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#1
29-01-12, 06:11 AM
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Pretoria Highlanders
Hi All
I have had a long affiliation with Pretoria stretching back to my National Service in 1978 and later took a promotion there in the late 1980's. We lived there for two years before transferring back to the coast. We had some good times there and one thing I clearly remember was never being able to "sleep in" on weekends due to the South Africa Air Force conducting flying lessons over our suburb, in their Bosbok's, it had to have been the most noisy single engine aircraft ever produced! Whilst up there I started collecting Pretoria Highlander badges and just last week managed to add another which I now suspect could be every variation of badge produced, however, if anyone has another please post it here or comment, I do have another collar variation which was when they were an Anti-Tank unit affliliated to the SA Artillery, it is however framed. The brass variation has the same flat lugs as the collar badge. The brass version that is silver plated appears to have been very poorly coated as the silver has worn off badly on the front of the badge however on the rear it is still fine, unfortunately this badge has also been lugged very badly, not sure if those are original or not? I have seen another example of this variation which was sold on Ebay about a month back (I think if I can recall correctly, to someone in Australia?) and it looked much the same as my example, the silver was almost completly missing from the front as well! The collar as one can see has also been given a very thin silver coating that is also wearing rather thin! Would really like to know where these poorly plated versions were produced, are they perhaps wartime badges? Here is a link for a little history on the unit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretoria_Highlanders Regards Brian Last edited by Brian Conyngham; 29-01-12 at 09:07 AM. 
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#2
29-01-12, 11:07 AM
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Hi Brian
Nice collection. I can't access my badges at the moment to check if the lugs on mine are the same as yours, but the silver/nickel coatings on these badges does seem to be generally poor. Sorry to tell you that there is another variation, which I don't have unfortunately, but Owen 688 is a bi-metal voided badge. Good luck in getting one. Cheers, Alex
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#3
29-01-12, 01:05 PM
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Thanks Alex for that, never seen a bi-metal PH? That would be a nice addition.
This unit just seemed to have dissapeared sometime around 2000, any idea when it was disbanded as Googling it has not helped, a number of people have asked the same question by the looks of it. Brian
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#5
29-01-12, 03:35 PM
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Andrew
Thanks, thats the collar design/version mentioned above that I have mounted, ONLY worn when the unit was an Anti Tank Regiment (told this by an ex PH) however I am not too sure if this is fact or fiction, note bomb above St. Andrews cross. Andrew do you have a bi-metal version? Brian
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#8
29-01-12, 06:21 PM
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Quote:
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#10
30-01-12, 06:52 PM
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Thanks Aab for that info regards the amalgamation of the PH with the Pretoria Regiment, both great regiments.
My eyes are peeled for a Bi-metal, the quest is on! Brian
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#11
31-01-12, 04:17 AM
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Hi all,
good little thread with some interesting points & nice badges. My small contribution is the chrome version with tartan backing. RM 006.jpg The tartan is Hunting Stewart, (tho' I don't know why they were hunting Stewart!  ) sorry.....Iain
__________________
C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre
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#12
24-03-13, 06:04 AM
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Hi Guys
Reviving this thread.....I was having a look at Owen's book the other day and am convinced that the bi-metal Pretoria Highlanders badges featured is a fantasy badge. It appears to have been made by cutting the scroll off a brass badge scroll and adding it to a white metal badge...? I would be interested to closely inspect the PH badge example in Owen's, I wonder who now owns it? It could be like the SA Tank Corps badge, also in Owen's, where the buck Head has been removed from a standard SA "buck in porthole" badge and attached to the top of the standard Tank Corps badge. This is purely trench art, possibly done by a bored soldier in a workshop "Up North"! Apologies to the man if I am wrong, but Owen should have known better than insert these fantasy pieces into his book. Brian Last edited by Brian Conyngham; 30-03-13 at 06:57 PM.
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#13
24-03-13, 10:23 AM
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Hi Brian, I agree and disagree with you. My opinion is if it was worn, it was real. There are many so called unofficial badges that are real. If somebody made there own badge and wore it, then it is real. Where I do agree with you is that if it is an unofficially modified badge then it should be indicated as such. There are numerous badges in Owen like this. When you get into the sand cast badges, many were made not to the approved design. I still collect them as they were worn. Regards Andrew
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#14
25-03-13, 11:39 AM
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Andrew
Yes, if it was worn then state it as such "personal variation" , otherwise it just sends collectors on a wild goose chase, looking for a "holy grail" that does not exist! If the PH Bi-metal was an official badge then surely someone, especially dealers would have one or at least seen them. No official badges were produced as a single UNLESS it was a prototype. Maybe it was never accepted for general wear due to the extra cost of manufacturing a bi-metal badge on a large scale? Brian
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