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Restoring officers General Service Corps Jacket

Article about: I have recently acquired a officers uniform with GSC buttons, however both the collar badges and hat badge are missing. Now the question is, should these be GSC? Its seems a stupid question

  1. #1
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    Default Restoring officers General Service Corps Jacket

    I have recently acquired a officers uniform with GSC buttons, however both the collar badges and hat badge are missing.

    Now the question is, should these be GSC? Its seems a stupid question but have seen couple of tunics in the past with GSC buttons and different collar/hat insignia (from memory one had pioneer corps badges).

  2. #2

    Default Re: Restoring officers General Service Corps Jacket

    I think that sometimes GSC buttons were used along with the correct unit insignia and this might be because they could not get the correct unit buttons, maybe they had just transferred or for another reason. Do you know to which unit it was issued? Also, the buttons might have been added later after it had been stripped of it's original ones. I have a Scots Guards KD tunic which came with GSC buttons, but these have been added post war and I am still trying to get the correct buttons and rank pips.

    Or it might have had all GSC insignia signifying he had not been attached to a particular unit yet.
    Regards,

    Jerry

    Whatever its just an opinion.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Restoring officers General Service Corps Jacket

    Couple of basic points to make with this. First of all, the buttons on the jacket are not General Service Corps, they are what were officially termed Royal Arms buttons (commonly called General Service buttons) and were not connected with any corps. Along with the matching cap badge, they were the default insignia for anyone who didn't have regimental insignia to wear. Also, officers that were not assigned to any regiment or corps, were termed Officers on the General List, the GSC being a unit for other ranks not yet assigned to a regiment.

    So there are several reasons the jacket could have Royal Arms buttons: a) an officer on the General List, b) an officer in a regiment or corps for which no special button was authorised, c) a jacket made by a tailor that couldn't obtain the proper buttons etc. Their were many new units formed during WW2, including the Parachute Regt, REME, Recce Corps and others, for which buttons might have been difficult to obtain immediately.

    Also bear in mind that buttons are sewn on (except for KD jackets of course), whereas collar and cap badges detach easily. Officers transfered from the General List to a regiment/corps (or even from one regt to another) would change their badges a lot more quickly than their buttons. I have an example of this myself, a WW1 officer's jacket with Dorsetshire Regt insignia but West Yorkshire Regt buttons.

    Rob

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