high wood Posted 26 June , 2010 Share Posted 26 June , 2010 I have not seen this badge configuration before; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainfleet Posted 27 June , 2010 Share Posted 27 June , 2010 He must be in the MGC, because he has MGC collars, which seems to be his only concession to his new unit. Evidently he is determined to retain his Grenadier Guards identity. He is wearing a soft cap which puts it at 1916 or later. The Guards MGC were formed into Guards MG battalions, then (I think in Feb 1918) became the Guards Machine Gun Regiment. I don't know whether they started off as sections and became battalions, or whether this combination of badges was common practice at some point or he is being allowed a substantial degree of leeway. In fact my knowledge on the subject is pretty minimal, but since nobody else looks like answering, here you are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 27 June , 2010 Share Posted 27 June , 2010 There's a curiosity - as the Guards Machine Gun Regiment was formed mainly from dismounted units of the Household Cavalry. He could be from the 4th Battalion GMGR, which was the old 'Machine Gun Guards' (the MG units of the Foot Guards amalgamated) - but he's not wearing the GMGR cap badge.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainfleet Posted 27 June , 2010 Share Posted 27 June , 2010 Typical - you wait a whole day for a reply then along come two at once! Phil, GMGR was a separate entity from the Guards MG Bns then? W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 27 June , 2010 Share Posted 27 June , 2010 Yes. The Guards were never part of the MGC set up in any form. The Machine Gun Guards represented the amalgamation of the Machine Gun sections of the battalions of Foot Guards in 1916. They wore the five-pointed star badge often seen. The Guards Machine Gun Regiment (or the 6th Regiment of Foot Guards, as it was going to be known) was formed in May 1918 from the three dismounted Household Cavalry MG sections (1st & 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards), plus what had been the MGG. Their cap badge was the crossed Vickers behind the Royal Garter with crown above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 27 June , 2010 Share Posted 27 June , 2010 Sorry, you have misunderstood. If you were transferred to the MGC (as a machine gunner) you were badged MGC and transferred into the MGC wholesale; no insignia from your original unit. The use of MG collar badges (which the Machine Gun Guards wore before the MGC - officially - but no MGG or GMGR insignia is the curiosity here. The only thing I could possibly think of is that he is MG Guards before the badge was authorised, but that's a stab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardog Posted 27 June , 2010 Share Posted 27 June , 2010 If anyone has a picture of the Guards Machine Gun Regiment cap badge worn in a period picture I would be very interested. My interest is in 2nd Life Guards, but I've only seen them with cloth S/Ts and their usual cap badge. Regards, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.ib_walker@ntlworld.co Posted 4 July , 2010 Share Posted 4 July , 2010 He must be in the MGC, because he has MGC collars, which seems to be his only concession to his new unit. Evidently he is determined to retain his Grenadier Guards identity. He is wearing a soft cap which puts it at 1916 or later. The Guards MGC were formed into Guards MG battalions, then (I think in Feb 1918) became the Guards Machine Gun Regiment. I don't know whether they started off as sections and became battalions, or whether this combination of badges was common practice at some point or he is being allowed a substantial degree of leeway. In fact my knowledge on the subject is pretty minimal, but since nobody else looks like answering, here you are! More clutching at straws, but is it definitely a soft cap, or could it be a SD cap with the crown stiffener removed? In which case I'd have to fancy Phil's shot that he's a Grenadier in the MGG prior to the issue of the MGG badge, or has moved across from a rifle coy and picked up collar badges but no capbadge? More speculation I'm afraid; definitely an enigma! Nice photo though. P.S. small digression, and I've asked a similar question before, but if he's MGG shouldn't he have embroidered white-on-crimson "Machine Gun Guards" shoulder titles? Another reason to think he's "between units" or awaiting badges? Only the collar badges mark him out as anything other than Grenadier Guards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyneside Chinaman Posted 24 July , 2010 Share Posted 24 July , 2010 Hi I watched this thread with intrest and the at todays postcard fair came across the attached, intresting in that the Grenadier Guards shoulder title is being worn on the sleeve. He also wears regimental Grenadier Guards buttons. regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyneside Chinaman Posted 24 July , 2010 Share Posted 24 July , 2010 This group of Grenadier Guards (MGG) was with the portrait. Sgt Mather isn't a Grenadier the cap badge is possibly a cavalry or yeomanry regiment as I havn't turned up any MIC for Mather in the Horse Guards or Life Guards. regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Doyle Posted 24 July , 2010 Share Posted 24 July , 2010 I watched this thread with intrest and the at todays postcard fair came across the attached, intresting in that the Grenadier Guards shoulder title is being worn on the sleeve. Wow, nice picture! Great to see this cap badge actually being worn. peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardog Posted 24 July , 2010 Share Posted 24 July , 2010 Yes, great picture showing the Guards Machine Gun Battalion badge. Still looking for a picture of a non officer Guards Machine Gun Regiment badge in use. Anyone? Regards, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 25 July , 2010 Share Posted 25 July , 2010 surprising nobody has picked up that he is improperly dressed: no GG Lance-Corporal [yes, two chevrons] should ever appear without the regimental grenade above the chevrons, on both sleeves. Is the whole photo a lash-up, I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainfleet Posted 25 July , 2010 Share Posted 25 July , 2010 surprising nobody has picked up that he is improperly dressed: no GG Lance-Corporal [yes, two chevrons] should ever appear without the regimental grenade above the chevrons, on both sleeves. Is the whole photo a lash-up, I wonder? You're not serious, surely? Why would anyone go to the considerable expense of faking a photograph like this to sell it quietly at a postcard fair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john gregory Posted 25 July , 2010 Share Posted 25 July , 2010 surprising nobody has picked up that he is improperly dressed: no GG Lance-Corporal [yes, two chevrons] should ever appear without the regimental grenade above the chevrons, on both sleeves. Is the whole photo a lash-up, I wonder? Not everything is ' done by the book ' Grumpy as a lot of photo's prove. Lash-up !!!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 26 July , 2010 Share Posted 26 July , 2010 having just taken the grandmother egg-sucking refresher course, I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book I must remember that not everything is done by the book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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