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I would like to thank Paul Dore who recently contacted me regarding the St John Ambulance Brigade 'badge' that had been used as a breast badge on a Civil Defence battledress blouse. He pointed out that the badge in question began life as a The St John Ambulance Brigade armband. The emblem having been cut down and used on the BD pocket.
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Although the badge cannot be seen in detail, I am presuming that this Incident Officer Warden is wearing the oblong old gold on black 'INSTRUCTOR' badge. The gentleman to the left possibly has the CD breast badge issued for wear on gabardine coats on his battledress blouse, something I don't believe I've seen before.  Civil Defence 'Instructor' Sleeve Insignia This Despatch Rider DR sleeve patch recently appeared on the tat bazaar along with a printed Messenger shoulder title. Although not officially sanctioned, a number of examples (and here) are known to exist and an example is present in the National Archives files. This one has a much deeper gold colour and does have quite a messy rear, which sometimes can point towards an item being a reproduction.  Civil Defence Despatch Rider Sleeve Insignia Following on from yesterday's blog concerning first aid badges, a regular contributor to this blog supplied the image below. The young gentleman shown is wearing a "NEWCASTLE FIRST AID" badge below his ARP breast badge.  WW2 Civil Defence "Newcastle First Aid" Badge Numerous period photographs show members of the Civil Defence wearing first aid badges on the right-hand pocket of their overalls, battledress or tunic. Two particular badges are commonly seen. Firstly, there are the St. John Ambulance Association and St. John Ambulance Brigade badges. To clarify, if you were a member of the St. John Brigade and the Civil Defence General Services, you would wear the Brigade badge; if you had been trained by the St. John Ambulance Brigade, but were not a member, you could wear the Association badge. There are rare woven-style St. John Ambulance Brigade (see image) but the majority of St. John Ambulance Association appear to be embroidered; and there appears to be size variations.  St. John Ambulance Brigade badge worn on battledress and tunic Secondly, there is the Royal Life Saving Society's Respiration Service badge. There also appears to be two sizes of this badge. It should be noted that an identical woven badge was issued post war.  Royal Life Saving Society's Respiration Service badge I'm now interested in other first aid badges worn on the right pocket of tunics and battledress. A few examples are seen in photographs:
If you have any further photographs or examples of these badges, please drop me a line.
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