Badges of the Regular Infantry, 1914-1918 is based on over thirty
years research in museums, archives and collections. It is an exhaustive
study of the development of the battalion, brigade and divisional signs
of the twelve divisions that formed the regular army during the Great
War. It also looks at the badges of those battalions left behind to
guard the Empire.
While the divisional signs are well known, there has been no
authoritative work on the signs worn by the infantry battalions. The
book will illustrate the cap and shoulder titles used, as well as cloth
signs worn to provide easy recognition in the trenches. Each regular and
reserve battalion of a regiment has a listing, which provides a brief
history of the unit and detailed information on the badges worn. It is
prodigiously illustrated and contains much information, like why a shape
or color was chosen, when it was adopted, what size it was, whether it
was worn on a helmet, what color the helmet was and even what colors
were used on horse transport; the majority of this rich and detailed
information has never been published before. What helps make the
information accurate and authoritative is that much of it comes from an
archive created at the time and from personal correspondence with
hundreds of veterans in the 1980s, many of whom still had their badges
and often had razor-sharp recollections about wearing them. The book
also provides some comments from these veterans. Using the illustrations
will allow many of those unidentified photos in family albums to come to
life.
