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  #1  
Old 11-06-22, 12:25 PM
Waterloo1815 Waterloo1815 is offline
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Default 1894 badge design change - reversed.

Interesting to note that the Dragon cap badge of The Buffs was to be replaced by the White Horse in 1894, but within a month (April to May of that year) the decision had been reversed; much to the approval of the regiment!
Regards,
Leo
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  #2  
Old 11-06-22, 02:05 PM
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Unconscionable that they should think of replacing the dragon. Who or what entity made decisions regarding badging?

CB
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  #3  
Old 11-06-22, 04:54 PM
Waterloo1815 Waterloo1815 is offline
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CB,
There was no mention in the publication as to who's idea it was to replace the Dragon badge. As a follow-up to the 1894 clips, it appears that it took 2 years for the new Field Service Cap (often called the Forage Cap) to be issued to the battalion in India, finally arriving in 1896. The attached clip is from the May 31st 1896 Dragon publication.
Regards,
Leo
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File Type: jpg 1896 Field Service Cap.JPG (25.4 KB, 12 views)
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  #4  
Old 12-06-22, 06:37 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterloo1815 View Post
Interesting to note that the Dragon cap badge of The Buffs was to be replaced by the White Horse in 1894, but within a month (April to May of that year) the decision had been reversed; much to the approval of the regiment!
Regards,
Leo
This is a consequence of the introduction of the field service cap (FSC) and the order from the War Office (WO) that the left collar badge was to be worn as a cap badge (with a few exceptions) because the badge previously worn on the Glengarry was too big for use in the FSC. ( PO/Gen. No. 1639). For regimental exceptions see; David Linaker, Field (Service) Cap Badges. Crown Imperial, 113 (July 2004, 27-29).

At this time the collar badge of the Buffs was pattern 9978, The White Horse of Kent with scroll below inscribed "INVICTA". Hence why the White Horse appeared as a cap badge for a while (at least on paper if not in practice). Other regiments suffered what they thought of as a similar indignity for example the Connaught Rangers found themselves wearing the elephant on their FSC and the regiment was so annoyed that they wrote to Horse Guards asking for a change (documented in WO 79/46).

Back to The Buffs, Churchill writes (in "History of the British Army Infantry Collar Badge") that on May 23, 1894 a new collar badge, pattern 4054, a dragon in gilding metal, was approved and sealed on Aug 14 1894 (almost certainly as a result of a petition by the regiment in my opinion). So the new the left collar badge, a dragon would, have been worn before the familiar forage cap badge was adopted later in the decade.

John

Last edited by John Mulcahy; 12-06-22 at 06:42 AM.
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  #5  
Old 12-06-22, 09:12 AM
Waterloo1815 Waterloo1815 is offline
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John,
Many thanks for the additional information. So far there is no mention of which badge (possibly the collar as you say) they actually used on the new FS Cap in 1896, just that they were still awaiting the new badge, which I assume is Fig 591 in K&K, which is dated 1898. I'll continue my trawl through the old issues of The Dragon to see if any mention is made of it. I'm just starting on the 1897 issue now.
Regards,
Leo
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  #6  
Old 12-06-22, 10:24 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterloo1815 View Post
John,
Many thanks for the additional information. So far there is no mention of which badge (possibly the collar as you say) they actually used on the new FS Cap in 1896, just that they were still awaiting the new badge, which I assume is Fig 591 in K&K, which is dated 1898. I'll continue my trawl through the old issues of The Dragon to see if any mention is made of it. I'm just starting on the 1897 issue now.
Regards,
Leo
Leo

what you might see (depending on when battalions received the new FSC, which was sealed on May 29, 1893) is as follows,

Early 1894, any battalions issued with the FSC with the White Horse of Kent left collar badge (unless they refused to follow WO instructions)

From the second half of 1894, the new Dragon left collar badge (Churchill fig. 80)

From 1896, the new forage cap badge (KK 591)

John
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  #7  
Old 12-06-22, 11:59 AM
Waterloo1815 Waterloo1815 is offline
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Thanks again John for the additional info.
I haven't yet found any further mention of the issuing of the new badge, Fig 591, and I'm up to Sep 1898. There is a large gap in the publications from July 1897 to July 1898. However, the Sep 1898 issue did have correspondence on the new shoulder title (attached clip).
Regards,
Leo
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File Type: jpg 1898 Buffs instead of E.Kent 02.JPG (70.4 KB, 12 views)
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  #8  
Old 12-06-22, 03:11 PM
Waterloo1815 Waterloo1815 is offline
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Default Another interesting snippet

House of Commons question (1899) attached.
Regards,
Leo
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File Type: jpg 1899 House of Commons 01.JPG (68.1 KB, 8 views)
File Type: jpg 1899 House of Commons 02.JPG (40.7 KB, 6 views)
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  #9  
Old 12-06-22, 05:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Mulcahy View Post
For regimental exceptions see; David Linaker, Field (Service) Cap Badges. Crown Imperial, 113 (July 2004, 27-29).
Thanks John. Would you happen to have this article?
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  #10  
Old 12-06-22, 09:44 PM
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I posted this frock in another thread showing the right collar, but it is of relevance to this. I would assume this pattern collar badge (left side) would have been the one worn on the FSC? It is my understanding that the split wing wing is an early pattern. The facings are Buff and the buttons QVC.

CB
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File Type: jpg IMG_0173.jpg (42.5 KB, 14 views)
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  #11  
Old 13-06-22, 12:27 PM
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Thanks John. Would you happen to have this article?
I do Luke but not readily to hand. I shall PM you.

John
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  #12  
Old 13-06-22, 12:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbuehler View Post
I posted this frock in another thread showing the right collar, but it is of relevance to this. I would assume this pattern collar badge (left side) would have been the one worn on the FSC? It is my understanding that the split wing wing is an early pattern. The facings are Buff and the buttons QVC.

CB
Yes, that does look like pattern 4054/1894.

John
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