal Field Artillery officers cap badge.

Brian
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  #4  
Old 22-03-14, 08:57 AM
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Some years ago I tried to put together a small booklet on the SA cloth badges, I sent what I had managed to produce to the 'Serving SA Master Gunner', only to be told by two retired MGs that cloth badges were never worn. Never saw my work again and my letter a few months later asking who's badges I had documented went unanswered.

Marc

Last edited by 54Bty; 15-02-22 at 09:19 PM.
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  #5  
Old 22-03-14, 09:32 AM
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Marc

Really sorry to hear about your experience, no they were definately worn, it is crazy to have received such an answer from a the MG's!

I was once told that the tunics were worn with one Afrikaans shoulder title and one English shoulder title, however, my example clearly shows both as English versions, so was it the case if one was English you wore English titles and if you were Afrikaans you wore Afrikaans tiles?

Regards
Brian
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  #6  
Old 22-03-14, 12:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Conyngham View Post
if one was English you wore English titles and if you were Afrikaans you wore Afrikaans tiles?
Brian,

That is what I was told by another collector and local to SA.

Marc
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  #7  
Old 22-03-14, 12:58 PM
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Marc

Thanks for sharing that confirmation.

How many SA Cloth badges do you have? There were quite a few issued especially shoulder titles.

Brian
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  #8  
Old 22-03-14, 04:06 PM
Madziro Madziro is offline
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Some time back I created two albums of SA cloth patches and titles that I obtained over the years. They are at http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...p?albumid=1906

and at http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...p?albumid=1896

These two collections are by no means comprehensive but give an idea of what can be found. They are becoming more scarce now and I think very collectible.
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  #9  
Old 22-03-14, 04:42 PM
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Thanks for the links Dudley.

I will take a few pics of my artillery collection when I get home and post tomorrow.

Regards
Brian
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  #10  
Old 22-03-14, 04:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Conyngham View Post
How many SA Cloth badges do you have? There were quite a few issued especially shoulder titles.
Not many as I gave up after a while:
A. Unavailable.
B. Available but very expensive.

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...p?albumid=2283

Marc
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  #11  
Old 23-03-14, 05:24 AM
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Marc

You have a nice selection of SA Artillery badges. There are many variations as well. Your "narrow" S.A.H.A. is WW2 worn mainly in East Africa, many people get confused with this badge, thinking it is a variation of the WW1 S.A.H.A. title. Another badge is a plain HA worn by the Heavy Artillery in G.S.W.A. and must not get confused with the S.A.H.A. that served on the Western Front. These are not in Owen's so when they are found they are ignored, there are a few size variations as well, as they were I suspect all made in the Cape Railway workshops. The heavy guns for this campaign were all erected at the Salt River Railway Workshops along with the searchlights, which were used for signalling.

I will start updating my album today, time consuming but worth it.

Regards
Brian
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  #12  
Old 23-03-14, 06:31 AM
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Hi Brian,
I used to have the other two battery flashes.
Amsterdam was a capital A on a triangle flash and Wynyard a capital W on a round flash if I remember corretly. I sold these to James along with most of my collection about 15 years ago as I decided to concentrate on the medical side. Can kick myself now as I have never seen them again. I wonder if he still has them??

Steven
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  #13  
Old 23-03-14, 08:00 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Conyngham View Post
There are many variations as well. Your "narrow" S.A.H.A. is WW2 worn mainly in East Africa, Brian
I hope I have annotated the correct one, feel free to comment on any and all where necessary and I will add the information. My text is the basic image reference.

Marc
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  #14  
Old 23-03-14, 09:25 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Milmed View Post
Hi Brian,
I used to have the other two battery flashes.
Amsterdam was a capital A on a triangle flash and Wynyard a capital W on a round flash if I remember corretly. I sold these to James along with most of my collection about 15 years ago as I decided to concentrate on the medical side. Can kick myself now as I have never seen them again. I wonder if he still has them??

Steven
Big mistake Steven, I am still looking for Amsterdam and Wynyard flashes. The problem why these are rare is exactly how I found my tunic, all the brass bits are removed and the cloth badges were left on and then the tunics were disposed of!

Brian
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  #15  
Old 23-03-14, 10:02 AM
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Hi Brian, I only have the Amsterdam badge. Regards Andrew
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