The King's Badge

Discussion in 'General' started by Paul Reed, Dec 22, 2008.

  1. GeoffMNZ

    GeoffMNZ Well-Known Member

    Email received from Howard Mayer re my Dad's NZ Kings Badge;
    "Thanks for your email, all I/we can confirm really is that we did make them, the numbers have been individually punched in not by machine hence the irregularity.
    First time I have seen the MK within a circle, interesting indeed.
    Hope this helps - Howard Mayer"

    So there is a puzzle still to be solved!
    Geoff
     
  2. JimHerriot

    JimHerriot Ready for Anything

    I hope this is the longest you've ever had to wait for an answer (then again, everything comes to he (or is it him?) who waits!)

    No envelope when Pops received his. It arrived in a box within a box, accompanying letter folded inside (all taken a battering over the years, especially his badge which adorned the buttonhole of his Sunday best for more years than I can remember)
     

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  3. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Hi and can anyone throw some light on what this badge is please? I suspect it may be my grandfather's and perhaps when he left the army in May 1918 but no idea really otherwise. Many thanks in advance, Murdo
     

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  4. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    I think it was in the realm of George VI and not George V
    King's Badge - Wikipedia
    Established 1939
    Last awarded Late 1940s
    It was to be worn only on civilian clothing and by the end of 1941 over 8,000 had been awarded.


    The Kings Badge for Loyal Service : Products on the myCollectors Website

    Try google - its not always right but often provides some outline information

    TD

    Forgot to add - if your grandfather was invalided out of the services in May 1918 he would probably have been awarded the Silver War Badge Silver War Badge - Wikipedia
     
  5. JimHerriot

    JimHerriot Ready for Anything

    As an adjunct to TD's excellent response Murdo, interesting reading here.

    The King's Badge

    Kind regards, always,

    Jim.
     
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  6. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Hi Jim and many thanks to you both! I have never served in the Brit Forces but served in the French ones and they were a damned sight more "generous"!!! It was said that "he was shot in the thigh while leading a carrier counter attack against 30 enemy trying to blow up a bridge over River Somme" - surely that was "worth" more nowadays and a wee badge!!!! I assumed that it was my grandfather's who was invalided out of WW1 just before the end so I will need to ask my 92 year old uncle (his son) if that is correct! Many thanks indeed for all of you help and if I read correctly, he may well have been entitled to the Silver War Badge too but perhaps never applied.
     

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    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
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  7. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    My Great Uncle was also shot in the legs on the Somme but he was returned to duty and ended up in Northern Italy for the last year or so of the war. He has only the normal 2 medals and endured his service until Dec 1918 when he was 'released'

    Digging a little deeper though
    UK, Silver War Badge Records, 1914-1920
    Name: A. Duncan
    Rank: Lieut
    Military Year: 1920
    Regiment: Seaforth Highlanders
    Discharge Unit: Lists of Approvals
    Discharge Regiment: Seaforth Highlanders
    Badge Number: 3829 29
    Piece: 3249
    List Number: Piece 3249
    Record Group: WO
    Record Class: 329


    I guess we have to be grateful for small mercies

    TD
     

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  8. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Post 6 of this thread


    Murdo - is your grandfather related to this other members relative as the stories of how the George V silver war badge was 'won' seem to be similar
    There might also still be some confusion as the image shows a George VI Kings Badge and your grandfather would have been issued a George V Silver War Badge

    TD
     
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  9. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Hi TD and when I opened the attachment it is definitely my grandfather as the address is 9 Sutherland Street and where he "retired" to and where my father was born! However, my grandfather never saw active service and remained in the UK for all of his service. What does it all mean? I'm a bit lost I'm afraid.
     
  10. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    What it means - how should I know,

    The image is a WW2 issued badge that you say belongs to your grandfather when he was wounded in WW1 during an action someone else has stated was their relatives, so unless they were both in the same action and wounded ..............................

