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  #1  
Old 25-11-19, 10:10 AM
Glosters Cloth
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Default WW2 Rank Backing Colours

Gentlemen,

Can anyone help me out here please? I'm trying to establish when officers wore the colour backing behind their rank badges (pips and crowns) on Battledress.

ACI 1118 of 1940 lists the colours to be worn, and later amendments like the Recce Corps green (ACI 420 of 1941) etc, were also made. I can't find the RADC (green) as yet though!

Some examples:

RAC - yellow. RA - red. RE - blue. R. Sigs - blue. Infantry - scarlet.
RASC - yellow. Air Defence Corps - green. RAPC - yellow. Int Corps- green.

My question is: when did officers wear these colours behind their rank badges? What I mean is, were the standard khaki type the default working dress / battle order type and were the coloured backings worn at HQ level, on best order / parade ground dress, etc, or, as has been suggested...vice versa for battlefield identification?

Help?

Ken

Last edited by Glosters Cloth; 25-11-19 at 11:31 AM.
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  #2  
Old 25-11-19, 12:22 PM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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Hello! Is your question related to British Army rank badges or South African Army? As South African Army is concerned, I have got in my collection a Leather Jerkin that has been provided with a cloth collar and rank epaulettes: the rank pips have got a red backing, so I guess backing were used in combat order, whereas brass or bronze pips for the parade ground, walking out BD and so on.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Glosters Cloth View Post
Gentlemen,

Can anyone help me out here please? I'm trying to establish when officers wore the colour backing behind their rank badges (pips and crowns) on Battledress.

ACI 1118 of 1940 lists the colours to be worn, and later amendments like the Recce Corps green (ACI 420 of 1941) etc, were also made. I can't find the RADC (green) as yet though!

Some examples:

RAC - yellow. RA - red. RE - blue. R. Sigs - blue. Infantry - scarlet.
RASC - yellow. Air Defence Corps - green. RAPC - yellow. Int Corps- green.

My question is: when did officers wear these colours behind their rank badges? What I mean is, were the standard khaki type the default working dress / battle order type and were the coloured backings worn at HQ level, on best order / parade ground dress, etc, or, as has been suggested...vice versa for battlefield identification?

Help?

Ken
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  #3  
Old 25-11-19, 03:33 PM
Glosters Cloth
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Many thanks for that Loupie1961.
British in the main, but the info you provide does help. Thank you.
I've looked at quite a good sample of period (WWII) images now, and it does look like the 'unofficial' rule might have been that their was no rule! Maybe local level commanders decided what was and wasn't worn, and when? Unless someone knows differently...?
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  #4  
Old 25-11-19, 04:07 PM
loupie1961 loupie1961 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glosters Cloth View Post
Many thanks for that Loupie1961.
British in the main, but the info you provide does help. Thank you.
I've looked at quite a good sample of period (WWII) images now, and it does look like the 'unofficial' rule might have been that their was no rule! Maybe local level commanders decided what was and wasn't worn, and when? Unless someone knows differently...?
You're welcome! I have asked because you have posted your question in the South Africa Military Insignia forum, but I guess that if you want to find out what the regulations were for the British Army, it would be better to opne a new thread in the British Insignia Forum. To tell the truth I have tried to finde out the same thing for the Indian Army, since many of the epaulette slip ons badged to officers of Indian formations seem to have the plain khaki worsted cloth pips, but there's the odd exception of pips with the usual backing: red for Infantry, green for Rifles and so on....
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  #5  
Old 25-11-19, 04:43 PM
Glosters Cloth
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I'm beginning to think the general rule was that their was no rule. Maybe it was down to local level commanders to decide?
I've posted under a different topic (!) now, and if anything concrete comes in I will let you know.
Very best wishes and happy hunting.
Ken
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  #6  
Old 25-11-19, 05:59 PM
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Rob Miller Rob Miller is offline
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Here are a couple of threads from the past with similar questions and clues.

Rob

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...hlight=colours

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...highlight=pips
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  #7  
Old 25-11-19, 08:46 PM
Glosters Cloth
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Rob,
Super.
Thank you.
Ken
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  #8  
Old 30-07-22, 04:16 PM
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Any idea who wore these please?

One pair is possibly Royal Artillery, if they are a faded red.

The others appear to be purple and are not on the list that appears earlier in the post.

RAC - yellow. RA - red. RE - blue. R. Sigs - blue. Infantry - scarlet.
RASC - yellow. Air Defence Corps - green. RAPC - yellow. Int Corps- green.
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  #9  
Old 30-07-22, 04:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by High Wood View Post
Any idea who wore these please?

One pair is possibly Royal Artillery, if they are a faded red.

The others appear to be purple and are not on the list that appears earlier in the post.

RAC - yellow. RA - red. RE - blue. R. Sigs - blue. Infantry - scarlet.
RASC - yellow. Air Defence Corps - green. RAPC - yellow. Int Corps- green.
To my eyes, the ones on the left are "Dull Cherry" and therefore RAMC, the ones on the right appear to be "Beech Brown" and therefore WRAC

Paul
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  #10  
Old 30-07-22, 05:06 PM
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Paul,

many thanks for the information. R.A.M.C. is obvious now that you have told me and Dull Cherry makes perfect sense in the same way that a white horse is called a Grey. As for Breech Brown it is more a rust red to my eyes. Who comes up with the names for these shades?

Seriously though, is there a full list of the various backing colours any where?

Simon.
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  #11  
Old 30-07-22, 08:21 PM
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To my eyes, the ones on the left are "Dull Cherry" and therefore RAMC, the ones on the right appear to be "Beech Brown" and therefore WRAC

Paul
Beech Brown in 1940 would have been Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS)

The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women's Royal Army Corps. (WRAC)
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Old 30-07-22, 08:36 PM
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It would have been Army Dental Corps (ADC) in 1940 with the colour of Green

There were a number of similarities in colours

A full list of colours was set out in ACI 1118 dated 18th September 1940:

Staff – Red

RAC – Yellow

RA – Red

RE – Blue

R Signals – Blue

Infantry (Except Rifles) – Scarlet

Infantry (Rifles) – Rifle Green

Reconnaissance Corps – Green

RAChD – Black (later Purple)

RASC – Yellow

RAMC – Dull Cherry

RAOC – Dark Blue

CMP – Red

RAPC – Yellow

AEC – Cambridge Blue

ADC – Green

AMPC – Red

Intelligence Corps – Green

APTC – Black

General List – Scarlet
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  #13  
Old 30-07-22, 08:42 PM
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Some examples, there are many variations in size and colour shades.

Tim
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 90A2A60F-0891-44C8-8DCF-3BD46F5D4AA5.jpg (78.1 KB, 27 views)
File Type: jpg D0A68225-8E4E-40A1-8B6A-B5C3D18BF6F0.jpg (68.8 KB, 27 views)
File Type: jpg E3460D3F-9341-48C1-8154-C661ACFCDA71.jpg (76.8 KB, 26 views)
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Old 30-07-22, 11:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike_2817 View Post
Beech Brown in 1940 would have been Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS)

The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women's Royal Army Corps. (WRAC)
Thank you for that information (which I already knew), I was making an assumption that the beech brown stars are post war….

Paul
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  #15  
Old 31-07-22, 08:27 AM
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Thank you all for your input into answering my question. The photographs were particularly helpful.

I am always puzzled by the Army's use of the word blue. The Royal Signals Blue is a very rich dark blue, almost black.
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