Rhodesian African Rifles in aluminium

[Roy]

Greetings all,

I just wanted to thank all contributors to this fascinating thread. I have learnt a great deal about this badge and am grateful for it.

It's a badge I hope to add to my collection one day - when the right one comes along. But in the meantime it is great to learn about all the details - so my sincere gratitude to all who have posted and shared their collections.

Cheers,

Roy

[Milmed]

Originally Posted by Madziro

I am of the opinion that your badge is a 1960s Matthews made type. The WW2 badges were made from thin sheet metal by Keays until the first Firmin made ones were issued. Kind regards. Dudley

Thanks Dudley. I asked as it is almost identical in manufacture to other badges I have from Keays. It appears to be sheet silver and less than 1mm thick, but is not marked at all. It is also slightly larger than the standard RAR cap badge. here is a link to the same badge I have: http://www.samilitaria.com/SAM/index...taria&Itemid=8

Does anyone have an original Keays RAR badge to compare it to?

Thanks
Steven

[Alex Rice]

Hi All
Just found this in a junk shop in Cape Town! I have discussed it with a collector who specialises in Rhodesian badges. He is of the opinion that in 1978 they were planning on raising two additional battalions of the RAR and these were possibly made by Matthews as samples or badges for new recruits. He is of the opinion that the lugs are typical of the Matthews type.
Cheers,
Alex

[rhodesianmilitaria]

Originally Posted by Alex Rice

Hi All
Just found this in a junk shop in Cape Town! I have discussed it with a collector who specialises in Rhodesian badges. He is of the opinion that in 1978 they were planning on raising two additional battalions of the RAR and these were possibly made by Matthews as samples or badges for new recruits. He is of the opinion that the lugs are typical of the Matthews type.
Cheers,
Alex

How interesting except there's some flaws with that analogy.
1) Reuteler made all of the Security Forces badges at that time.
2) The lugs appear (because of the photo) to be specific to Reuteler.
3) I don't believe there was any chance that another two RAR battalions were going to be raised in '78. The problem was not volunteers but the facilities and instructors needed to train them. Do any of you know how long it took just to train the RLI in static parachuting and that's just one aspect of their training.

[rhodesianmilitaria]

Originally Posted by ruwa

I'm open to correction,but as far as I am aware that all of the Reutler badges were die cut (punched out) and not cast. I know that some cast badges started to be made when Rhodesia was becoming Zimbabwe.

Correct.

[rhodesianmilitaria]

Originally Posted by ianh67military

Finally managed to retrieve most of my Rhodie bits from the bedroom they're stored in.
Firstly the silver ones. 4 full size, with the one on black being Rhodie made and CAS hallmarked with "SILVER" and "M.M.Co." on lower lines. The black felt is cut off the hat (not by me).
The second is "F&S" for Firmin and Sons with a Birmingham 1962 hallmark.
The 3rd is not hallmarked, but marked FIRMIN on one side and LONDON on the other, but very small. In the silver pile because the lugs are silver.
No.4 is slightly smaller and has no manufacturer marking at all.

2 silver officers beret badges/collar dogs. Much smaller than the cap. The first is marked "REUTELER MFG" then "RHODESIA" and on the bottom scroll "SILVER".
The smaller of the 2 is marked "F&S" and has a silver hallmark

I'll show the whitemetal next.

Ian H

You appear to be missing the Reuteler made officer's badges with the pebbled reverse. I had at least one pair at one stage maybe two pairs.