Gt BRITAIN cloth title

[engr9266]

I came across this title at Farnham last Sunday.

Gt BRITAIN in white on Khaki. Was this worn by British forces overseas in maybe USA or Canada or elsewhere?
Can you confirm please?
Jerry
engr9266

[Postwarden]

Jerry,

Don't think anyone has satisfactorily solved this problem.

It suggests usage by someone like the Canadians but it has never been proved. And in what role or capacity would a Brit be serving with the Canadians?

Jon

[Padre]

The 'Gt. Britain' title was worn by some trainee aircrews who were in North America on the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, as well as others such as 'Scotland' and 'N. Ireland'. To date I have not found either a British or Canadian order authorising their wear, although in the Air Force that isn't unusual. There was at least 125 distinct nationality titles worn, with only a handful being officially authorised.

One producer of badges in the US was 'Patch King' who reputedly made insignia for collectors but being sold openly I strongly suspect they were also purchased by servicemen and women for wear as additional to those they were issued. Both official issue and Patch King examples were in white or light blue rayon thread, usually on dark blue wool although officers examples on blue/grey also exist. They were not needed or permitted in the UK and so were removed before a return home, but I think in North America whilst on the BCATP, they were worn, with CO's turning a blind eye.

I don't know of a similar training plan for the Army in North America, but there were certainly British military personnel, both men and women, seconded to the US and Canada for various duties, and I suspect again titles could be privately purchased, with CO's again turning a blind eye.

[engr9266]

Thank you for your posts.
engr9266

[Bill A]

Is the title blue or khaki? The image is not colour true on my computer.

[mike_vee]

An RAF example :

https://www.dearoldblighty.com/en-GB...3#.YbRL-9_P01I

And a couple of variations from an auction lot :

https://bid.candtauctions.co.uk/m/lo...F20%3Fpage%3D2


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[engr9266]

Originally Posted by Bill A

Is the title blue or khaki? The image is not colour true on my computer.

Bill, White on Khaki and straight, 3" long by 1" wide
Jerry
engr9266

[mike_vee]

The auction lot link I posted says the badges were from the "Barrie Morris Cloth Insignia Collection" , so possibly there are more details about the 'white on khaki Gt Britain' (which looks just like Jerry's) in his book ?

https://www.lulu.com/en/gb/shop/barr...e=1&pageSize=4

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[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by Postwarden

And in what role or capacity would a Brit be serving with the Canadians?

Originally Posted by Padre

I don't know of a similar training plan for the Army in North America, but there were certainly British military personnel, both men and women, seconded to the US and Canada for various duties

Chemical weapons testing ?

From Wiki :

A British chemical weapons testing facility was located in French-controlled Algeria. However, upon the conquest of France by Germany in 1940, the facility was lost. The British could find no suitable location in the UK, and an agreement was signed between Canada and the UK to allow the Suffield area to become available to British scientists for testing. Consequently, British and Canadian forces employed the area for a variety of experiments. Upon the end of World War II, the British departed the Suffield area and it was formally taken over by the Canadian Defence Research Board.

Fast forward :

In January 1972, the British Army Training Unit Suffield was formally established.

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[Bill A]

Being the title was khaki worsted, it was likely army. There were some Brits who enlisted in the Canadian army and elected to identify as such by wearing the Gt Britain nationality title. These were not authorized and were private purchase. They drew the ire of the army and were not to be worn.

[Alan O]

There are a few grid squares at BATUS where you don't go and certainly don't dig because of the CW testing in the 1940's.