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British Royal Military Police Warrant Officer Class I cap badge

Article about: In the British Army the highest non-comissioned rank is Warrant Officer Class I or WOI. At the rank of WOI there is entitlement to wear the same quality and pattern uniforms as comissioned o

  1. #1

    Default British Royal Military Police Warrant Officer Class I cap badge

    In the British Army the highest non-comissioned rank is Warrant Officer Class I or WOI. At the rank of WOI there is entitlement to wear the same quality and pattern uniforms as comissioned officers. This includes the cap badge which in most cases is a different material and quality to the basic cap badge worn by ORs (enlisted ranks).

    The badge shown here is perhaps an ideal example of anomalies encountered in this circumstance.

    A common difference between ORs and Officers cap badges aside from quality is that ORs typically have sliders or shanks (not all, some do have lugs but go with me here ) whilst officer badges have lugs (often longer than the basic type).

    The anomaly with RMP is that NoI Dress uniform is issued to all ranks whereas in most units it is only issued when a unit is engaged / deployed on particular ceremonial duties then withdrawn later. Whilst RMP WOI will wear the khaki Service Dress cap as appropriate, in NoI dress they continue to wear the ORs NoI Dress peaked (visor) cap which is also worn in No2 and which WOI wear in the officer pattern Service Dress that has replaced their previous No2 Dress.

    Because the NoI Dress cap is made to take a slider rather than lugs an officer pattern badge but with a slider is required.

    Hence the badge below which is scarce in any version of cypher and crown.

    It is much heavier than either the standard staybrite cap badge or older brass badges. It is heavily silver plated brass and this is indicated by this maker with the 'P' stamp on the slider. An 'S' stamp indicates Sterling silver which I believe is used as stamping with assaye marks which would need to be on the badge itself not the slider is problematic on this badge. The obverse has a matte finish with burnished highlights and pictures do not show the way it tends to sparkle in sunlight. It needs no polishing and all that is required is a rub with a soft cloth to make the highlights shine out.

    This one is a post 1946 George VI example but the current E II R version is quite similar.

    As usual, all comments are appreciated.

    Regards

    Mark
    British Royal Military Police Warrant Officer Class I cap badgeBritish Royal Military Police Warrant Officer Class I cap badge
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  2. #2

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    It looks like a quality item.

  3. #3

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    Quote by Gunny Hartmann View Post
    It looks like a quality item.
    It is and to be fair a hallmarked silver item looks no different at all and therefore is of only "in the know" snob value because seen side by side on caps you can not tell . Which is actually true of any silver plate of sufficient density because to the eye it has the typical lustre of solid silver. Only cheap stuff looks different. A lot of officers badges that you would swear are solid siver when only seen from "hat on head" distance are actually plated

    Special comission gold badges are something else but that is another story! I recall the CO of Ist Bn Royal Highland Fusiliers having a gold and silver badge. Now that was a piece of jewellery

    Regards

    Mark
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  4. #4

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    From all appearances it looks to be a standard issue Anodized Aluminum badge. I have only seen A/A badges with sliders and the slightly hollow back of the badge is like many WRAC A/A badges I have. I would venture that it is most likely an OR badges while officers would probably still wear a gilt and silver version it wo metals or gilt if one metal. Anodized Aluminum badges are often called Staybrite - and these badges are very light in weight. Here's a picture of the back of one of my A/A badges which you will see is similar.

    British Royal Military Police Warrant Officer Class I cap badge

    The most difficult to find RMP cap badge is the GVI with the G and R intertwined. It was made by modifying a GV badge until new dies could be made. I'm still looking for one.

    British Royal Military Police Warrant Officer Class I cap badge

    Hope this helps,

    Terry

  5. #5

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    Quote by Terry Webb View Post
    From all appearances it looks to be a standard issue Anodized Aluminum badge. I have only seen A/A badges with sliders and the slightly hollow back of the badge is like many WRAC A/A badges I have. I would venture that it is most likely an OR badges while officers would probably still wear a gilt and silver version it wo metals or gilt if one metal. Anodized Aluminum badges are often called Staybrite - and these badges are very light in weight. Here's a picture of the back of one of my A/A badges which you will see is similar.

    The most difficult to find RMP cap badge is the GVI with the G and R intertwined. It was made by modifying a GV badge until new dies could be made. I'm still looking for one.


    Hope this helps,

    Terry
    Hi Terry, many thanks for the input.

    I can see why you say that and that is the trouble with photographs.

    However, this badge is absolutely light years away from the annodised aluminium or "Staybrite" type.

    It is much heavier and is a different colour. It is heavily silver plated with a frosted finish. The plating is so thick that it has not worn through at any point so the base metal cannot be seen but I can say from my knowledge of British badge materials that it is 99.9% sure to be brass (not 100% only because it is not visible) or more likely a "white metal" nickel alloy.

    The 'P' on the slider was used by Gaunt to indicate (silver) Plated. They also made solid silver badges which were marked 'S' on the slider. This was most likely due to space and that assaying each piece would be disproprtionately expensive.

    This pattern exists because Warrant Officers Class 1 wear officers badges but retain the No1 Dress hat in No1 & No2 Dress rather than the officers pattern hence the need for an officers pattern badge with a slider not lugs.

    The Staybrite badges are far lighter, bend easily and are a pale gold colour. Even the palest manufactured batches do not look like silver.

    I am particularly acquainted with RMP badges as I served in the Corps for many years.

    The G VI R badge you show is the pre 1947 (when the title 'Royal' was granted) version so to be pedantic it is not RMP but CMP ie Corps of Military Police as opposed to "Corps of Royal Military Police" in which the title is usually foreshortened to just Royal Military Police or RMP and is the 2nd most common after the E II R current badge. Much harder to find is the post '47 with 'Royal' added to the scroll as it was in service for a relatively short time before it was superceeded by the E II R badge. However, I know it is subjective but I would assert the the rarest CMP badge is the one I show at the top of this thread because it was only worn by WOI, only in the the George VI period prior to 1947 and although in theory the entitlement to wear officer badges was extant in the George V period no such badge as this were made then and any that appear are privately plated OR badges.

    I should also mention that the badge at the top of this thread could not be Staybrite anyway because the RMP Staybrite badge was introduced in the '70s some 20 years after the end of the reign of G VI R and into the reign of HM E II R thus bearing the Queens Crown (it is actually the Imperial State Crown and was used at the coronation of King George VI in 1937. It was altered for Queen Elizabeth in 1953 but collectors call it the QC so hey ho!). That referred to as a kings crown is actually The Tudor Crown so perhaps it's best just to stick to K/C and Q/C as we still have the Victorian Crown, Guelphic Crown and Coronets to worry about

    When I have time later (working just now) I will take some more comparison pictures and post them here.

    If you are having trouble finding a G VI R like the one you show here send me a PM and I reckon I can source one today!.

    Regards

    Mark
    Last edited by Watchdog; 01-21-2021 at 05:29 PM. Reason: Typo
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  6. #6

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    Yep, I stand corrected. It sure did look like A/A to me from the picture, but your description definitely says otherwise. Very interesting badge!!!

    Terry

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