73rd Bn.CEF RHC, the Complete Photograpic Roster.

[Voltigeur]

A photograph of a group of 73rd. But, also the complete roster and pics of the whole 73rd Battalion CEF. with a diary of John Clarence Ross.
Jo
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....at/platoon.jpg

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....ross/hist.html

Click on each page to enlarge and read the names.

[Bill A]

Jo, This post has had me thinking since you put it up. I have gone through the album on two occaisions. Each time, it struck me that all ranks were wearing glengarry badges, not the maple leaf pattern, but what appears to be St Andrew's cross pattern. Some of the officers' are clearly wearing the 73 / maple leaf pattern collars.
This raises a significant question. Has the cap badge for the 73rd in the standard references been mis-identified? The collar has been shown as the cap?

[Voltigeur]

Hello Bill,You are right on the pics. I have asked myself the same question. Did the 73rd have the BW badge in Canada and then switched over to the Maple Leaf badge when they arrived in the UK?(Probably not). I know that the 13th BN. wore the well-known "Canadian" badge and that the 42nd wore the "British" badge. But since they, the 73rd, were formed at a later date, why not a canadian-made badge? Why have the Brit.BW badges ordered and shipped to Canada? (Or were they made here,by Scully?) Another of life's mysteries?
Cheers
Jo

[Adam H]

The 73rd Bn never wore the Maple Leaf badge, as far as I am aware. I have been working on a history of the battalion for some time. Not once have I seen a photograph of this badge in wear. I believe one batch was struck, rejected, and never worn.

Like the 42nd, other ranks of the 73rd wore the Imperial Black Watch glengarry badge, in bronze. Officers usually purchased Imperial pattern officers badges, many variations of which exist.

Some other ranks MAY have worn the 73rd Bn maple leaf collars, however, the vast majority seem to have worn standard general list "Canada" collar badges (or none at all). I know of at least 2 patterns of collar badges.

Officers wore 73rd Bn maple leaf collars in Canada and initially whilst in England. In an effort to conform with the other 2 RHC battalions, officers of the 73rd adopted St. Andrew pattern collar badges in the UK, before proceeding to France. I don't have the exact date in front of me, but certainly during 1916.

[Voltigeur]

Hi Adam, about the collar badges, do you mean the St-Andrew's with 73 ?
Jo

[Adam H]

Jo,

Yes, the collar badges had St. Andrew with 73 over Canada. However, some officers seem to have worn different patterns as well (no numerals, imperial patterns, etc)

[Voltigeur]

Adam, so anything that was available, at the time, was worn?
Jo

[Bill A]

Hello Adam. Thanks for your input on this. Thus, if I was to do a display of the Canadian Corps badges, the imperial Black Watch badge is the one which should be included.

[Voltigeur]

Just to add some more information on the Canadian Black Watch and the CEF battalions, a nice photograph of Lt.Col.G.S Cantlie of the 42nd Bn. Of note, the Imperial Black Watch cap badge and the collar badges showing the word Canada under the St-Andrew.
Jo
http://sattlers.org/mickey/culture/c...es/cantlie.jpg


From the Sattler website.

[Adam H]

Jo, it would appear so. The 73 over Canada St Andrew pattern collars are quite scarce, certainly don't seem to turn up in quantity that suggests that every officer serving with the 73rd received a set. Other photos show officers wearing different insignia ...which appears to be imperial patterns or other "Canada" St Andrews types. I will have to dig thru photos to show some examples.

Bill, yes most certainly... for O/Rs of the 42nd and 73rd battalions an Imperial BW pre-1937 type badge in Bronze would be appropriate. For officers, the Imperial officer's type, as shown in the photo of Cantlie in this thread.

[rmarsden]

Adam,
A gilt pair of 73rd officers collars, I belive they were also OSD examples.
Ron.

[Adam H]

Interesting, Ron. Of this type I only have a set of 13th Bn myself and they are certainly OSD or a dark bronze colour, which is the "norm" for them.

I can't imagine why gilted badges would have existed. Perhaps they were worn on a dress uniform post-war.

[Bill A]

Interesting point Adam. A lot of militia regiments perpetuated the CEF battalions through their collar badges. But, if the 73rd collars were post war, how would they fit in with the Royal Higlanders perpetuating the 13th and 42nd Battalions?

[Adam H]

In 1921, the RHC were reorganized into 4 battalion, 2 active and 2 reserve. The two active battalions were known as the 1st (13th Battalion C.E.F.) and 2nd (42nd Battalion C.E.F.) The reserve battalions were the 3rd (73rd Battalion C.E.F.) and 4th Reserve Battalion.

Thus, the scenario I was envisioning was an officer of the 3rd Battalion wearing these collars. In the early inter-war period, CEF badges seem to have been worn by RHC personnel, prior to the introduction of the 1930-pattern badges. I'd speculate that these WWI period 73rd Bn collars were worn by one of the officers of the 3rd Reserve battalion, likely in dress uniform.

Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Clark-Kennedy, VC was the CO of the 3rd Reserve battalion, so perhaps these were worn by the man himself.

[Bill A]

Some more clarification. I was under the impression that the reserve battalions were "paper" battalions only. Eg, they were organized and had an officer cadre, but they did not parade or train. The officers may still have been active in an administrative fashion, and wore uniforms, but the units were essentially a non active formation.