Identifying Old Patches

[Annabel]

Hi everyone!

I'm a complete novice to military insignia so I'm here to ask for some help in identifying some patches (my own searches on the internet have been fruitless).

My late great-uncle was in the military. I'm not sure when/where he served and nobody in my family who might have known can remember much either.

The only thing I remember hearing about him was that he was stationed in the Philippines or thereabouts for some time? If anyone can confirm this via recognising any of these patches and knowing a little about them, that would be great!)

Additional info is that my uncle was born in 1933 and died in 1999 and lived in Salford, Manchester all his life (if it helps).
I have his dog-tags with his cereal number but there is ABSOLUTELY NO MILITARY RECORD OF HIM on ancestry.co.uk (of which I am a paying member!) or anywhere else on the internet, so it's all very strange and mysterious...

Here are all his patches that he kept in a cigarette tin:

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10 11

I THINK the viking one is something to do with East Anglia but I don't know why he'd have it if he's from Lancashire (probably showing up how little I know about army regiments by assuming that...)

If anyone can help me identify all these and begin to get an idea of what his army career and life was like then that would be wonderful.

Thank you!

[Bill A]

Hello annabel, welcome to the Forum. Your account is active and open for posts.

[Phil2M]

WW2 records are still not available on ancestry, as far as I know. I think they have to be applied for directly from the MoD for a fee.

[DougSA]

Online resources, such as Ancestry and FindmyPast, will only take you upto about 1920 for service records.

Beyond that, which would certainly apply to your great-uncle, you need to apply to the Army Records Office, and, if you are not the veteran or the veteran's spouse, pay a fee of £30. You will need to supply at least full name and date of birth or service number. Of course, the more information you can supply the better.

[grey_green_acorn]

From the badges which are mostly formation signs showing the higher army formations in which he may have served I would suggest service possibly commencing in 1951/52 with national service then onwards. UK, Far East, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany.

Of course he may have collected these from comrades and not worn them all himself. If he did wear them all in what order? It would look like more than 2 years of national service.

Are there no cap badges or shoulder titles?

The Viking on blue shield is the East Anglian Training Brigade Group based at Burt St Edmund's which included the Royal Norfolk Regiment, Essex Regiment, Suffolk Regiment, Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment, Northamptonshire Regiment

If you give us his army number (8 digits) it may be possible to determine his Regiment or Corps.

Tim

[High Wood]

If he was born in 1933 he is unlikely to have served abroad with the British Army before 1951/52 at the earliest. Some of the patches would appear to indicate service in the Far East. particularly Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. But, as has already been mentioned, they may not all have been worn by him.

If you can give us her service number from his dog tag it might possible to work out his regiment and rough date of enlistment,

A Rough Guide - 1950 to 1960

Army Number Date of Issue

22000000 to 22199408 Until October 1950

22199409 to 22460786 Until February 1951

22460787 to 22562759 Until July 1951

22562760 to 23052500 Until June 1955

23052501 to 23188252 Until October 1955

23188253 to 23479123 Until May 1956

23479124 to 23845071 Until October 1960

The final intake of National Servicemen was on 31st December 1960. The last National Servicemen left the Army in 1963 with 23819209 Private Fred Turner, of The Army Catering Corps, attached 13th/18th The Royal Hussars, being the final conscript discharged on 7th May 1963.

[Annabel]

Thank you all so much for the information so far! It's fascinating how much you can figure out from the patches.

First of all, in response to the notion that Uncle Vincent perhaps gathered a few patches from his comrades - this is quite likely as he was a bit of a collector (runs in the family!) so they may not all be his.

Secondly, in response to Tim (grey_green_acorn) in the tin that I came into possession of there was only those patches, his dog tags, a bundle of stamps and some old beer labels (from Singapore, Malaya, Germany and East Africa so you were definitely right about some of the places he'd been). It could be that other family members have other things, especially if they're more important - I'm fairly low down the inheritance line.
The only other thing I have is this, which says "Royal Army Service Corps":

But this wasn't with my uncle's things, it was at my Grandma's house (Uncle Vincent's sister) so it could have belonged to him but could also have belonged to either of my great-great-grandfathers from WW2 conscription. I'm sure you'll probably be able to give me better insight into that...

In response to both High Wood and Tim, here are his dog tags:

His service number is 22607991, which puts him at 1955?

It's really interesting knowing where he went during his service. I was particularly curious about the lion and palm tree, the dragon, the two dagger patches and the starbursts. What do they each denote, if you don't mind me asking?

[49lassiepen]

The badge you show has the cypher of Queen Elizabeth 11 This was sealed February 1953 i e its post this date
Lion and Palm tree -Singapore district
Dragon - H.Q Land forces Hong Kong
Single dagger -Malaya Command
Blue cross on yellow shieid -Hamburg district
Sword red cross on blue shield -Rhine army troops
Centre 2nd row -Allied Forces S E Asia
1st row centre War Office Controlled units post 1953
David

[grey_green_acorn]

We seem to be making some progress. Do you know anything about Vincent's employment after he left the army? If the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) badge was his it could explain his service in the many places the formation badges indicate. The RASC function included provision of most forms of transport, supply and clerical support. So perhaps Vincent may have used his army trade in civilian life as a driver, storeman or clerk?

Tim

[Annabel]

Thank you David, really interesting to finally know what each one represents!

In answer to your question Tim, I made some inquiries yesterday and discovered that Uncle Vincent became a Post Man until he retired after leaving the Army, but nobody could tell me how long he stayed in the forces or whether he stayed on after his national service ended or not etc.

But as for the RASC badge, I discovered that it actually belonged to my Grandad from his time doing national service (he was also born in 1933 so would have fallen into the catchment age at 18 too). My Grandad wasn't the kind of man who would have kept anything other than the smallest reminder because I think he just saw it as an inconvenience and all he wanted to do was get home and marry his childhood sweetheart (my Grandma!) whereas my Uncle Vincent obviously enjoyed his time in the army enough to keep mementos and embrace the local breweries!

I really wish I could find out more but the rest is guess-work!