Badgeless Field Service Cap?

[Didier]

Hello,

I seem to have lots and lots of questions about British uniforms but I suppose the only solution when you cannot find the information you are looking for is to ask.

So, my question today is was it usual or, at least, not utterly unusual to see badgeless FS caps during WW2? I have such a badgeless 1940 made FS cap on order and wonder whether I should leave it as is or add a cap badge.




The majority of Royal Engineers working at Arromanches harbour in the summer of 1944 wore GS caps but my impression is that some sergeants and other NCOs did wear FS caps at that time, as on the group photo below.



Royal Engineer Officers, on the other hand, all wore General Service Caps at Arromanches in 1944.



(All the photos are from my personal collection)

Regards,

Didier

[Adrian Stevenson]

Sometimes the cap badge slider (the large blunt lug type "pin") was just tucked behind the turn up of the cap. So no holes appear in the cap and it was easy to take the badge off and on.

Cheers, Ade.

[Watchdog]

Sometimes the cap badge slider (the large blunt lug type "pin") was just tucked behind the turn up of the cap. So no holes appear in the cap and it was easy to take the badge off and on.

Cheers, Ade.

And as can be seen the other men in the picture are not wearing any cap badge or other unit identifiers. Probably because they are dressed for work or fatigues.

This was not unusual and wasn't always a "field security" measure. Sometimes it was just convenience and in the field of little importance to the men who actually knew what unit they belonged to as did most others around them.

Regards

Mark

[Didier]

Thank you very much indeed for these thorough explanations.

So, if I got it all right, there is no need for the R.E.M.E. mannequin I am planning to wear a badged field service cap, as it will be the depiction of an R.E.M.E. staff sergeant tending to his daily duties during the time when Arromanches harbour was active.

Best regards,

Didier

Other (possibly) badgeless GS and FS caps:

[Watchdog]

Yes you are correct however, for representative and personal preference reasons I would probably include a cap badge.

Regards

Mark

[Didier]

Yes, I suppose an R.E.M.E. staff sergeant would have exhibited a tad bit more "army regulation consciousness" than the rank and file of his fellow Royal Electrical and Mechanical engineers

Officers, at any rate, would not be seen without a cap badge on.

[Didier]

So here is my "badgeless" FS cap at last! It was made by M. Freedman (Hats) Ltd in 1940 and bears a P (1941) War Department stamp. Upon closer inspection it does show signs of having sported a badge at some time, but, being in an almost like new condition, it doesn't seem to have seen much action during WW2.

Do you think I could add an R.E.M.E. metal cap badge there and polish the general service buttons to make the whole FS cap look a bit more armylike?

Regards,

Didier

[Didier]

An R.E.M.E. badge now adorns the unbadged FS cap, and I daresay it sits rather well on the it.



Side by side with my other FS cap: a Royal Artillery one.

The Royal Artillery cap is extremely stiff, as though it were rainproof, but what's the use of a rainproof side cap when it sits at an awkward angle on your skull and covers less than half ot it?



I have no idea what the number on the inside of the RA cap might be.