Arm badge

[battle of loos]

 

good evening,

 

I would like to know if there is a document that covers all the "arm badge" (copper and cloth) used by the toupees of the Commonwealth during the First World War.

 

thanks in advance.

 

regards

 

michel

[FROGSMILE]

I think you must be referring to Regimental and Formation level battle patches (the modern description), Michel.  There is no single encyclopaedia that I know of, but there is an Osprey book by Mike Chappell and various other specialised publications.  There was a survey of units in 1918, whose results are archived in the Imperial War Museum.  There was also a set of ‘cigarette cards’ showing the Divisional and Brigade signs.

Edited 3 August , 2019 by FROGSMILE

[battle of loos]

Good evening,

 

I may have used the wrong expression.
I wanted to talk about specialty badges like :

shooter Lewis Gun - gunner - sapper ...

 

regards

 

michel

[Sepoy]

Michel
There are three publications, that may be of interest, which can be purchased from the Military Historical Society at £12.00 each.

Machine Gun Corps: First World War Flashes and Badges. by Alan Jeffreys and Gary Gibbs
The first of three Special Numbers to mark the centenary of the First World War.
A definitive and prolifically illustrated record of all the MGC cloth and metal badges held in the Imperial War Museum and the Guards Museum, with one or two more. 64pp.

Infantry Divisions: Identification Schemes 1917 by Mike Hibberd with illustrations from Gary Gibbs
Lists the 73 Divisions as they existed on 1st July 1917, including their constituent Brigades with component Regiments.
The date coincides with the IWMs acquisition of most of its sign collection and the volume contains 10 colour pages from the IWM collection.

British World War 1 Corps and Divisional Signs by (Ed: Gary Gibbs & Clive Elderton
This issue is based on an original 1920 publication by Vincent Wheeler-Holohan which had been annotated with hand-written notes by Bill Carman.
The text and illustrations have been updated to produce this fitting conclusion to the WW1 centenary Special Numbers.

See here
https://www.militaryhistoricalsociety.co.uk/Shopbinder

 

Hope this helps

Sepoy

 

[Jools mckenna]

I don't think Michel is looking for Div flashes but for Trade badges/arm badges etc. Like the signallers badge, wound stripes, etc.

Edited 2 August , 2019 by Jools mckenna

[battle of loos]

7 hours ago, Jools mckenna said:

I don't think Michel is looking for Div flashes but for Trade badges/arm badges etc. Like the signallers badge, wound stripes, etc.

 

good morning,

 

Thank you Jools mckenna
that's what it's all about.

 

these are the ones I already own :

 

I intend to make my complete collection in copper and cloth.

 

thank you in advance for your help.

 

regards

 

michel

[mark holden]

Hi Michel, if you can find a copy of this book it will help with your task.

 

British Army Proficiency Badges by  Denis Edwards and David Langley

 

regards

 

Mark

Edited 3 August , 2019 by mark holden

[battle of loos]

good morning Mark,

 

perfect.

 

Thank you for the information.

 

regards

 

michel

[FROGSMILE]

43 minutes ago, battle of loos said:

good morning Mark,

 

perfect.

 

Thank you for the information.

 

regards

 

michel

 

The book recommended by Mark will be perfect for you I think, Michel.  It is by far the best available.  Just to help you with the terminology, the metal badges are not copper, but ‘gilding metal’ (gm) which is an alloy of brass and copper that began to be used around 1907 for a wide range of badges.  The cloth badges are made from ‘worsted’, a hard wearing type of wool, not only used for the backing, but also for the thread used to embroider the letters.  I hope that helps.

[battle of loos]

gooood morning,

 

Thank you for those clarifications.

 

regards

 

michel