North Staffordshire anodised cap badge

[ukbrits]

Hi Guys,
On reading a few earlier posts on the forum I have noticed the debates on whether the North Staffordshire Regiments anodised cap badge was ever issued or not, with some Forum members in that Regiment commenting that it was not.
I have to agree with some of the findings that there do appear to be plentiful amounts of North Staffs anodised badges with J.R Gaunt London sliders available for collectors to purchase.
However, I have recently discovered a North Staffords anodised cap badge made by "Dowler" Birmingham (see pics) with correct early style slider which looks a quality badge to me.
So which ones genuine or are they both genuine issued badges? Or is the Dowler badge ,one of a small number made at the time of sealing? Has the J.R Gaunt London a/a badge been "re- run" to death for the benefit of the collector.
At the end of the day you would have thought this should be a relatively scarce badge.
Your opinions will be greatly appreciated as allways.
Best Regards.
UKbrits

[Mike H]

I have both,if you put the pair(Dowler and Gaunt)together there are distinct differences between the two.
Both anodised badges north and south staffs are in the museum the last time i went.
But as for the question of issue,i really dont know.Could possibly have been issued to recruits at the depot.

[hagwalther]

Hi Guys,

The North Staffordshire Regiment was officially authorised for issue and can be found in the CCN of 1963.

It seems to have actully been issued to with a return made of a cap badge prices which can be found in Annex A to Eastern Command dated 25th November 1966. The price of the badge was 5 shillings and 3 pennies each.

The version I have is marked 'J.R. GAUNT LONDON' and I'm pretty happy with mine. Note that this mark has been found on standard sealed pattern cards dated from the 22nd April 1958 to the 24th March 1966 so all dates reconcile with the mark on the badge, the CCN of 1963 and Annex A of 1966.

For the 'DOWLER. BIRMINGHAM' harked badges again all reconciles with this mark being found on standard sealed pattern cards dated from the 6th February 1964 to the 30th June 1975.

Why the two exist is maybe due to the original manufacturer being unable or unwilling to tender for a second contract - only company records can really help us out here.

Yes, I have been busy...

Regards

Chris

[Alan O]

Again the date is indicative of the badge being for Cadets or TA and not the Regular Bn who had gone in 1958.

[hagwalther]

Originally Posted by Alan O

Again the date is indicative of the badge being for Cadets or TA and not the Regular Bn who had gone in 1958.

Hi Alan,

The CCN entry of 1963 was under Regular Infantry of the Line and not Territorial Army. This could be a carry over from a previous CCN document though but it does very much imply that the badge was at some stage issued to The North Staffordshire Regiment as a regular unit.

Regards

Chris

[Alan O]

Chris.

Both Staffs Bns became part of the mercian bde in 1958 and wore the mercian badge. They subsequently amalgamated into one Bn.
I cannot see why the Regular Bn would need a badge sealed in a/a in the 1960s.

Alan

[Mike_2817]

Originally Posted by hagwalther

Hi Alan,

The CCN entry of 1963 was under Regular Infantry of the Line and not Territorial Army. This could be a carry over from a previous CCN document though but it does very much imply that the badge was at some stage issued to The North Staffordshire Regiment as a regular unit.

Regards

Chris

I would not draw any conclusion from where it is listed, as errors abound in CCN/COSA entries, and badges may well be for issue to the TA or ACF/CCF after a regular regiment was disbanded, and be list still as regular.

Nor would I assume that badges were only made by the company whose badge was used on the Sealed Pattern, as it is often the case that more than company was invited to tender, or even produced a speculative small batch. This of course makes it harder to pin down exact numbers of producers for any one badge design.