1st or 2nd devons flash interwars

[JerryBB]

I have this green diamond flash on a Wolseley, inter wars pattern, it appears to have an army number inside for the Devonshire regiment and I wondered if anyone knows the flashes 1st & 2nd devs wore in the inter wars period?

[cbuehler]

Hi Jerry,
All the photos that I have seen of the regular battalion Devons FSH pagri flash have been the XI flash, an example of which I illustrate.
Pagri flashes are very difficult to pin down however.
Are you sure of the regimental number regarding the date? Your FSH may possibly be WW1 era, as several territorial battalions of the Devons were sent to India and the green lozenge shape may possibly attributable to one of them.

CB

[JerryBB]

CB, it might be late great war, the colour of the underside of pith helmets changed about 1917. But I think the army number makes it post war as they changed in 1920

[JerryBB]

it could depend on if the middle spoiled digit is an 0 or just an error to be ignored as that would change the number significantly and thereby the date and regiment

[JerryBB]

Reading in Dave Bilton's Badges of Kitchener's army has on pp 179-181 9th bn Worcestershire Regiment wore a green 2in square diamond on the left side of the pagri when they moved to Mesopotamia in feb 1916, which most closely matches the flash on the sun helmet.

Interestingly in Stuart Bate's book on wolseley helmets he mentions worcestershire reg wore their helmets with no cloth on the dome vent, instead they were painted green

[MH331]

I think it’s a 7 digit number the block is allocated to the Devonshire regiment. The Wolseley Helmet is certainly Great War in construction and may have been issued during that period and reissued post WW1.

[JerryBB]

as you say, if it is a 7 digit number then it was introduced in 1920 in the block allocated for the Devonshire regiment

[JerryBB]

I think it is very late war, though difficult to pin the exact date


both 1st & 2nd Devons were in hot climates in that period;
2nd Battalion spent the post-war years in India and Aden, returning to England in 1927, it was in malta by 1939. 1st Battalion was stationed in Ireland for three years from 1919, but began a 15-year spell in China and India in 1927. It was in India at the outbreak of war.

[JerryBB]

The dome vent does appear to have traces of green paint on it. Comparison photos of my other Early or's wolseley.

Originally Posted by JerryBB

Reading in Dave Bilton's
Badges of Kitchener's army has on pp 179-181 9th bn Worcestershire Regiment wore a green 2in square diamond on the left side of the pagri when they moved to Mesopotamia in feb 1916, which most closely matches the flash on the sun helmet.

Interestingly in Stuart Bate's book on wolseley helmets he mentions worcestershire reg wore their helmets with no cloth on the dome vent, instead they were painted green

[cbuehler]

It certainly does appear to have traces of green paint. This would clinch it for the Worcesters I think. I don't know about the number however.
Could it be possible that the helmet was once in the Devons, but some how made it over to the Worcesters?

CB

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by cbuehler

It certainly does appear to have traces of green paint. This would clinch it for the Worcesters I think. I don't know about the number however.
Could it be possible that the helmet was once in the Devons, but some how made it over to the Worcesters?

CB

the problem is the helmet, and the flash & green paint are great war but the devons number is 1920 on.

[MH331]

None of the regular Devonshire battalions served for any length of time in India or the Middle East during WW1 . Territorial and service battalions certainly did. Is there a specific reference that makes the flash Great War and not 1920s?

Mark

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by MH331

None of the regular Devonshire battalions served for any length of time in India or the Middle East during WW1 . Territorial and service battalions certainly did. Is there a specific reference that makes the flash Great War and not 1920s?

Mark

I quoted the source above (badges of Kitchener's army), it states 9th bn worcestershire in 1916, but where the original source is I cannot say.

[MH331]

I am just trying to understand why a post war Devon would retain a 9 th Worcesters flash. I think it more likely that the diamond is an undocumented Devonshire patch.

[JerryBB]

Indeed Mark, it is odd and you are probably correct, an enigma hopefully to be resolved one day.