British Legion Commemorative.

[mike_vee]

A package arrived yesterday containg this great RBL Associate blazer badge , an unexpected and very much appreciate gift from a forum member.

Although my collections are very much a 'niche' area I am always grateful to other forum members for their support , assistance and contributions.

Now I really need to sort out my "RBL Cloth" album and add some better photos !

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[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by mike_vee

Another nice find , I have quite a few of the RBL Scotland "Conference" badges but don't even have a quarter of the ones they made !

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Another Scottish Conference badge (2006) , all the way from Pakistan !

Spotted it on eBay , from winning bid to it arriving was 17 days which included 5 days in UK Customs and 2 days with Royal Mail.

Total cost including postage £12.00 which is cheaper than the ones I've bought on eBay and about 50% of what dealers sites are asking !

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[Home Guard]

Interesting story and a nice find!

Terry

[mike_vee]

Went to the Poppy Factory today and discovered they had their own branch of the British Legion . I doubt I'll ever get hold of one of their membership cards so will have to make do with this photo. After serving and being wounded in WW1 this gentleman worked at the Poppy Factory for over 50 years.

"We Will Remember Them"

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[mike_vee]

Picked up this "Manx Legion Club" badge but am confused about whether the club is actually connected to the Royal British Legion.

Their website says that the 'Branch' in Douglas was formed on 7th June 1918 and the club on 13th September 1918. So they appear to have started out , as many other associations , as a post WW1 veterans association.

Did they 'join' the British Legion in 1921 or were/are they a separate entity with their own "social club" ?

The club is still going today (as a limited company) but as the RBL has numerous branches on the Isle of Man is the "Manx Legion" a branch or simply a members club ?

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[mike_vee]

Just got another couple of items from the 1939 Paris visit to add to my collection.

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...&postcount=111

An original photograph (not postcard) from a French press organisation.

A group badge , O/S , I'm still trying to find information about the various groups. For the Great Pilgrimage in 1928 "group O" was for Scotland and "group S" was East Anglia , so this could have been a 'combined' group or they may have used completely different prefixes.

I'm still looking for the sovenir program that was produced (see photo 4) , if anyone spots it please let me know. Thanks !

[mike_vee]

I finally got hold of the yellow "Handbook" given to pilgrims before they left the UK !

Spotted it on eBay (buy it now) and immediately snapped it up , with it was a British Legion pre-order form for wreaths to be picked up at various depots in France/Belgium .

Also an original Lille map showing the locations of all the graveyards in the area , plus a section (sheet 4) of a paper/cloth map of North West Europe showing the Arras - Mons area.

A great selection but it got even better when it arrived , one group on the pilgrimage was 'Party D' :

The South West British Legion were known as ‘Party D’. This comprised of members from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire & Dorset.

‘Party D’ were billeted in the French town of St. Omer, and at the end of their very successful stay, the town mayor presented the Party leader (Mr. Percy Barton) with a scroll recording that all Pilgrims of ‘D Party’ had been enrolled Honorary Citizens of St. Omer.

I already have a 'Party D' badge and when I opened the Handbook discovered that it belonged to a member of that group !

So , I now have the Booklet , three different 'Party' badges , a 1928 British Legion booklet of official War Graves postcards and "The Story of an Epic Pilgrimage" which is the official book published after the Pilgrimage.

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[Shiny]

Well done Mike, a fantastic group. You'll be able to open your own museum soon.

Michael

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Well done Mike, a fantastic group. You'll be able to open your own museum soon.

Michael

Thanks Michael !

My "Pilgrimage" collection is growing :

1928 : "Great Pilgrimage" - Still looking for "Party H Irish Free State" badge and a "Womens Section" (the largest group) badge.

1929 : I have a "British Legion South Western Area" Battlefields pilgrimage badge.

1930 : I have an itinery for the "Home Counties Battlefields Tour Ypres" and a "booklet" of "1914-1918 British War Cemeteries Ypres" photographs.

1938 : Not a pilgrimage but a set of British Legion Volunteer Police Force cap and collar badges with photos/news clippings of the Major they belonged to.

1939 : Paris - I have two badges (Parties 'C' and 'O/S') and a set of "invitation" tickets to various events that were laid on.

I also have British Legion and Royal British Legion 'WG' (war graves) badges , a "Pilgrimage Club" badge , a modern 'RBL Pilgrimages' pin and a Great Pilgrimage 80 badge.

I never set out to collect these items but got hooked and am happy that I did as they are a great insight into the past but also an on-going project as .....

"We Will Remember Them"

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[dumdum]

Hi Mike

Amazed at what is out there and also what you unearth! I have a badge for the BL in Port Sunlight in my "archives" somewhere. I can't believe that it is unique, but I'll post a photo if you'd like me to!

It's got a depiction of the monument on it I'm sure.

[mike_vee]

Don't know if this is a new "official" badge , or even when it was produced/issued , but it goes well with the old badge I already have.

Size is about 20% smaller than old badge.

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[mike_vee]

My "Belfast Poppies" arrived today then this excellent RBL Annual Conference Belfast 2018 pin turned up (possibly put in wrong pigeon hole).

RBL Scotland have issued Conference badges since at least the 1930's.

RBL Women's Section issued Conference pins from 1998.

With the British Legion/RBL it appears to have been down to the Branch hosting the Conference as even though the number of members attending would be a lot higher I have only seen a handful of different badges.

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[mike_vee]

Just arrived , a nice (heavy) Chairman's Jewel . Could do with a clean but don't want to spoil it.

These are sold by PoppyShop for £99.99 !

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[Home Guard]

Very nice, but probably not one I'll be getting anytime soon!

Congrats on the find!

Terry

[Mike_2817]

Very nice, I do have one, but then again I am a Branch Chairman

For £99.99 you also get it mounted on a nice ribbon, available @ £11.99 ready sewn...

I also have a redundant Vice Chairman's Jewel with added branch scroll

Plus received the new Branch Committee badges last week

Next task is to apply for Poppy Volunteer Awards for presentation at branch dinner...