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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

On War Service Badge


jayne w

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Hello,

We have recently inherited my husbands grandfathers war medals and along with those was a badge. This is triangular, brass and round the sides it says "On War Service". In the middle ,of the triangle atop a crown is the date 1916. Can any pals enlighten me as to why he might have had one of these? I can only think that maybe he wore it when on leave in civvies so that he didnt get any white feathers given to him? I'm sorry I dont have a scanner so cannot post an image.

Many thanks

jayne

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Hi Grovetown,

Thanks for the thread - I did search for on war sevice badges but nothing came up!

OOps - mystery deepens - wonder how he got it? Especially as he didnt meet his wife unitl well after the war!!

Thanks again

Jayne :rolleyes:

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  • 16 years later...

Did I just hear "£40-£60 at auction" on the Antiques roadshow tonight [09/05/2021]?

 

I have two of these and only paid around £20-£25.

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Lots of bids going in for the ones on e-bay in the last few minutes and the cheaper buy now ones ( £20 ) are being bought , The power of T.V ! 

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Interesting. I’ve not heard of these before. Judging by the ones on EBay there seems to have been a different badge for each year.

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17 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Interesting. I’ve not heard of these before. Judging by the ones on EBay there seems to have been a different badge for each year.

I have the 1914 enamel and the 1915 enamel and also the 1915 brass one . Bought them when i was a teenager at the local flea market for pocket money 

prices , there were so many produced that it doesn't appear they've gone up in value that much over the years . Although being featured on T.V may 

have just pushed the prices up ! 

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1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Interesting. I’ve not heard of these before. Judging by the ones on EBay there seems to have been a different badge for each year.

These Triangle ones are only dated 1916 and are broches (with pins on back) specifically for female munition workers. 

 

OWS badges for men have the button hole 'half moon' fixing on the back rather than a pin. Normally the ones for men have the badge of the Royal Ordnance Corps. There were normally dated 1915.

 

Many private companies made badges for their men in a variety of designs, these are mostly dated 1914 or 1915. 

 

I don't recall seeing OWS badges dated 1917 or 1918, after the Military Service Act (conscription). 

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9 hours ago, Alan24 said:

 

I don't recall seeing OWS badges dated 1917 or 1918, after the Military Service Act (conscription). 

That would explain it. All the ones I can see on EBay are from 1914, 15 or 16.

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