Womans War Volunteers....

[Bosun Bob]

Hello.

While surfing on eBay I landed on a listing for this badge.

Its described as:  " Vintage WW1 Women's Volunteers Brooch"

I was wondering what type of work would a Woman be doing to qualify for the waering of this particular badge.

From my limited knowledge most endeavours seem to be covered, by Land workers and factory workers

 On War Service badge - the triangular badge and others..

 

Many thanks.

Bruce.

 

[Jim Strawbridge]

Just a thought but could it relate to the Wellington Volunteers?   They existed in 1908 and presumably saw WW1 war service.

[Bosun Bob]

Probably not  Jim.

The item description states,  "Vintage WW1 Women's Volunteers Brooch". 

There are, maybe, four other badges the same as this one that are currenty listed on eBay UK.

They are all similarly described as the example I have included here

Most are listed with a Buy it Now amount of around £15  while another has an opening bid of €4.

so on that basis these are probably fairly plentiful. Where as A Wellington  Volunteers badge would probably be

much less common and attract a higher price.. I don't now how true my assumptions are to tell the truth, 

I'm really just riffing in the absence of any real knowledge.

So I guess the Wellingtons will need to find another badge to wear.

Edited 18 February , 2020 by Bosun Bob

[Terry_Reeves]

An e-mail to Sally Bosley might help who is an expert in these matters:

 

https://www.sallybosleysbadgeshop.com/shop.php?ps=1&pg=2

 

TR

[Bosun Bob]

This looks to be an interesting site, Terry.

Many thanks for the lead.

Bruce.

[Terry_Reeves]

Let us know how you get on Bruce.

 

TR

[Bosun Bob]

Yes, I shall  Terry.

I have just this moment sent off an email message to  Sally with an inquiry.

Bruce.

[Shiny]

Hi Bruce,

 

It's a volunteer war workers badge from WW1 and is not gender specific. It was used to show people were doing volunteer work but not necessarily tied to one of the big organisations. 

 

Hopefully this link will work, have a look at post 7 by postwarden, he's written a book all about home front lapel badges and explains it.

 

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50681&highlight=Volunteer+war+worker

 

Michael 

 

 

[Bosun Bob]

No response so far Terry.

She runs a very interesting site with lots of  nice badges - temptations abound there, caution is essential.

 

Many thanks.

Bruce 

Edited 27 February , 2020 by Bosun Bob

[Terry_Reeves]

On 26/02/2020 at 07:22, Bosun Bob said:

No response so far Terry.

She runs a very interesting site with lots of  nice badges - temptations abound there, caution is essential.

 

Many thanks.

Bruce 

Thanks Bruce.

 

[dink_and_pip]

From my 2016 post.

This is the Voluntary Worker badge awarded by the DGVO (Director General of Voluntary  Organisations) to workers on completion of 30 hours voluntary work. 

They could wear the badge as long as they did regular work, if this stopped they had to hand the badge back. It was awarded to both men and women. Members of the British Red Cross Society, St John's Ambulance, and Queen Mary's Needlework Guild were ineligible as they had their own awards. All other charities registered under the War Charities act 1916 were eligible.
At the end of the war all workers were allowed to keep their badges. Some groups used their remaining funds to award badges of their own, others ribbons or clasps to be worn with the VW badge. The final report of the DGVO details all the organisations and the number of  badges retained. 

[Bosun Bob]

On 26/02/2020 at 11:35, Shiny said:

Hi Bruce,

 

It's a volunteer war workers badge from WW1 and is not gender specific. It was used to show people were doing volunteer work but not necessarily tied to one of the big organisations. 

 

Hopefully this link will work, have a look at post 7 by postwarden, he's written a book all about home front lapel badges and explains it.

 

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50681&highlight=Volunteer+war+worker

 

Michael 

 

 

Hello Michael.

Many thanks for the link. It may be that it is old  and feeling like a nice cuppa tea and a cood lay down, also like me, but a cut and paste  brings up an empty net.

All the best

Bruce.

 

[Bosun Bob]

On 29/02/2020 at 12:45, dink_and_pip said:

From my 2016 post.

This is the Voluntary Worker badge awarded by the DGVO (Director General of Voluntary  Organisations) to workers on completion of 30 hours voluntary work. 

They could wear the badge as long as they did regular work, if this stopped they had to hand the badge back. It was awarded to both men and women. Members of the British Red Cross Society, St John's Ambulance, and Queen Mary's Needlework Guild were ineligible as they had their own awards. All other charities registered under the War Charities act 1916 were eligible.
At the end of the war all workers were allowed to keep their badges. Some groups used their remaining funds to award badges of their own, others ribbons or clasps to be worn with the VW badge. The final report of the DGVO details all the organisations and the number of  badges retained. 

Many thanks for this information and providing a significant increase in my knowledge of the VW badge.

Kind regards.

Bruce.