Polish Signals Badge and the British Connection

[prosty zolnierz]

an unanswerable question. why was the British made Signals badge smaller than the Polish manufactured one ?

[3mk]

Hey Prosty Zolnierz,
Good to see you posting in the Polish sections more often,About the badge I think I know which 1 your talking about (The 1 with a arm holding a sword?) I think it might of been to save material?I think alot less of these were awarded in pre-war Poland then in Exile but cant be sure about it.But Exile or Pre-war if your a owner of 1 your very lucky!

[Gary J]

Also, ... is it true that the British issues had the prongs to the back rather than a threaded stud spinner ?

Gary J.

[prosty zolnierz]

Hey Prosty Zolnierz,
Good to see you posting in the Polish sections more often,About the badge I think I know which 1 your talking about (The 1 with a arm holding a sword?) I think it might of been to save material?I think alot less of these were awarded in pre-war Poland then in Exile but cant be sure about it.But Exile or Pre-war if your a owner of 1 your very lucky!

great minds think alike ! the same thought had crossed my mind. a British trait, let's save money. there can be no other reason.
some how small is beautiful and less is more could not have been the rationale behind the thought process of the people involved all those years ago.
P.S. they can't be that scarce surely ?

[3mk]

I dont see them up for sale that much but when they do they attract alot of attention and go for in the $300+ range I think

[A.J. Zawadzki]

I suspect the reason for the smaller “British” ones is other than a wartime economy measure. In fact, the 30mm vs. 36mm pre-war diameter applies to all the exile forces versions - Italian and Middle East made.

This size difference is a good question. I’ll stay on the case of this one and hopefully it won’t remain “unanswerable”.

Also, ... is it true that the British issues had the prongs to the back rather than a threaded stud spinner ?

Yes, the British Collins made ones had the twin fastening blades. But there were also ones with threaded posts that may have originated in the UK. Pictured below is my PSZnZ one with the ‘2nd Corps style’ .800 silver mark. This is but one of several versions, enameled and lacquered, and of different metals.

Regards,
Tony

[prosty zolnierz]

extracted this from one of the shoeboxes. it is amongst other items that belonged to a Polish paratrooper. I do not know his name but I do know the name of his pal who is photographed with him. the badge appears to be made of copper, silver ? plated. it is backed with a dark blue wool disc. the only reservation I have about it is that it measures only 29.4 mm. dia. given that all the other items associated with it are unquestionably WW2 era, I have no idea what happened to the other 0.6mm !

[winnie]

I'd be grateful for your comments on this one please. It's 28mm wide. The front is copper?, blue and black enamel. The back and decorative screw-on button seem to be base metal which was copper plated, now worn away. My father was wearing this in photos early 1940's in Scotland after the Narvik Campaign. But could he have received it earlier in France? He was in the Polish Land Army under French command late 1939 before they went to Narvik April 1940. In France prior to enlisting, he worked for four years as a 'radio-mechanic'. So I suspect he may have been in Signals from the start. Thanks

[Gary J]

This does not look like the "Collins" of London type. (Prongs to back)
The other exile type was I believe was produced in italy (Leccosa of Licar)

Could this be a pre-war issue ?

Gary J.

[Gary J]

Legit Cert for signals badge - earned in Britain.
(Parachute Brigade officer - but stamp shows the course was via 1st Armoured Corp).

Gary J