cap badges

Waaaay Back in 48/50 we wore the officer type brown beret with a maroon patch background where the para badge was positioned.

Len (Ciphers)

Shelldrake wrote:

I did read several years ago, when we had the last reshuffle, that the Light Dragoons were scheduled to be amalgamated with the Buffs. Apparently their new title was to be The Light Buffoons.

As an ex-15/19H (amalgamated to become Light Dragoons in 1992) I ought to take offence. Instead I shall laugh.

Wilf wrote:

Watching the jubilee concert last night there were several soldiers in uniform at the front of the crowd. I'm sure I saw two of them wearing dark blue berets with the parachute regiment cap badge! I know it sounds unlikely, but I'm sure I saw it!

I went to a LD Old Comrades weekend a few years ago. Stood on the Saturday afternoon socialising, I noticed a young lass wandering by dressed in blues. And a maroon beret. My conversation stopped mid-sentence while I tried to assimilate what I had seen.

So there are no longer any regimental bands. Nearest thing to a LD band would be the Light Cavalry Band at Bovington, 250 miles from Swanton Morley. In these days of fiscal tightness, the budget didn't run to bringing the Light Cavalry Band from Bovvy and besides, with so few bands to go around, they were double-booked anyway. So, up from Colchester came the Band of the Parachute Regiment. And yes, it had young lady bandspersons, and yes they wore maroon berets.

I couldn't help but wonder how many former Paras would be turning in their graves.

Hey but they were fit young ladies.

I wonder if these lady-Paras actually did P Company and how many jumps they have done.

If the answer is no and none then she shouldn`t be wearing that beret.
Unless the Paras have lowered their standards these days.

[quote="bigmal"]I wonder if these lady-Paras actually did P Company and how many jumps they have done.

Dirty boy!!

bigmal wrote:

Unless the Paras have lowered their standards these days.

Sadly that's where my money lies, though I suspect it's an equality thing for bands rather than a lowering of standards for front line Paras.

My Brother in law has just retired from the AG Corps band, so it seems the corps still have them.

There is a very large and informative thread on bands,somewhere on this site..There is no search facility or it is not enabled so it`s a matter of time and patience if you want yto find it

[quote=

Dirty boy!![/quote]


Who? Me?

Never.

Honest.

Vanishing regiments its more like vanishing army.We will be incapable of doing what we used to do in the past....world policeman.All the good posting have gone.the younger lads will have to contend with garrison towns around the UK instead of around the world.Sad

Hi rucjock21

I see you were in Borneo and Aden,weren`t by any chance at Selerang in between?

Hi Gordon,No I went to Borneo with 2 Para and took over from the Argylls in Borneo.

Then the A&SH came to Selerang before legging it to Aden?????

Gordon,A&SH returned to Seaton Bks Plymouth after Aden where they did three tours of Borneo,one of the few units to do so.Then under Lt Col Colin Campbell Mitchell and 700 glengarried men headed off to the Crater district in Aden to teach some insignificant little terrorists a lesson they will not forget.Argyll Law ruled the day there.

When 17/21st Lancers came out to Canada for six weeks we were visited by no end of Canadian troops who were offering all sorts for one of their cap badges.

I spent a happy two years in Munster 52/54 at 20 Armoured Brigade, the 17/21 Lancers shared York Barracks (Gremmendorf Kaserne) with us and I had many friends among the NCO's of the Regt. Among my treasures I have a NCO's sleeved badge (or motto as its called in the Regt) of the 17 Lancers, dating back to 1854 ... I wear it in my old service rain hat.

Len (Ciphers)

Yer 'tis ....

Len (Ciphers)

Len, why is it called a 'sleeved badge'?

NCO's wore it above their stripes, similar to Royal Signals Sgt's and 'plank NCO's'

Len (Ciphers)

Wilf wrote:

When 17/21st Lancers came out to Canada for six weeks we were visited by no end of Canadian troops who were offering all sorts for one of their cap badges.

I did an Exercise in the American Zone (Grafenwohr) in 1968. The Amis would pay a small fortune for any Brit kit, especially Berets.

Cap badges and collar dogs - I've always wondered why the R Sigs cap badge and collar dogs were such a darned nuisance. they got bent and broken easily.

I still think that the cap badge for Other Ranks No 2 hat was a bad choice. I always found it difficult to set in the front of the cap correctly. it was the same with the beret. I was always breaking the legs of the collar dogs, and having to go to the QM Stores for exchanges. I reckon the 'Jimmy' would have been better designed to be inside a metal circle or similar. Some other R Sigs badges of Canada or Australia I believe, were far more robust than the ones used currently.

Does anyone agrees or disagree with this - should the R Sigs 'Jimmy' badge & collar dogs be redesigned to be more 'squaddy proof', or was it just my clumsy hands?

How many units have large cap badges and who has the largest?

The original "jimmy" was in a metal circle..I never had any probs with the current cap badge.In fact i think it is quite smart

I would imagine that one of the original jock regiments might have the biggest cap badge..And of course the present RRS has quite a big one

My own regiment A&SH and the KOSB's have big badges as do the Black Watch.