1 World War - silver commemorative (RIFLE SWEETHEART BADGE) brooches for which units?

[Watchdog]

I'm afraid to make a mistake, but it seems to me that I read somewhere that some division of the "Yeomen of the Guard" nevertheless fought in Europe in the Battle of the Marne. And somewhere else slipped information that the volunteer "Yeomen of the Guard" took part in the battle of Ypres.

Once again, I could be wrong! I ask the professionals to correct me! (or supplement the real history of "Yeomen of the Guard")

The Yeomen of the Guard are a ceremonial body and have been for hundreds of years. The last English monarch to take the field with his bodyguard was George II at Dettingen in 1743 as you mention above. They are often confused with the Yeomen Warders at the Tower of London (both are sometimes referred to as "Beefeaters") but they are separate groups.

Neither group fielded troops during WWI but as both have always recruited from ex-servicemen it is true that some men who subsequently joined either group were WWI veterans. Again as the quote above explains, during WWI they resumed the guarding of Royal palaces but this was static duty inside the UK and not a specifically "military" role. Whilst it is possible that men of the YoG might have volunteered to serve in WWI but they would have been as members of other regiments / corps. However, as they were already time served veterans (min 22 years and rank of Sgt) I doubt many if any at all would have been eligible due to being too old.
Something that can cause confusion is the the British Army has always had regiments called "Yeomanry". The best way to explain the term "Yeomanry" is to say that they are the cavalry equivalent of the Territorial Force infantry. That is to say they are mounted / armoured units but like the Territorial Force they are not part of the Regular Army. Today Yeomanry units along with all the other non-regular regiments / corps units are simply classified as "reservists".

I hope this helps.

Regards

Mark

The history is too complicated to give a synopsis here but once read and understood it becomes clear that the YoG has not been a "combat" formation for centuries.

[Watchdog]

Thank you. Yes, I also thought.

And the second brooch - it's not "Yeomen of the Guard" by any chance?

No I don't think so.

The trouble with these brooches is that they were not officially produced or even required to be officially sanctioned so there could be any number of different designs. My feeling is that this one is a generic design not representing any particular unit.

I think that "1914" is not a significant year in respect of the badge itself but is simply indicative of the start of WWI.

The first visual impression is of a Lancers connection but these are flag staffs not lances and they carry flags not the smaller pennons of a lancer unit despite the fact that they appear "swallow-tailed" like a pennon the proportion makes them far too large for pennons. Also, they appear to be Union Flags (can't really see the one on the left) rather than a unit specific design.
Maybe such a design would be appropriate for someone with no unit affiliation to wear in support of the troops?

Just my thoughts.

Regards

Mark

[SMERSH]

Good! Let's summarize some of our thoughts:
1 - "Yeomen of the Guard" - not a combat unit. (we have dealt with this)
2 - about the year - 1914 - I believe the date 1914 indicates a significant event in the history of just this "Yeomen of the Guard", and not the year the war began "
Those. to the fact that - quote: "1914 when at the outbreak of the First World War, King George V requested that they again resume guarding the royal palaces, thus releasing the police elsewhere. He also allowed them to join the armed forces."

Summary: The "Yeomen of the Guard" is not a combat unit, but! The "Yeomen of the Guard" is extremely small (as it was already written in this thread - no more than 50 people), which means that this sign is extremely small-circulation - i.e. by definition rare.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the discussion!

[MAP]

I just realized that the photos are posted using a hosting site. Per the forum rules, please upload the photos directly to the forum.

Thanks!

Assume you saw this the first time I posted. Please go back to the beginning of the thread and post your photos directly to the forum.

[Watchdog]

Assume you saw this the first time I posted. Please go back to the beginning of the thread and post your photos directly to the forum.

This is important because otherwise the links to the hosting site will expire, the pictures will disappear and the thread becomes useless and clutters up the forum.

[MAP]

I have added the photos and have closed the thread.