Other Ranks Insignia

Ready for a moment or two of confusion ? Got a receptive mind, good at logical thought processing ? Then give yourself a test........ enter "British Army Other Ranks' Insignia" into Google, then sit back and be prepared to be baffled.

There are L/Cpls with 2 stripes & L/Cpls who wear a crown above their stripes. Some Cpls are Sgts, a Regt Cpl Major is an RSM. Sgts who wear gold stripes out rank those who have white ones, some NCOs wear no badges of rank in full dress uniform.In the cavalry ( of course !) the appointment of SQMS is held by a staff sgt who might wear 4 stripes & a crown. He is then addressed as Sgt Major.

Then there are the RA bombardiers, & the Conductors of the Ordnance Corps, the Service Corps & the pay Corps............ and just one infantry regt. spells sergeant
SERJEANT and gets away with it.

It's too much. Interesting, but too much to take in after a couple of lunchtime jars when eyelids are heavy. And nowhere does it tell why, or when,chevrons changed from left arms to right arms around 1900, & that was the reason opening up a can of worms.

Your a bit late David..It`s already been done somewhere on this site..Very interesting though

Don't get your point, Cartav - I find it all quite straightforward, but I don't drink at Lunchtime.

Lunchtime drinking???Those were the days!!!As long as there was a nice cosy box body to sleep away the afternoon in..all was well

Gordon. wrote:

Your a bit late David..It`s already been done somewhere on this site..Very interesting though

If I might tack something similar on to the periphery of this.

I remember, in the early 60s it was quite common to see a poster (produced by National Savings, I think), with illustrations of the cap badges of every regiment in the British army on it. Quite a lot of badges in those days !

One of these posters was hanging on the wall in our "Q" stores and said Q was making good progress in collecting every badge that was on the poster.

I'd love to have such a collection now, but would settle for a specimen of the poster !

That's right, Brum - they were plastered everywhere, including the Canadian barracks. If memory serves me NAAFI also put one out, but I'm not sure.

Yes, if only we had been blessed with the foresight to save stuff like that, especially since so many of the regiments and corps are now history (some for 50 years or more).

I always wished I had held onto some BAFV script as well as BAOR maps, especially the one of the Sennelager ranges and the RMP operational routes throughout the former British Zone. On the other hand I did bring a lot of beer glasses and beer mats home.

recce83 wrote:

That's right, Brum - they were plastered everywhere, including the Canadian barracks. If memory serves me NAAFI also put one out, but I'm not sure.

Yes, if only we had been blessed with the foresight to save stuff like that, especially since so many of the regiments and corps are now history (some for 50 years or more).

I always wished I had held onto some BAFV script as well as BAOR maps, especially the one of the Sennelager ranges and the RMP operational routes throughout the former British Zone. On the other hand I did bring a lot of beer glasses and beer mats home.

I used to have one of the excellent BAOR road maps here, in one of those huge clear plastic map cases we used to be able to buy. To my sorrow I gave it to my son when he was posted to Germany, needless to say, I never saw it again!

I have got some BAFV though, it's possible to buy them still.

Cartav,

Never mind what a couple of others say, the Google site is very interesting.

Jimsigs1

Thanks JimSigs............ I'm a relatively new boy to this party and need putting in place sometimes ! I've dried my tears now and I'm ready to deviate again........

Relevant, but deviating matters : I remember the poster, the badges. One unit I was with, can't remember which now, had dozens of the real things mounted in a glass case. Bet that's found its way to some BQMS's pad after all the reorgs. And for me, I have a cigarette card album collected for me by one of my sister's consorts yonks ago. Park Drive fags, 48 cards of Army Badges, price of album in which they are mounted, one penny. Not worth a lot, I'm told.

And Brum........ I still have a 1952 edition 100,000 map of Germany centred on Osnabruck. Not many may remember them....... they look like wartime Kraut issues with legend info added in Brit. & cover about 150 km x 170 km.

Not a patch on our OS sheets...... all roads are in red, main routes have red blobs at about
1 km centres. Very few contours, just spot heights, but I guess contours would be a long way apart anyway. That area was flat, flat, flat. Very difficult when looking for a good light ack-ack OP location and heights above sea level only averaged about 60m & peaked infrequently around 100m.

If you look under Major Exercises, & "Battle Royal", you'll see there is mention of Goings Maps. These were overprinted with coloured areas showing bearing capacity of the bits of land. They were issued in 1954 & smartly withdrawn as unreadable in 1955.

