Royal Marines badge red backing

[loupie1961]

hello everybody: I've recently acquired a Royal Marine Commando beret with an odd characteristic... the RM badge has got a red "drop" backing exactly the way blue Royal Marines beret have, but I did not know RM Commando could... I guess this is a feature introduced after the war, when the only Commandos to survive were RM? thank you in advance for your advise!

[Alan O]

It is a recruits beret worn by RM before they pass the Commando Cse and get the green one.

Alan

[loupie1961]

Thank you, Alan for the quick response! Vintage at a guess? I know is a pre 1952 item, but I'd like to know whether this practice was already in use during WWII or rather postwar... cheers, L.

[54Bty]

Sorry to burst the bubble but it looks like a Rifle Green beret with the Beech brown pear drop worn by members of the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC).
Marc

[Alan O]

54 Bty is right - a RM recruit one should be blue but if that one is green then it is a WRAC one. Apologies for not spotting the the tear drop patch.

Alan

[loupie1961]

Well, the beret is rather the same hue as commando green, let's say "greener", and lighter than the rifles green, and the tear or pear drop is definitively a bright red, not brown...

[Eddie Parks]

Absolutely and for sure a WRAC beret.

The patch shape that RM recruits wear on their Blue berets is square with an arch on top. In the days before all RM were commando trained it was worn by non-commando RM personnel. Also be aware that the blue beret/red patch is worn by Sea Cadet RM cadets and non commando trained instructors.

Eddie

[Malcolm Davey]

Hi Guys
Should this thread, interesting as it is be in the Royal Marines Section on the forum ????

Cheers
Malc