strange combination 6 commando & navy

[pieter]

Hi guys,
has anyone ever seen this strange combination of no. 6 commando shoulder title and royal navy badge?
Cheers,
Pieter

[Jibba Jabba]

The anchor is the rank of leading seaman. No.6 Commando was as you know an Army unit however they did pioneer canoe raids as 101 Troop which later became the SBS. 101 Troop wore the swordfish badge.

Most likely something to do with landing craft in my opinion, in which case the only evidence I have is the Anchor with the Royal Navy title above it worn on the BD.

However I shall wait and see what the experts have to say regarding the authenticity of that shoulder title.

[Luc]

Shoulder title looks good to me.

[Jibba Jabba]

I must say a leading seaman in an army commando is something new to me, I know that army comandos had RN officers attached to them. Are there any more badges on the BD or a veterans name inside on the label? Also what date is the BD?

If you want to save yourself the pain of specualtion you could consult the 6 Commando War Diary and I`m sure any RN members of the unit would be listed in there.

[pieter]

The badges are no longer on a BD, they were cut out and I bought them as part of a small grouping. The wing looks good.....but the back glows under UV-light.

[Sonofacqms]

From screen appearance the buttons appear to be staybrite, the wings look modern and the stitching on the title and anchor are of the "blanket" variety.

Having made these observations, not actually having the badges to hand, I can only add, that my former boss was a Royal Navy medic who wore the R.N. COMMANDO title in dark blue with white lettering (which I have) above combined Op's insignia on army battledress.

[pieter]

The buttons are not staybright, I cleaned them because they looked like sh*t. Shouldn't have done that, I know. Do you think the seaman badge and no. 6 title were just slapped on a piece of BD fabric? Would make sense to me. The main reason why I bought the lot is because of the 2 titles.

[JON188]

Hi Pieter,i looked at the same insignia set and passed up after purchasing a set of printed glider pilot regt titles and glider insignia, all on BD material.They came with a GLIDER PILOT REGT cap badge, that was a restrike.Pics attached.Maybe from the same source??I passed the bits on as unsure to a dealer at Mil Odyssey, who wasnt too sure.Who knows?

[Luc]

Originally Posted by JON188

a set of printed glider pilot regt titles and glider insignia

At the risk of hijacking a thread, is there ar all a printed version of these titles?

Pieter, could you post a picture please of the back of your wings?

[NorthStafford]

Simply looking at the positioning of the anchor in relation to the shoulder title would indicate that they were never worn together, they obviously aren't on an original piece of material but seem to be simply two items that have been sewn together to give the illusion that they are connected.

[tynesideirish]

Hi Pieter,
seems you bought a cobbled together pile of items some of which are dubious.
The old ploy of sewning onto buckshee pieces of battle dress material is getting out of hand.

IF your lucky the title may be genuine but the fact it's sewn to that piece of rag suggests an asian copy. £20.00 if genuine

The Commando metal title is post war and could even be a french one £5.00
The wings are a copy def not WW2, the Leading Seaman rank, DR and Major crown are 10 a penny making the whole thing worthless really

Duff buy, we all do it from time to time!

[nickg]

Pieter

I must agree with Tynesideirish. The shoulder title would be very close to the shoulder seam on a BD and there is too much material above yours for this to ring true also they are crooked to each other whith would get the marine sone serious grief the first time he went on parade and every time thereafter. Also the anchor would be much further down the sleeve from the shoulder title (I believe 4 " to the top of the badge usually judged as the length of the unbuttoned epaulette laid down the sleve but it may not be true for navy units of that period)