Hey! Not bad for a part trained NS lad, all this, is it? But damn all to do with "Insignia" !

Not anything to do with Insignia either as such but where do you get a decent blazer badge these days, all the Signals ones I can find are either a poor robotic figure or a bloody meercat look alike. No decent military suppliers left as far as I can see, unless of course you know different... Hopeful

Try the museum shop £15.50.

http://www.royalsignalsshop.com/acatalog/Miscellaneous.html

Posted before, but for the new guy's here is a portion of the collection I once owned, sadly disposed of .. dumber and dumber .. Had over 600 cap badges, 120 Helmet Plates and assorted helmets etc..

Len (Ciphers)

Impressive collection Len.Must be worth a bob or three to the new owner.

DaveB,

In addition to the R Sigs museum, look up 'Royal Signals Blazer Badges' on eBay. Quite a selection and some as low as £10.

Jimsigs1

Great collection Ciphers....... bet you're sorry to lose it, but not sorry there's no more polishing to do.............. Reminds me of our BQMS stores at Admin Inspection. If they'd issued it instead of hoarding it, they'd cleared the shelves & saved a lot of dusting down.

You kids won't remember it, but the Home Guard in WW2 had black leather gaiters & waist belts. All stuff left over from the Crimean War, apparently. Those stores must be where our BQMS learned his trade.........

cartav,

You kids won't remember it, but the Home Guard in WW2 had black leather gaiters & waist belts.

I may not remember the black gaiters & belt but I AM old enough to remember sleeping on the underground during a raid, the workmen taking our railings away, the men that pit up our anderson shelter in the garden & also putting a morrison shelter into my Grandmother's living room (I do know the difference between an anderson shelter & a morrison shelter) etc etc.

Jimsigs1

Biggest difference I remember was there was always two feet of water & a floating duckboard in an Anderson. And we didn't get ours until after our windows disappeared & the roof was blown off...........Happy, happy days. Railings ? Yes, you can still see where they used to be on some garden walls. They tell me the iron was never used for battleships & things, it was the wrong sort of mix.

Ah Yes !!! the Home Guard

Len (Ciphers)

Dad's Army


Armed at first with broomsticks, or handle from a pick,
with cardboard tank, and milkman's horse, sometimes just a stick,
The Home Guard were the last resort should Germany invade,
And to the amusement of the village, each Sunday held parade.

They suffered much derision, often the butt of jokes,
But really, did they deserve it, for they were just plain folks.
Names such as Dad's Army, fell from peoples lips,
But they were ready to stand and fight, with Hitler, come to grips.

Local Defence Volunteers were recruited from each parish,
But local wags, soon changed this tag, to the Look, Duck and Vanish.
Teacher, banker, milkman, and some old soldiers too,
Dressed in khaki misfits, they presented a motley crew.

But remember the Territorial, who also faced derision,
Who at the outbreak of the war, filled the ranks of mock divisions.
So let us take our caps off, and remember with fond regard,
And raise a loud resounding cheer, Hurrah!, for the Home Guard.


Len Payne

Just read that bit above about the "milkman's horse "............. It deviates a bit from BAOR,
but in a paragraph about our local WW1 Pals' Battalion, it's recorded that such animals were used. When one in particular was the mount of an officer leading a parade through town, some wag in the watching crowd shouted "Milk O !". The horse stopped in its tracks as had been the norm before it was enlisted, the parade became a shambles. Could be just a tale, but I like it.

I like it too and there is probably a bit of truth in it

cartav wrote:

Just read that bit above about the "milkman's horse "............. It deviates a bit from BAOR,
but in a paragraph about our local WW1 Pals' Battalion, it's recorded that such animals were used. When one in particular was the mount of an officer leading a parade through town, some wag in the watching crowd shouted "Milk O !". The horse stopped in its tracks as had been the norm before it was enlisted, the parade became a shambles. Could be just a tale, but I like it.

On similar lines (also not BAOR related) I heard that a load of the then equivalent of London Transport horses were sent to South Africa during the Boer War to haul artillery. Apparently the only way the gunner drivers could get them to move was by ringing a bell first.

I recollect a rank of 'Conductor' in the RAOC, was this a WO1 rank and was there a special rank insignia ?

I think we had a 'Conductor' instructing future RAOC Ammo Techs at AAS Chepstow.

There were conductors in the RAOC Les.There is a thread on them somewhere on site.HERE

Gordon. wrote:

There were conductors in the RAOC Les.There is a thread on them somewhere on site.HERE

Got it, cheers mate.