David Bilton - The Badges of Kitcheners Army

1917 envelope used to identify both the date of receipt and what badges had been received.

Following this request, GHQ in France collected the badges and sent them to the museum. These were then catalogued by a museum curator in a standard envelope that might contain a document or a badge or both or more. The front was transcribed with the unit and often further details about the badge.

The badges were supposed to be collected by GHQ but some units sent them directly. On receipt of this order, after having sent the badges, the adjutant of the 8th Royal Sussex wrote to the National War Museum: will you please return those sent, and I will forward them through the Quartermaster general, Adv. G.H.Q., from whence they will be transferred to you at the end of the war. I have included some comments but have not always stated where the information has come from in order to avoid repetition.

Further information came from the many regimental museums across Britain, from the identification pamphlets produced in the 1970s by Major Waring, founder of the Military Heraldry Society and from the many enjoyable hours spent reading through folders, compiled by Haswell-Miller, among others, held by the Ogilvy Trust (now AMOT) that contained much interesting information.

While most of the photographs and some of the badges have come from my own collection, many individual collectors have also provided photos and information. Unfortunately over the intervening years their names have become detached from their help sincere apologies. Three names stand out for their help with the later stages of the project: Alan Jeffreys at the IWM who allowed me to photograph their badge collection (without this assistance the book would have contained far fewer images), Jon Mills, a fellow member of the Military Heraldry Society who contributed many photographs to help highlight badges, and Bob Smethurst who let me photograph his badges and copy his photographs thank you so much.

Many other collectors and libraries happily contributed: Robert Andrews, Tony Ashworth, John Bodsworth, Jerry Bond, Ted Croucher, John Gregory, Paul Hannon, Mark Holden, Martin Kerry, Norman Litchfield, R. J. Marrion, Chris McDonald, Barrie Morris, Graham Stewart, Terry Sampson and the Taylor Library. Further assistance was provided by A. Jackson, T. Scala, T. Chadd, R. Litchfield, G. Tyson, H. Rook, L. Cable and B. Golding. Special thanks to my daughter Esther for help with Photoshop and image manipulation in Word.

As images have been sent to me by many people, far more than listed, some of whom did not want to be acknowledged, I cannot guarantee their original ownership. Keeping track was made even more difficult when my computer died, taking much information with it hence the delay in the book appearing. I apologise beforehand for any inadvertent use of copyright photographs; please forgive such, this will be corrected in the second edition.

What made this research especially interesting was the contact with the men who wore the badges, starting with my grandfather who gave me details of those worn by 11 Division. Then twenty years later after trawling through Whos Who I was able to track down hundreds of old soldiers, men aged 86 to over 100. Not only were the vast majority keen to help but incredibly most could recall their badges, often those of other units as well, one or two still had their badges, one had their complete uniform but interestingly, not one had a photo that showed them wearing the badge. Many were also keen to provide personal stories of their experiences. I have included some of their responses in the text.

It has been a very enjoyable experience. Thank you everyone who has contributed to the most complete collection of information on the badges of Kitcheners infantry.

The purpose of this book is to answer many of the who, what, where, and when questions about the badges worn by Kitcheners infantry. While the primary purpose is to provide an historical record, it will also be useful for re-enactors, collectors, family historians and those with an interest in the Great War in general. I have deliberately not included anything other than a brief regimental history of the battalions in order not to detract from the main purpose of this book a record of the badges. The brief history is to put the badges into context.