A/A BADGE WITH METAL SLIDER

[rockape560]

hi giys,

picked this queens a/a cap badge up at a boot sale at the weekend cost was less that a £1.
however it has a orginal j.r. gaunt b,ham slider(no extra dot),just wondered if this was unusal or did some soldiers fix old sliders to new a/a badges

[Unknownsoldier]

Looks an early one to me.....

Tom

[Alan O]

There were a number of early a/a badge with brass sliders. They are more secure. This one is obviously much later and likely early 1970s. Theya re not common and only found on a handful of designs. Why the Queens in particular were made with this slider I don't know.

Alan

[2747andy]

I have seen examples of both the Queen's, REME and RE with both London and B'ham Gaunt sliders. Cannot recall seeing any other Regiments?

Andy

[Unknownsoldier]

Originally Posted by 2747andy

I have seen examples of both the Queen's, REME and RE with both London and B'ham Gaunt sliders. Cannot recall seeing any other Regiments?

Andy

ACC is the other i know of.

Tom

[grey_green_acorn]

I have QUEEN's RE and REME with brass sliders. I suspect that the QUEEN's had issues with their largish cap badge worn on the beret as they were one of the first Regiments to introduce cloth embroidered beret badges in the early 1970s and continued to wear them until amalgamation into the PWRR. Examples below:

[turntostone]

I've Queens exactly the same. Maybe they had a batch that kept
loosing sliders and this was an easier fix, rather than re tooling?

Gordon

[KLR]

I think Chris - Hagwalther has been doing some research into this.

[hagwalther]

Originally Posted by rockape560

hi giys,

picked this queens a/a cap badge up at a boot sale at the weekend cost was less that a £1.
however it has a orginal j.r. gaunt b,ham slider(no extra dot),just wondered if this was unusal or did some soldiers fix old sliders to new a/a badges

Hi Guys,

This badge was probably made in 1965 and also has a quite interesting story behind it. All will be revealed in good time though...

Regards

Chris

[matti467]

I remember cloth Queens badges being worn by the army section of our school's CCF from around 1979-86
Matti

[rockape560]

hi all,

many thanks for all the replies.
just posted this badge as i thought it was unusal,but it has turned into an interesting thread.

philip

[grey_green_acorn]

Originally Posted by hagwalther

Hi Guys,

This badge was probably made in 1965 and also has a quite interesting story behind it. All will be revealed in good time though...

Regards

Chris

Manufacture of the anodised badge in 1965 would seem to show uncharacteristic foresight by the MOD as the regular QUEEN'S battalions (1-4) were formed on 31 December 1966 and the TA battalions (5 & 6/7) on 1 April 1967. However, no doubt there were protacted negotiations over the design which had to replace that of the Home Counties Brigade and incorporate features from the badges of so many famous county regiments!

[Alan O]

They were still planning for Divisional badges in 1968 so it is later than that imo. It has been mentioned before eslsewhere on the forum that it was not until 1970 or so that 'new' designs were produced. For example the GH had gone back to their pre58 badge until their new one was made about then. I will get the 68 edition of Maj Edwards' book and see.

Alan

[grey_green_acorn]

The Queen's were the second "Big Regiment" to be formed out of the Brigade system and K&K records that the anodised Queen's badge (K&K 2038) was sealed on 10 July 1966. That is about 5 months before the Formation "Badging" Parade on 31 December 1966. However, for 4 Regular Battalions at 2 badges per man that's at least 5000 badges to go through the system plus more for the TA Battalions in 1967.
The Royal Anglian Regiment was the first "Big Regiment" formed on 1 September 1964 and their cap badge (K&K 2042) was sealed on 25 March 1964 (although K&K in error shows 25 March 1954) so a six month lead time for manufacture and issue seems the norm.