LDV badge

[Sonofacqms]

I bought recently a buttonhole badge of the "SHEPSHED L.D.V club" it has the number 298 stamped on the crescent buttonhole fixing and the name (first letter not visible) _SHER/B'HAM above it. On the front under "SHEPSHED" is a skull wearing what appears to be a German steel helmet, impaled on a bayonet, over crossed rifles with the L.D.V under the bayonet and under that "CLUB". The badge is made in brass. I am sorry no pics available at present.

I have in the past seen pictures and examples of LDV insignia, all cloth and generally locally made, but this is the first item I have seen in metal, I wonder whether this was a postwar produced item as the word "club" appears.
Shepshed I believe is in Leicestershire, and I would appreciate any info on this badge.

[badjez]

Hi,
Quoting from Austin Ruddy's very good book 'To The Last Round' on the Leics & Rutland HG (ISBN 978-1-85983-553-3);
'Unofficial purchase badges were also worn by some Leicestershire Home Guards. The earliest known badge, dating from summer 1940, is of Shepshed LDV Company.' (he describes your badge) 'Badges were made by Usher of Birmingham and individually numbered on the back.'
The book goes on further but I don't want to spoil it for you or breach copyright!
If you decide you want to dispose of this badge I would be interested.
Regards, Steve.

[Sonofacqms]

Steve, many thanks for your info. I bought this badge on e-ay some time back, looking at it, I could tell that it was 100% real, the fact that these don't appear on a regular basis on online auctions and that this has been on "the peg" without a reply for a day or two also makes me think that this is a badge that is not too plentiful.

As a collector of East Anglian badges, it will go on my Leicester board, The Leicesters formed the 4th Btn East Anglian Brigade, which is why I bought the badge in the first place.

[RAChD]

If you want to know more or contact Austin he is on the WW2 reencting forum in the Home Guard section he posts there and on the Remember the Home Guard group on the Facebook website. He's a very nice chap, I've bought stuff from him at the Stoneleigh Fair for a couple of years now, including his book

Now you just need an LEI 9 Home Guard shoulder patch to go with it, as Shepshed would almost certainly have come under the Loughborough Battalion of the Leicester Home Guard.

Regards
Matt

[Sonofacqms]

Matt thanks again for your information, in many ways, I wish I'd collected home front items back in the fifties and sixties when H.G. jackets hung in sheds and greatcoats went on bonfires!
It's the story of my life and no doubt lots of other collectors!

[RAChD]

Completely agree. I have been looking for a couple of years at HG items, in the end I decided to concentrate on paperwork as the cloth stuff and uniform seems so hard to find, and poor quailty with high price when you do. My colleague who has collected HG items for about 20 years is always telling me about the stuff he bought for 50p or £2 that would now be in the £30 to £50 mark! I think that HG is starting to be something that is appreciating in value quite fast as demand increases. Sadly I am just not going to pay the prices asked for things like the Cornwall units sleeve badges, I can't see the value. If I want one for my display I'll make one and spend the money on another aspect of the hobby. As a neighbour of mine says things all come around, in a generation's time who'll care about the Home Guard, less people will collect and values will dip, but I have my doubts.