Battle Patches of the 1st Division

[cmf]

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone could help me with details of the Battle Patches used by the brigades, and their component units, of the 1st Division; I'm trying to expand quite severely on Mike Chappell's cryptic description in his 'British Battle Insignia 1914-18':

"The 1^st Division chose the international signal code pennant for ‘1’ as its divisional sign, and is supposed to have had a strange scheme of patches to show the unit by its size, the brigade seniority by shape, and the employment of the wearer by colour."

Specifically, I'm interested in the range of patches worn by 1st SWB, part of 3rd Brigade.

Many thanks!

Chris

[Grovetown]

1st SWB patches are, according to Waring's Pamphlet, 1.5" x .25" rectangles. Red for bombers, yellow for Lewis Gunners, green for riflemen and black for grenadiers.

What the difference between bombers and grenadiers is beats me.

Cheers,

GT.

[cmf]

Fantastic! Thanks, GT . . . although I've heard of Major Waring's pamphlet, I've never seen a copy . . . and I'd assumed if there had been any information, Chappell would have included it!

'Bombers' refers to 'Hand Bombers', ie grenade throwers, while 'Grenadiers' is in reference to 'Rifle Grenadiers' . . .

Wonder if any kind soul out there has the relevant page from Waring to scan and post . . . or even better, has a photo of a 1st SWB tunic from the SWB Museum, all patched up . . . I need to find out the relative position they worn on the upper arm, ie how far up or down the top of the sleeve . . .

CMF

[Jim Hastings]

Interesting post, do you know what they were for 2 Royal Sussex in 2 Bde by any chance?

many thanks

Jim

[Lancashire Fusilier]

"The 1^st Division chose the international signal code pennant for ‘1’ as its divisional signMany thanks!

Chris

Chris,

1st Division Pennant.

Regards,

LF