The Grey Regiment

[Bill A]

Greg's string about the Grey & Simcoe Foresters' officers badge had me digging into my G & SF regimental accumulation. The Grey Regiment had two badges made during the 1920 - 1936 period. One was with the buckle annulus, which was not an approved distinction for the regiment. They were required to adopt a design without the buckle. This resulted in two badges. The earlier pattern was likely made by Gaunt, in the UK. The slider was the proper attachment on this badge. The second pattern badge was lugged. They are both scarce militia period badges.

[bgpipes]

Hi Bill....I have never understood why the buckle had to be removed, you see several instances where the badges are with/without a buckle.

[Bill A]

My understanding is that the annulus with the buckle was representative of the Royal Garter, and as such it is a distinction awarded by the sovereign to the unit. The use of the buckle without authority was essentially misrepresenting the honours the regiment had earned. Thus, while you will see the buckle on early versions of the 48th Highlanders, it was removed on the later version. The same goes for the Grey Regt. Now that you have brought this up, the time period of the change for the 48th badge is noted as GO 1922, and this may be the same time as the Grey Regt badges changed. Maybe they were both caught by the powers that be.
There may be more units, but I can't recall any off the top of my head.

[jim a]

Bill great info for the less experienced collector (I've learned something also) Very nice combination to use as an example. One of these days I'll turn a Greys up... thanks for showing them.

[Phillip Herring]

Ref Buckle vs Annulus
The Vancouver Regiment other ranks' capbadge is only ever seen with the buckle.
I have the officers' is found in both varieties.
My understanding is that when the unit was ordered to do away with the buckle, there was not enough time for the whole process of approval, procurement and production - since the ORs' badges were paid for by the crown. In the case of the Vancouver Regiment, they were amalgamated with the Irish Fusiliers in 1936.
Since officers' badges were obtained privately, there wasn't the same lag time to have them manufactured.

[Bill A]

Hello Phil, Could you post images of the Vancouver Regiment officers' badges?

[Phillip Herring]

Here are the Vancouver Regt officers badges:
The badges are identical in size.

[DavidS]

Other unauthorized buckled badges which then went to 'no buckle' versions (Maz. nos. in brackets for buckled versions):
Cape Breton Highlanders (M137a);
Dufferin Rifles (M62)
48th Highlanders of Canada, removed pre 1922;
Le Regiment de Joliette (M121);
Le Regiment de Maisonnneuve (M124a);
Le Regiment de Quebec (M126a);
New Brunswick Dagoons (C41);
Sault Ste. Marie Regiment (M78);
Vancouver Regiment (M22), amalgamated with Irish Fusiliers of Canada, 1936 & buckle more or less obliterated on M23 badge.

The other big heraldic no-no was the Calgary Regiment (M154) sunburst over th crown, which had to be removed, but which the regiment was allowed to wear until the end of WW2.

[Bill A]

I am going to link this previous thread. There was some good information about the question on that string. Annulus vs garter

[DavidS]

This one goes with the Grey Regiment; Simcoe Foresters pre-amalgamation, Maz. M58, bi-metal.