Guest Currah Posted 28 August , 2003 Share Posted 28 August , 2003 I've done some research on my grandfather, Arthur Ewart Currah, but have run out of leads. His service records are not at Kew. What I know is that he was a member of the Machine Gun Corp and fought in Italy and was then in India. I have a photo of him from 1916 when he enlisted but the cap badge is not that of the MGC. Would I be able to find a regiment from the badge alone? He was living in the west Country and would have possibly joined up in Bristol I also have a photo of him in his unit taken at Cawnpore in India in 1919. Apparently he nearly died here, of malaria(?) Any advice on where to continue my research would be very welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 10 September , 2003 Share Posted 10 September , 2003 Hello Currah...sorry we've collectively been so slow on this one. It may be possible to identify his pre-MGC regiment from a photograph or cap badge. Can you post it on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Currah Posted 22 September , 2003 Share Posted 22 September , 2003 Chris, Thanks for the reply -- I was wondering if I had posted in the wrong forum. Here is Grandad. Looking at the back of the photo I see it is dated Febuary (sic) 1917, when he was eighteen. Mark Currah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 22 September , 2003 Share Posted 22 September , 2003 Hi Mark I do not know much about cap badges but I have one that looks a lot like the one your grandfather is wearing, which is K.R.R.C. ? but I've been wrong before Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raster Scanning Posted 22 September , 2003 Share Posted 22 September , 2003 Yes I agree with Annette. Kings Royal Rifle Corps. The red felt backing to the badge and black buttons are distinctive. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 22 September , 2003 Share Posted 22 September , 2003 But if it were the K.R.R.C. the badge itself should also be black. Maybe it's one of the Rifle designated parts of the London Regiment? I can't see the badge clearly enough, but could it be Queen Victoria's Rifles? However, I suppose it could just be some ersatz (unblackened) sort of K.R.R.C. badge? I've seen brass K.R.R.C. badges on ebay, but always thought them to be fakes before now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Currah Posted 23 September , 2003 Share Posted 23 September , 2003 Thanks for the responses. It's great to be able to tap into such a resource of collective knowledge. There seems to be a consensus but I'll attach a detail as well. Is the stick/baton that he is holding just a photographer's prop? To my mind it looks like an attempt to make him look like an officer when he clearly isn't! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 23 September , 2003 Share Posted 23 September , 2003 Hi BeppoSapone I have a 12th Rangers County of London Regiment badge, which is black but my K.R.R.C. badge is unblackened but I do not know enough about the K.R.R.C. to know if its a fake or not ? I do have the K.R.R.C. chronicle for 1917, which contains a picture of an old Major-General and his badge does not look black ? Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 23 September , 2003 Share Posted 23 September , 2003 Hi Annette Without doubt the "correct" K.R.R.C. badge of both WW1 and WW2 should be black, and have a red backing. I had relatives in the regiment, and still have a hat and a number of these badges here. The enlarged photo certainly looks like an unblackened K.R.R.C. badge to me. This is really strange since the "Black Buttoned B*******" were very proud of their black badges and buttons, and who would want to polish badges if you didn't have to? The regular K.R.R.C. officers in both wars wore a round red corded "boss" with the bugle on it. This was known as the "Cherry". When the London Regiment was disbanded, in the late 1930s, the QVRs, Queens Westminsters and the Rangers became T.A. bns of the K.R.R.C. Once the war got going they all wore the standard black K.R.R.C. badges. However, in the "phoney war" period it was supposed to be possible to tell the ex-London Regiment T.A. units by the shape of the red coloured badge backing. As I say above, this didn't last long once the war got started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 23 September , 2003 Share Posted 23 September , 2003 Hi BeppoSapone On a closer look at my K.R.R.C. badge, I could see it used to be blackened, some fool polshed it up. I bought this badge many many years ago, and I am very ashamed to say that the fool who cleaned it up was me I can just about remember when I brought it, I thought it was dirty and cleaned it up. When I brought the Rangers badge, the chap who sold it to me thankfully told me it was meant to be that colour. How were the badges blackened and does anyone know if it can be re-blackened. Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 24 September , 2003 Share Posted 24 September , 2003 Hi BeppoSapone On a closer look at my K.R.R.C. badge, I could see it used to be blackened, some fool polshed it up. I bought this badge many many years ago, and I am very ashamed to say that the fool who cleaned it up was me I can just about remember when I brought it, I thought it was dirty and cleaned it up. When I brought the Rangers badge, the chap who sold it to me thankfully told me it was meant to be that colour. How were the badges blackened and does anyone know if it can be re-blackened. Annette Hi Annette The "known" WW2 K.R.R.C badges that I have are painted. I have others over the years, and they are also painted, but don't know if they are from WW1 or WW2. The badge was the same in both wars. However, if WW1 soldiers have been photographed wearing brass badges, maybe they were issued in brass and the soldier was supposed to blacken his own? In which case, it would probably have been done with whatever was to hand/cheap? Even if you were to paint your own badge, it could never be authentic. You would need to find "WW1 type" paint, which would contain lead. Even if such paint is available in England, which I doubt, the finished job would look too new. Also, you would need to know the right shade of black etc etc. Why not just buy a black K.R.R.C. badge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Burgoyne Posted 24 September , 2003 Share Posted 24 September , 2003 Hi BeppoSapone I used to buy the odd one here and there when they used to be £2 or £3, I've got three kids know so money only goes on Great War books or research, I no longer buy such itams. I may leave painting it, it looks ok as it is, just a ashame I touched it in the first place. Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 25 September , 2003 Share Posted 25 September , 2003 Hi BeppoSapone I used to buy the odd one here and there when they used to be £2 or £3, I've got three kids know so money only goes on Great War books or research, I no longer buy such itams. I may leave painting it, it looks ok as it is, just a ashame I touched it in the first place. Annette Hi Annette I know exactly what you mean! I found a way round it though. I started selling surplus books, duplicate items etc etc on ebay. With the money I've made I buy those items I really want. Once you have cleared your attic etc you can even pick up more books etc from car boot sales and s/h shops, and re-sell them. This has financed some great additions to my own collection in the past two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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