    The card for Angus Duncan clearly shows the WW1 George V Silver War badge number that this man was issued with - it is a completely different badge to the Kings Badge (only issued from 1939)

    I would suggest finding out some more details and facts

    TD
     
  11. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    I would suggest you perhaps obtain a free trial on Ancestry and specifically Fold3 access

    UK, World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923
    Name: Angus Duncan
    Rank: Lt
    Record Type: Card
    Birth Date: 1888
    Residence Place: Old Aberdeen
    Identification Number: Oa8650
    Corps, Regiment or Unit: 4/Bn Seaforth Highrs
    Service Branch: Army
    Title: WWI Pension Record Cards and Ledgers

    UK, British Army Records and Lists, 1882-1962
    Name: Angus Duncan
    Birth Date: 25 Sep 1888
    Military Year: 1918
    Regiment: Terr. Force Bn. Sea. Highrs.
    Rank: Lt

    It would also be worth your while contacting the Regimental Museum and see what they have to say

    TD
     
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  12. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Card posted for reference
    Duncan, Angus.jpg

    1918 October - Part 3.jpg
    Kyle
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
  13. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Many thanks for finding all of these links and sorry for the confusion. My uncle confirmed that the King's Badge belonged to my father and therefore WW2. My grandfather is certainly the same mention above and born on 25/09/1888. The family lived in Old Aberdeen when he attended university beginning in the autumn of 1920.
     
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  14. chrisgrove

    chrisgrove Senior Member

    @ kieron
    The Queens Surreys were formed in 1959 as an amalgamation between the Queens Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and the East Surrey Regiment, so were not around during WW2. I think you meant 1/5th Queens.
    Chris
     
  15. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Hi TD and my 92 year old uncle has confirmed that it was my father's badge so WW2. There was no certificate though. I wonder why he received it or was it because he had been wounded and his active service in Burma finished after that? Perhaps is was a replacement for the Wounded Stripes mentioned above? Many thanks in advance, Murdo
     
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  16. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member


    King's Badge - Wikipedia

    The King's Badge is a large silver lapel badge authorised by the Ministry of Pensions in the early part of the Second World War and initially issued to servicemen who, as a result of their injuries, had been discharged from active service. It was to be worn only on civilian clothing and by the end of 1941 over 8,000 had been awarded.
    Its basic purpose was to show that the wearer was a veteran. As well as members of the armed services,

    I'm off to Specsavers

    TD
     
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  17. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Not a replacement, more a case of the wound stripe being worn on uniform and the Kings Badge being worn on civvies
     
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  18. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Many thanks TD and probably that was the case then because after he was wounded at Imphal, he was sent back to India and remained there for at least another year in a non-active role he said (but no more than that). I may have one photo of him in civvies which my French wife took when I was on a mission somewhere (probably Bosnia) and couldn't get over to Scotland but she and her daughter went and father took them to the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Burma War at Edinburgh Castle. Must hunt for it....he definitely has a small badge but cannot see properly and doesn't look like a silver one which I now have...
     

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    Last edited: Nov 25, 2020
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  19. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    The lapel badge like the Burma Star Association badge.
     
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  20. Murdo Duncan

    Murdo Duncan Closed Account

    Could well be Owen and especially as it was the 50th Anniversary. Just to let you know, my future wife had been introduced to the family the year before and I was a 40 year old bachelor (I could have gone from bachelor to grandfather in one fell swoop). In 1995, she, her 17 year old daughter and I were to go over to Edinburgh for three weeks but I had to go elsewhere. The girls went over and loved it. So much so that step-daughter-to-be wouldn't get on the plane to fly back to France mumbling something about "this is where I want to live"! To cut a short story shorter neither her English nor her French BAC were good enough for Edi Uni so, she and a girlfriend went off to Thames Valley University in 1996. She got through that easy enough, then moved to Kings College London and finished with a PhD in Philosophy!! Next year, she'll have lived longer in the UK than I did and her first language is now English and mine is French!!!!! What a strange World we live in......
     
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