lapel badge 1920's

[deanC]

Good afternoon all
we have recently uncovered an early photograph/print of my grandfather , we have roughly dated it 1922-1926 , as this was the period he demobbed and before he was married .

On his lapel of his suit jacket there is a small badge , approx 10-15mm dia , it appears to have a plain face ,dark in color with white lettering .

the letter's are R A on the top edge
WOSE on the bottom edge

the W could be V .

we are hoping that this may shed some light on his ' missing ' years 1922-1926

can anyone enlighten me ?

thanks

Deno

[jeffersj]

Deno

Any more details of your g/father eg. name, Army number, Regiment etc. and possibly a photo. The RA could be Royal Artillery.

Jeff

[margarita]

Do you know where he was living at the time? Some of the letters could relate to a place name.

[deanC]

morning Jeff

he was 2nd devonshires 9273 enlisted 1910 - demobbed 1922 , the photo is a large portrait on card approx 18" x 12" ,on smalled copies the badge does not show up ! ,
thanks for your help .

Dean

[deanC]

Good morning Margarita

part of the mystery iam afraid ! , he left the army 1922 in Devonport , then married in 1926 grimsby , we believe the photo with him wearing this badge is between these times .
His wife's family was involved in the salvation army in Grimsby during this time , it might have some connection .

thank you for your help

Dean

[gasser]

This has bugged me from the start and all I found after much searching is this ....
WOSE - 'Warrant officers, specialists and enlistees', under the tags Military and Military Appointments [from all-acronyms dot com]
What that means or how it relates to your query.... I honestly haven't a clue. It may help - there again it may not !!

[deanC]

Morning Gasser
thanks for help ... more than i have found ... when he demobbed he was a lance corp would that be a warrant officer ?

also a strong family 'rumour' that he was a batman at the end of his army service in India .does this have a connection to the warrant officers ?

another idea on the first 2 letters R.A ' reserve association '

what do you think ?

thanks
Deno

[gasser]

Definition of 'batman' from wikipedia.... 'a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant.....'
The following is extracted from google search which showed pdf doc. 'our army customs and traditions ministry of defence - Singapore'
'Batman (British term for an officer’s “orderly”). Bat is Old French for “burden.” The batman (or batboy) was the soldier who used to take care of the officers’ equipment carried on the “bat [pack] horses.” When the term “bathorse” disappeared, the word “batman” remained for an officer’s orderly.'

So...... I can only assume that your grandfather's lapel badge was something to do with the above and that WOSE was his 'position' whilst serving in India, as a 'special enlistee' for the purpose of looking after a warrant officer.
R A ..... Regular Army / Royal Artillary / Reserve Affairs ??????

What do you think ?
Gail

[deanC]

morning Gail

i believe you are on the right track , he was not artillary , he won the MM in 1918 while on patrol , so Regular army sounds good , in 1926 when he married in grimsby ,his wedding cert states he was living at the seamans mission and he worked there as a barman , he and his new wife then went into service at a Vicarage in Ventnor isle of whight .
i would assume that they would have needed some kind of qualification or reference to gain this position ,maybe his army service as a batman ? .
When he enlisted in 1910 his occupation was stated as a saddler .
The photo/print that has the badge in it ,he has signed yours sincerley E.Coles , not the sort of thing you send to a loved one, so maybe a formal photo of some kind .
i will continue to research ,thanks again for your help .

Dean

[jeffersj]

Dean

A Warrant Officer 1 or 2 are like gods in the Army and only one rank below a commissioned officer but really run the show. On the other hand a batman was a commissioned officers' servant, fetching and carrying, waking him up with a nice cup of tea, cleaning his kit etc. Fortunately this role disappeared from the Army during the 60s I think. Additionally being a batman would not be a qualification for anything other than a job in service which was quite common at the time. (think of Mr Bates in Downton Abbey!

Jeff