Rhodesia collar badges

[canny lad]

As promised, some close ups of my collar collection, starting with a nice pair of Rhodesia sas collars which were South Africa made ( not a lot of the so called experts know this )
regards
Brian

[rhodesianmilitaria]

( not a lot of the so called experts know this )

Presumably that means me. As stated before, I have not seen any evidence to show that these were indeed used in Rhodesia. While one should keep an open mind in regards to collecting, without evidence it is only hearsay. I have spoken to many people regarding these types of collar badges, and none of them can confirm that they were worn by the Rhodesian SAS. One of my contacts had heard from another collector who specialized in collecting SAS insignia, that this type of collar badge had been made in SA and worn in Rhodesia. However he wasn't able to supply any concrete evidence to that fact.

My argument is that pre UDI (1965) the vast majority of insignia worn in Rhodesia was made in England, ie SAS insignia made by Gaunt, RLI Officer's insignia which was made from silver was made in Birmingham etc,. Even after UDI, Rhodesian insignia with the Queen's Crown was worn by various regiments, although this faded out in the late 60's and after Rhodesia was made a Republic in 1970, the Queen's Crown was replaced on all insignia. I would have thought that the Rhodesians would have had ample supplies of insignia even after 1965 and therefore can't understand why they would have had to have insignia made in South Africa. The SAS in particular was not a large unit and was never the size of a regiment in it's entire history. The Officer's, including Warrant Officers between 1961-63 numbered approximately 20, in 1964 they numbered 9 and in 1969 they numbered approximately 16. Therefore I can't see that there would have been a big demand for these collar badges before 1970.

The other thing that I find perplexing is that there were at least five to six pairs of this type of collar badge appear on ebay over approximately a twelve month period. If these insignia are so rare why would so many pairs from different sellers suddenly appear on the market? If they were indeed supplied to the SAS why would two of the world's foremost collectors of Rhodesian militaria, never have seen or heard of them?

While I keep an open mind on these things, and I believe I never stop learning about what I collect, without appropriate evidence to confirm what I have been told, then I cannot class the item as genuine.

[canny lad]

Hi Peter
Firstly, What makes you think i meant you when i said " so called experts ", i know alot of Rhodesian militaria collectors within the collecting community.
Secondly, I have been informed from various collectors ( who also have these badges in their collections) that these are genuine Rhodesian period badges, one guy i know got his in the eighties from a rhodie who served.
Insignia worn in the Rhodesian SAS was a mixed lot im led to beleive, British items included stable belts, beret badges and collars plus other uniform items.
Too add to this topic, there's also another pair of Local made SAS collars around, I personnaly havent got these in my collection but know of collectors who do, thats as far as i'll go on the issue as debating over badges isnt my thing, one thing ive learned over the years is to expect the unexpected, i.e dress codes arent always followed, you'll find the strangest items being worn and i very rarely beleive everything i read in a book, they are not always 100% accurate.
Im happy with the knowledge ive been given about these collars to beleive they are correct.

Cheers
Brian

[airtrooper]

Hmmmm,I would never trust a pair of collar badges with the lugs set so high !!!!!!!!