Never Say Never

[Luke H]

Very happy to have this arrive after a nervous 11 days in the post.

A territorial 1916 all GM issue to the 7-9th Battalions Middlesex Regiment.

Julian’s research does show that 15,000 of these were ordered in 1916.

Prior to this one I was of the belief they either never existed or no longer exist i.e. the order was not fulfilled or a scenario resulting in their disposed en masse. Reason for my supposition being that numbers-wise these should be more common than both the Leinster or RMF economy issues yet I’d never seen or heard of one.

Curiously I know of another badge from the same die where the POW plumes and battle honour scroll are overlaid in brass.

I wonder what other 1916 TF surprises may still be out there. As they say, never say never.

[SemperFi]

Outstanding, Luke—congratulations! Thank you for sharing your stellar find! I’m an avid 1916 GM collector, and I’ll be adding this one to my TF list.

Kind regards,
Jay

[Chipper]

Hi Luke,

Excellent research and yet again, bloody great find!

Cheers, Tim

PS, I should add, thanks yet again to Julian for his invaluable research over the years.

[manchesters]

Luke,

Rare badge and a good find.

Cant help noticing how badly made it is. If it was a normal bimetal Middlesex badge I am sure we would give it a wide berth.

Just goes to show that some gems are not always obvious,.

regards

[Luke H]

Thanks all.

Yes I agree Tim, Julian’s sterling research is excellent and when cross-referenced with the good ‘hardware’ absolutely invaluable.

Simon this type with the angular feathers is quite distinctive and I believe a wartime produced die judging by the rendering and poorer quality of the badges. Thankfully I’m yet to see a repro produced from it.

I was saving the attached for a WW1 ‘oddity’ album I’m planning. I’m as sure as I can be with the first so badly mis-stamped that they are from the same die. The POW feathers and asymmetrical monogram are a match. Even the sliders are very similar. Key point of note is the battle honour scroll, overlaid with an Albuhera scroll but South Africa 1900-02 on the underlay.

Bit off topic but the WM Arty we discussed arrived today, it’s lovely. I’ve put it next to my 3 loop Gaunt badge. As you can see they’re from different dies.

[manchesters]

Luke,
Its a nice WM, 3 loop, early Artillery badge.
No VOLUNTEERS top scroll; No laurel leaf top scroll, so an oddity for sure.

My thought was one of the various Commonwealth Volunteer Artillery Units that didnt have its own badge, but thats a guess.

regards

[Sonofacqms]

I have seen a 1916 economy 4th Btn Northamptonshire Regt many years ago in my Uncles house, my guess is it went in the dustbin when he moved
Rob

[Luke H]

Yes Rob the GM Northamptonshire TF is quite well known and accepted. The others being the 23rd London, Essex TF and South Lancs TF. A crying shame if it was chucked as they’re lovely badges and very rare, not to mention the last economy badge I’m actively seeking.

Not wanting to give it away as it’s Julian’s research but the others potentially out there in all GM are:

Suffolk TF
East Lancs TF
Leicestershire TF
Suffolk TF

As with the Middx I’ve never seen a genuine one of any of those nor heard of one is someone else collection. There are of course many repros, especially of the Leicestershire TF but none pass the muster.

[Fatherofthree]

Greetings.

Re The Middlesex badge:
Luke, I have an example of the Albuhera overlay on the SA Scroll, the same as yours, I also have an example of the badge without the overlay.

I suspect that it is possible that the reason the ‘without overlay’ badge may have been pushed into service later, instead of being issued to troops is they were rejects.

The three obvious faults on both your and my examples are the blemish beneath DD, beneath S and the positioning of the feather quill tips in the coronet.

What can’t be seen on yours though, is the front of the original SA Scroll.

From the rear it appears okay, however on mine you can clearly see that the front is almost in hieroglyphics, UTH A are the only letters or figures that are legible.

In addition, the Ich Dien scrolls and the lower part overlay on the coronet are somewhat suspect.

IMG_1396.jpg IMG_1397.jpg

Hence, my supposition they were rejected; perhaps, somehow a number were retained at the manufacturers, or elsewhere.

Some time later when another order was received for 'Albuhera badges', the rejects were utilised and Albuhera scrolls were attached, again either at the manufacturers or Regimentally, but I suspect the former.

It wouldn’t surprise me if when the badges were re-used, it wasn’t the same person who fixed on the Albuhera scrolls, probably still pissed.

Interestingly though, I have 2 other examples of overlaid scrolls on Middlesex badges; a WM lugged NCO 4th-7th, with the SA scroll overlaid over Albuhera and an OSD collar with a South Africa scroll pinned over the Albuhera scroll.

Both, in my opinion, genuine items.

Regards.

Brian

[Luke H]

I don’t think they’re rejects.

If the badge was rejected sticking an Albuhera scroll on it I don’t think would change much. Plus they all show signs of service wear.

Rather I think it’s likely the badge is made by a ‘new’ and not very skilled wartime manufacturer who won a contract for Middx TF badges. Sometime later it’s logical they won another contract for a regulars badge or altered based on the 1917 order that TFs were now to wear the regulars badge. Otherwise quantity-wise they’d have cut the die with Albuhera and overlaid SA as former was ordered in far higher quantities.

To save cutting a whole new die it was easier to make a Alb scroll and overlay it.

Looking at your badge on the left a few of the hieroglyphics appear to be small raised spots of braze? Could it have had a Albuhera scroll which has come off?

This is another example, same die. You can see it’s worn but not as worn as ours.

[Nozzer]

Glad to see that it arrived.

Well spotted, a great badge!

[KLR]

Ever say Ever


All GM


4th and 5th TF Bns Suffolk 9k
4th and 5th TF Bns E Lancs 6k
4th and 5th TF Bns Leics 6k
7th, 8th, 9th and 10th TF Bns Mddx 15k