Chevrons

[SteveE]

Having today received a copy of the discharge papers of my GGUncle I am intrigued by something written along one side, namely "Chevrons One Red and Four Blue"

Can somebody please tell me what these coloured chevrons represent?

Many Thanks

Steve

[Andrew Upton]

These are service chevrons, worn on the lower right sleeve of the uniform. The red denotes over-seas service in 1914, the four blue represent 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918.

[SteveE]

Thanks for the reply Andrew, now I know

Probably a silly question but would the red chevron have been above or below the blue?

[Jim Gordon]

Steve/Andrew

Andrew is not quite correct. The issue of Overseas Chevrons was not quite as simplistic as Andrew's posting infers. A Chevron was earned as soon as the recipient stepped ashore on foreign soil and thus a person with i Chevron could have served any time between 1 day and 364 days overseas. Thus your relative Chevrons show that he served overseas from sometime in 1914 to some time in 1918. The chevrons were worn in an inverted stack orientation just above the cuff of the right sleeve and were relatively small insignia.

The Red Chevron was placed below the bottom Blue Chevron.

Army Order A.O. 4, 1918, Published on 20th. December, 1917 gives all the relevant regulations concerning Overseas Chevrons.

Regards

Jim Gordon

[SteveE]

Jim

Many thanks for the reply.

Steve

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

So were service chevrons issued for service in 1919?

[Muerrisch]

Yes, I believe so. AO 57 of 1920 says qualifying service ceased 1 May 1920. For reference, one needs these AO for a complete [?] official brief:

4/18, 132/18, 286/18, 361/18 and 57/20.

361/18, for instance, granted chevrons for Prisoners of War.

[Bill Alexander]

Clarification. The service chevrons were not issued until 1917? E.g. For research purposes, a photo with a soldier wearing service chevrons would indicate that the picture was taken after late 1917?

[Jim Gordon]

Bill

Overseas Chevrons were authorised to be worn in January 1918. Thus a photograph of a soldier with Overseas Chevrons on his right arm must have been taken in 1918 (or after).

Regards

Jim Gordon

[leigh]

On this pic there are a few men with chevrons on thier LEFT sleeve.

Are these for a different thing?

Or can we assum that they are on the right arm but the picture has been exposed back to front. Then again the leather bandolier pouch things seem to be on the right way round..

Regards

Leigh

[Jim Gordon]

Leigh

The chevrons you are referring to are Long Srvice/Good Conduct Chevrons.

I attach a picture of this chevron and the Overseas Chevron

Regards

Jim Gordon

[Jim Gordon]

Leigh

And now the Overseas Chevron

Regards

Jim Gordon

[Muerrisch]

The chevrons you are referring to are Long Srvice/Good Conduct Chevrons.

In the interests of accuracy, these are "good conduct badges", the official description.

And while we are at it, the short vertical bars underneath are "distinctions in dress for officers and soldiers who have been wounded"

[SteveE]

Another question!

Was there a significance in the colour of the chevrons that led to the 1914 chevron being red and the others blue?

Did the qualification for the red chevron reflect the same qualifying period for the 1914 Star & Clasp and all chevrons after that period were blue or is there some other reason for the different colours?

Steve

[Jim Gordon]

Steve

The choice of red for the 1914 O/S chevron is not signigicant. IMHO it was only to distinguish the men who had been involved overseas since the beginning. I reproduce below the relevant paragraph from A.O.4 as well as the details of requirements for the award of the 1914 Star.

"The 1914 Star campaign medal - also commonly referred to as the Mons Star - was awarded by British authorities to those who served with either the British or Indian Expeditionary Force in France or Belgium between the outbreak of war in August 1914 and 22/23 November 1914. The 1914 Star campaign medal - also commonly referred to as the Mons Star - was awarded by British authorities to those who served with either the British or Indian Expeditionary Force in France or Belgium between the outbreak of war in August 1914 and 22/23 November 1914"

[Jim Gordon]

Steve

Sorry. An extract from A.O.4 governing the choice of colours for O/S Chevrons did not attach for some reason. It should appear below.

[SteveE]

Jim

Thanks again for the replies.

Steve

[Guest RC Sigs]

I have one of these badges in my collection with 4 blue stripes and one red. The red stripe is at the top when held point upward. Isn't it supposed to be at the bottom?

[RNCVR]

Steve & others,

Here is a set of War Service chevrons awarded to an RNVR member who saw service through the entire war.

Bryan

[RNCVR]

& here is a scan of the section of his Service Certificate that gives the award of the chevrons from 1914 to 1917.

There is no mention on his SR of a chevron being awarded for 1918 tho.

Bryan

[Guest RC Sigs]

what do you think of this one?

[RNCVR]

RC Sigs,

I am pretty sure this is a WWII WS chevrons set.

Perhaps someone can tell us for sure tho.............

Bryan

[Guest RC Sigs]

The WWII service chevrons are black, red, and white. No blue that I know of. This one appears to be WWI but the red stripe is at the wrong end.

[SPotter]

This one appears to be WWI but the red stripe is at the wrong end.

A fraudster who got it wrong??

Steve

[Guest RC Sigs]

That's what I think! Anybody have a real one to sell me for my collection?

Tom