The Dorsetshire Regiment cap badge

[Danger]

Hey Guys,

I just got this Dorsetshire Regiment Hat Badge.
After researching the Regiment, I'm confused why there's no Egypt superscribed under the Sphinx?
On the reverse of the badge you can see it was struck with the correct titles.
But then it's been covered by the Sphinx.....

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Danger.

[Watchdog]

The word under the Sphinx is Marabout not Egypt (Marabout was the site of a battle in Egypt) and is a battle honour of the old 2nd Bn (54th Foot) in 1801.

Whenever you see a blank tablet on a British cap badge where you would have expected to see a name it indicates that the badge relates to a battalion of the regiment that has no connection to that battle and therefore no entitlement to that particular battle honour. For instance a territorial or volunteer battalion raised from scratch after the honour was awarded and therefore no connection either directly or through component units in the case of amalgamation. This tends not to happen these days as the circumstances do not occur. In this case the badge represents the 4th or 5th Battalions which served together in 43rd (Wessex) Division in WWII.
The reason the word is seen on the rear of the badge is simply that the badge is in two parts, the rear which is the main wreath and made of brass is the same in all badges but the front which is the castle and sphinx in white metal is struck without the title.
Of course the Sphinx denotes Egypt and the Castle denotes Gibralter which would also not apply to 4th and 5th Bns but they relate to campaigns of the regiment as a whole rather than specific battle honours awarded to a specific battalion. So the battalions that draw lineage from the original regiment carry the honour but not those that don't if that makes sense?
As I say this tends not to occur these days because even with amalgamations in the current climate no units are actually raised completely from scratch and draw lineage from earlier units.

I hope this answers you question.

Regards

Mark

[Danger]

Thanks Watchdog,

Sorry I should've worded my question better.
I knew Marabout should be there and not Egypt, it was the blank tablet with no name confusing me.
I saw others online with Egypt on the tablet.
But you did more than answer the question!!
You've solved the puzzle for me.
It's good to know it's a WWII badge and it represents the 4th or 5th Battalions which served together in the 43rd (Wessex) Division.
I did notice it was made of two parts, Brass and I'm guessing the other metal is stainless steel?

Cheers,

Danger

[Watchdog]

I did notice it was made of two parts, Brass and I'm guessing the other metal is stainless steel?

Brass (alloy of copper and zinc) yes. Stainless steel, no. Generally referred to as "White metal" (WM) it is actually nickle (or a nickle alloy) which unlike steel is easy to polish to a high shine which it holds and it will not rust. Whereas, "stainless" is a bit of a misnomer as only the very highest quality stainless steel will not rust to some degree (high spec such as surgical or scientific applications rather than the cheap cutlery costing a few quid on the weekly market!).

As an aside, brass is distinct from bronze which is a much darker and rich brown coloured (unless vigorously polished) alloy of copper and tin usually seen in officers badges rather than ORs.

Regards

Mark

[Danger]

Additional notes on the Regiment -

The 4th Battalion was an original 1st Line Territorial Army unit and, in 1939, raised a 2nd Line duplicate, the 5th Battalion, when the Territorial Army was doubled in size prior to the commencement of the war. The 4th and 5th Battalions were both part of 130th Infantry Brigade in the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, participating in the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden and the Rhine Crossing.

Then i had a look at WW1 and noticed the Regiment has a connection dear to my heart. Gallipoli.
These poor bastards were with us ANZAC's, so I have a lot of respect about that.
They were also at some major defining battles in Europe, as we all were.
It's more than a cheap pick up to me now.

The Great War (13 battalions): Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Thiepval, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Messines 1917, Langemarck 1917, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, St. Quentin, Amiens, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Cambrai 1918, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1916, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine 1917–18, Basra, Shaiba, Kut al Amara 1915 '17, Ctesiphon, Defence of Kut al Amara, Baghdad, Khan Baghdadi, Mesopotamia 1914–18

[Danger]

Thanks mate.
White metal is a new term to me.
It is still very shiny, but I suspect it was polished for sale.

Cheers,

Danger

[Watchdog]

Then i had a look at WW1 and noticed the Regiment has a connection dear to my heart. Gallipoli.
These poor bastards were with us ANZAC's, so I have a lot of respect about that.
They were also at some major defining battles in Europe, as we all were.
It's more than a cheap pick up to me now.

I know what you mean. This is one of the more pleasing (if that could ever be the right word!) aspects of collecting, the history and poignant circumstances surrounding these atrifacts.

A great uncle of mine servied in what was then the local battalion in my home town of Rochdale,Lancashire, the 6th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers. They endured Galipolli then for their efforts were treated to France and the Western Front. He survived all this then back home got a job as a bus conductor. During this he cut his finger on his ticket machine, it became infected and he died of blood poisoning. Just a little ironic!

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

Thanks mate.
White metal is a new term to me.
It is still very shiny, but I suspect it was polished for sale.Cheers,Danger

White metal is very much a collectors term in this context and of course has virtually no meaning in real world applications but it is also used in the antiques and jewellery spheres to describe something that looks like silver but is not marked and therefore is not certified as such. If you say it is silver and it isn't guess what happens next - litigation!!
Of course this covers stuff you would never really take to be silver as well as nickle items that do look very similar. It is a very useful term to be aware of.

Rgerds

Mark

[Danger]

I totally agree. Without their history they are just objects.

I had 2 great uncles serve at Gallipoli and 4 others got the French treatment. This is just on Mums side.
One was killed at Gallipoli at Chunuk Bair and the other who was artillery, then went onto France. 6 years total service. Home in 1920.
He was home for 19 days then was hit by a train and killed in the middle of the day.
I used to think he was deaf, but as I got older I started thinking, then after going to gallipoli myself I think I started to understand.
Both brothers would've been involved in the Chunuk Bair battle. Alex was M.R but they left their horses behind. He was in the first wave and never returned from the hill. MIA. Part of the 850 missing from the 3 day battle.
it was bloody hand to hand fighting and we swapped possession of the hill top over and over.
In between ownership, we were shelling the hill top.
Hector would've known Alex was up there and known when he didn't come down, all this while firing on the hill.
Maybe he felt guilty? he might've held out hope till the end of the war, but coming home and being one of two to return must've been hard?
I'm sure he walked in front of that train on purpose.
Of the 4 that went to France first, 3 were gassed and only one returned. My line comes from him.

Regards,

Danger