Help identifying a regiment

[GavinH]

I have just purchased a postcard of a soldier, and was hoping that someone could help me identify the regiment. On his upper right sleeve he wears a rectangular patch. inside is a smaller, darker rectangle bearing the letters C E . The card may post date 1918, as he wears collar badges (Flaming grenades), which I don't think was common during the war.

Any suggestions? Canadian Engineers? Any help appreciated.

Gavin

[RMAMarshall]

Dear Gavin,

Looks like Canadian Engineers - if you run a search on ebay, there is a tunic identical to the one in your postcard for sale at the moment.

Richard

[GavinH]

Richard,

Many thanks for your reply. I found the tunic on Ebay (item 2264128344) which does answer my question. There is actually a stripe visible on the end of the shoulder strap in the photo which I thought was too small to be a brass shoulder title. However, it looks very similar to the 'Canada' title on the tunic. A little smaller perhaps. The only real difference is the lack of a second rectangle surrounding the blue one.

Regards

Gavin

[BeppoSapone]

I have just purchased a postcard of a soldier, and was hoping that someone could help me identify the regiment. On his upper right sleeve he wears a rectangular patch. inside is a smaller, darker rectangle bearing the letters C E . The card may post date 1918, as he wears collar badges (Flaming grenades), which I don't think was common during the war.

Any suggestions? Canadian Engineers? Any help appreciated.

Gavin

Would you say that the rectangle is red? If so, it is the sign of 1st Canadian Division. So, this man served in 1 Div RCE.

If you think the rectangle is French Grey, the man served in 3rd Canadian Division RCE.

[GavinH]

Thanks very much for the info. I didn't realise that the the second rectangle was a divisional patch, but it does make sense. I would think that french grey was the more likely, but it's hard to say for sure.

Regards

Gavin

[Guest Chip Minx]

Gavin,

Here is an example from my collection. 3rd Division Canadian Engineers.

Chip

[GavinH]

Chip,

Thanks for posting your example. I realise now that I misread a previous post, and thought that it was the backing rectangle that was red or grey. I see now that I got that totally wrong! Thanks for your help.

Regards

Gavin

[DrB]

Gavin...the flaming grenade was a collar badge which was worn by many Corps and regiments in one form or the other, but the engineers wore one as well. The ORs did not wear collar badges on their service dress as did the officers, but this is probably a photographers prop set.

DrB

[GavinH]

Thanks for the info. I did consider that they may have been added for the photograph. However, it's interesting to see that the tunic on Ebay also has the same badges on the collar. Perhaps they were a common addition to walking out dress.

Regards

Gavin