British Union of Fascists

[DrPMC]

I happen to have one of the batch of brassards currently offered for sale on ebay (bought as a copy) and have photographed it together with my original, which is at the bottom. It is easy to see why buyers could easily be convinced that the top brassard is an original as its materials and construction are very close to the bottom one. The most obvious visual difference is in the orientation of the flash in the circle and in its dimensions. If you look closely you can also see the stitching of the embroidery is quite different. Although I haven't tried to measure it, I also wonder if the unusual corded blue material is slightly different too, having more 'cords' per inch/cm.

[EddyR]

That's excellent Philip. You can see in a few years after these fakes have aged, of them being accepted as genuine. A black light test should be a clincher.

[DrPMC]

That's excellent Philip. You can see in a few years after these fakes have aged, of them being accepted as genuine. A black light test should be a clincher.

Thanks Eddy. i'm sure that a few hours soaking in tea followed by a rub with the contents of the hoover bag would do the job without waiting any time! I've never used a black light and do not own one so have no idea if the modern copies are detectable using this method. From what I have read on this forum in other contexts, it seems that the black-light test is far from being the foolproof test that it is often thought to be.

One of the things I've learned from reading the threads on this forum is the importance of putting to one side all the stories associated with an artefact and all one's hopes and taking a long and painstaking look at the details of the item. I'm hoping to post some more evidence later which should help collectors to distinguish between original items and modern copies.

There are a lot of copies of BUF stuff around these days, fortunately a lot of them are easily spotted - the various metal badges and flags especially, as they are obviously different in design or materials and manufacture. However, these brassards, together with the black shirts that I mentioned above and the replica fascist belts, which all came from the same source are much more challenging. There are also a range of woven badges which been sold through ebay which are a problem because they are copies of badges which are so rare that it is almost impossible to see an original to compare it to.

[DrPMC]

I am thankful to a very experienced collector in this field who has provided three more examples of original brassards. Numbers 1 and 2 are of the same pattern as the original in the earlier post above; no. 3 is another variant known the ‘Action Press’ type, on account of the materials used being the same as on the brassard specifically provided for wear with the Action Press uniform. Thus, it should noted that the blue background of no.3 is much smoother than the corded fabric used in the others. It is important to note that the pattern of the machine embroidery of all of these three additonal examples is the same as my original above and obviously different from the copies.

My colleague makes another important point, in stating that of all the many BU brassards that he has seen over the years, only one had a press stud fastening, which he suggests was a personal modification or repair. Therefore, if should be expected that standard original brassards are elasticated.

As a general point, it should be remembered that British Union was a relatively small organisation which dealt with the procurement and issue/sale of uniform items centrally. For this reason, and the fact that this brassards were only worn for about four years, it should not be expected that there will endless unusual variants appearing. We are not dealing with a situation like Germany where the same badge or uniform item might be produced by any number of different suppliers.

Finally, I might add that the official Action Press brassard, which can be seen in the photo below differs from all the examples shown so far in being significantly wider, such that the circle flash symbol is surrounded by red fabric all round.

[EddyR]

Great stuff Philip. The main problem has been that few people have had the opportunity to see an original close-up, anyone reading your posts now has no excuse if they are taken in by a fake. I'm amazed how people will pay out good money without looking into the subject at all.

[StefanM]

Many thanks Philip...and to your colleague collector


Do you know if there are any examples or illustrations of The Right Club club badge which is described as having featured an eagle killing a snake?

[DrPMC]

Many thanks Philip...and to your colleague collector

Do you know if there are any examples or illustrations of The Right Club club badge which is described as having featured an eagle killing a snake?

Its a pleasure!

Sorry to say that I have drawn a complete blank on the Right Club badge. It isn't in any of the books that I have and my knowledgeable acquaintance knows of the badge but never seen one in many years of collecting. Given that the Right Club was relatively small and had a brief and controversial life, such badges must be super rare - not something to be seen wearing in the fifth column panic of 1940.

[EddyR]

The item above has just sold on eBay, someone obviously thinks it is right as it sold for £200 plus and there were people pushing the price up. Stamped into the sweat band was BUF Holloway.


I've also had a look in Jamie Cross's booklet for any information about the Right Club badge, unfortunately there is nothing. I don't know how accurate his information is, some I know is completely wrong.

[DrPMC]

The item above has just sold on eBay, someone obviously thinks it is right as it sold for £200 plus and there were people pushing the price up. Stamped into the sweat band was BUF Holloway.

Concerning this cap posted by Eddy, i'd say that there is every reason to believe that this item is a complete fabrication:

1. Although its hard to tell from such a poor photograph, it does not look like the cap has the adjustable chin strap seen on the BU Action Press Cap. It certainly does not have the proper insignia, which is a woven badge showing the circle-flash over a fasces.
2. This hat instead seems to have a metal badge of the type which was sold after December 1938 to replace the fasces on the buckle of the BU's former uniform belt (although uniform had been banned since the beginning of 1937 members continued to wear the belt with their ordinary clothes). Although it isn't possible to tell without examining the actual badge, I would not be surprised to find that this one is one of a batch of reproductions made a few years ago for a now defunct enterprise called 'World Wide Relics'.
3. Regarding the stamp (see pic below). Although I can't say that there was never a BU branch at Holloway, there certainly wasn't one between 1937 and the end of the organisation in 1940. I have consulted the list of branch codes and that district is not mentioned - I assume it would have been subsumed within one of the four Islington branches (L25-L28). In any case, I would be surprised if uniform items had a stamp like this as they were the property of individual members, and obtained from national headquarters.

Its a pity that someone would lay out nearly £250 without doing any research. A basic minimum for anyone collecting in this area is J. Millican's book Mosley's Men In Black

[EddyR]

Thanks' for the above information Philip, unfortunately collectors want to believe the rubbish these shady dealers spin them, when their common sense should tell them otherwise. I remember 'World Wide Rubbish' and good riddance to this outfit.