chrislotr Posted 15 July , 2004 Share Posted 15 July , 2004 Dear all, I am fairly new to all this WW1 reseach, what I have found out is that my Grandfather was in the Machine Gun Corps during the war. What I would like to know is, can authentic cap badges of the MGC still be bought. If so, does anyone know of a genuine dealer and roughly how much would one cost. I live in Hertfordshire. Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davben Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 Chris, The only advice I can give is to check out the militia auctions in or around your area, I`m sorry I don`t live in the UK but I source my badges from a supplier over there called S R S. You could also try ebay or similar over there, in NZ we have a site called "Trade me.co.nz" and quite often there are original badges for sale. The details for the supplier I use is S R S Surplus,P O Box 113,South Shields, NE34 6WZ, www.srsbadges.co.uk. I purchased this MGC cap badge not long ago and it`s sometimes hard to tell the originality from a re strike, check it out , good luck ! Dave.B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 Chris, As one of the MGC types around here, would love to hear more about your grandfather if you're willing to share. I'm part of a team putting an MGC history together (I think building the pyramids was less complicated!), and Jim Parker, the man without equal on MGC soldiers, is on side with us. The MGC OCA, despite there being only one known surviving Emma Gee still with us, thrives and is a friendly bunch. There are original MGC badges still to be had, but the majority cropping up on the internet are duff. (Strangely, though, originals still crop up mainly from Canada, as the Canadian MGC had many patterns of cap badge, but one the same as our MGC was one of them). I keep a watch out and would happily tip you off if think a good 'un has emerged. Admittedly though, you have to have a good view of - and ideally handle a badge utterly to confirm its genuineness. Then again, once you've seen few hundred, the out and out rotten ones scream at you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCLI Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 My Great uncle was MGC, originally the Worcesters, killed in 1918. I bought an MGC cap badge on ebay for about £21 a few weeks ago. It was advertised as original and it looks pretty good to me - but I am no expert. I found it by chance. There is a company called srsbadges.co.uk which supply replicas and re-stamps etc - they may look out for one for you. Incidentally I would be willing to let Staffsyeoman have what I have in the way of information but that is very little, name, rank and number etc. Comparing my badge with the earlier one, there are differences - oh dear have I been caught out? regards Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 Comparing my badge with the earlier one, there are differences - oh dear have I been caught out? Not necessarily. There were several slightly different versions of the MGC badge. One of the main differences is that different badges showed different marks of the Vickers. Yours might be right, Anthony, but personally (and I might be wrong here, so don't take my word for granted here!) I don't like the look of the slider on yours. I'm no expert on MGC badges though, so don't take my word for it! £21 for the badge alone now? Is that what they're going for? How much would someone pay me for a "full set" of cap-badge, (2)collar dogs, (2)"MGC" shoulder titles and (2) regimental buttons (one large, one small) ? Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCLI Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 Sorry but what's the slider? As I was bidding for it, I thought I was going too high, but I specifically wanted it as part of a display etc. Even if it is duff, it looks the part, as long as you don't come round and say horrible things about it. Here is the back Regards Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 Sorry but what's the slider? Even if it is duff, it looks the part, as long as you don't come round and say horrible things about it. Hi Anthony. The slider is the "lolly-pop stick" type thing that attaches the badge to the cap. Looking at the picture of the rear of your badge, I've now swung to the idea that it's actually OK. The shadow in your first pic. made the slider look slightly angular just before it curves, which is quite indicative of a restrike (amongst a myriad of other things). On your second picture, the transition from straight to curve is pretty smooth, as in original examples. Without actually holding it in my hands, I couldn't say for sure if it was genuine or repro., but , going off the pictures, it (now) looks right to me. Dave. (P.S. I wouldn't say horrible things about it anyway - restrike or original, they still represent a regiment! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCLI Posted 17 July , 2004 Share Posted 17 July , 2004 Dave Thanks for that. Originals of most things are always better of course. To imagine that my cap badge, actually went where the wearer went, gives it a certain something. Having said that, it would seem only an expert can tell and as you say it represents a regiment or corps and in this case my great uncle, who never returned. regards Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislotr Posted 17 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 17 July , 2004 Hello All, thankyou for the replies they are very welcome. Dave, thankyou for the information on SRS Badges I am going to contact them to see what they have. That one you have got is a nice example, I have just learn't from my wifes friend that her husband has a collection of cap badges and that there is a military auction held twice a year in my local sports hall. So I shall have a wander along to that. Anthony thanks for the reply, as above I will check out SRS. If you want to know more about your great uncle I would definately recommend contacting Staffsyeoman. It was from surfing the web one night looking for info on the MGC (as I knew nothing about really) that I found the MGC Association website. I contacted Jim Parker just to give him the info you have and he gave quite a bit of info back and a contact who got me my grandfathers MIC and Medal Roll. From this I have put together a folder just on him, all this started from me wanting to trace my family tree. I got side tracked alittle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislotr Posted 17 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 17 July , 2004 Hello Phil, thanks for the reply, It was from Jim Parker that I learned alot about my Grandfather. Its only recently that I found this site by accident, I posted a post on the 10th June, Discharged under Kings Regulatios on the Interpreting Medal Index Cards board. I gave Jim the up to date info that I had found so far and a copy of the Medal role which gave him some new names and numbers. That is as far as I have got, I am just wondering if there are any other avenues I can go as I am fairly new to this. Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davben Posted 17 July , 2004 Share Posted 17 July , 2004 Hi all, Naturally I would try to source an original badge where possible, but location and price come into it . the fact that some of these badges from SRS are re strikes frankly I can`t tell the difference of my collection .their disclaimer also states that many badges come from original dies or stamps , but of course holding an original badge that was pinned to the servicemens cap is the ultimate. Just a note that all my G/fathers ww1 photos that had pics of different regiments badges on them all disappeared so I had to source what I could . Cheers Dave B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davben Posted 17 July , 2004 Share Posted 17 July , 2004 Hi again, by the way I paid 5pounds for the white metal badge in the top picture. DaveB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now