Hi Mate ,
They are WO2 badges used in the 1930's - 42 period.
Yours is a WO1 badge with the olive leaves .
I got a couple of them too , see photos
Cheers Rick
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Then after 42 the Australian army went back to the British design that they used in the past eras.
The same design transitioned into cloth and lasted until the mid 70's , 76 I think from memory is when they changed it to the Australian Coat or Arms .
Anyway I will post up some photos of each type , to show the timeline of evolution.
Cheers Rick
Post 42 Australian WO1 badges
Cheers Rick
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1950's post 53 Australian WO1 patch
Note the lack of border edging.
Cheers Rick
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1960's Australian WO1 patch
Note the border edging.
Cheers Rick
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I don't know what the Australian army did regarding insignia but that wrist insignia I posted in #1071 is NZ Army WW2 era for Warrant Officer class 2, and in fact it remains the same today for the NZ Army. The WO1 insignia as you show in #1074 were used by NZ Army in both world wars, and until about the 1970's , like Australia the insigna changed to the NZ Coat of Arms. My grandfather held both ranks during WW2 and I have both types of the insignia he wore.
Pre 76 , Last type Australian WO1 patch in the British style.
Note the different patterns on everything
Poor lion & horse look starved lol.
Cheers Rick
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Close guess Rick! It was late 1975. I have attached the article from Army newspaper (my collection). Quite a few changes happening around this time maybe due to the new broom in Parliament, the Whitlam Government. In 1974 the Mess cutlery and crockery recieved the Australian Coat of Arms design too, replacing the Rising Sun (as well as the RAN and RAAF insignias I think).
And a few patches from my little collection. Not sure if the red-border one is correct.
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