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Paul

Back to the badge ....... Herewith is a photograph of William Ingram's Border Regiment badge. While we will never know how he acquired the badge, it clearly meant a great deal to him. Perhaps while employed by the RE during the Boer War he spent time with the Border Regiment. Is so, might he have been given a regimental hat or simply the badge as a souvenir? He would probably have been amazed if he knew that the badge would come up for discussion 114 years later.

Regards
Brett

Brett Hendey wrote: Paul
Back to the badge ....... Herewith is a photograph of William Ingram's Border Regiment badge.

It's hard to tell without some sort of reference for size , but I actually think your item looks more like a collar badge, which are just over an inch wide ( hence easily mistaken for a glengarry),than a helmet plate centre, which are about three inches wide. ( sorry for approx sizes - I don't have either to hand at the moment!)
The designs (i.e. no crown) are pretty much identical so in photographs are easily confused unless a rular or similar are included on the image.
Another clue is that the larger helmet plate centres have three fixing loops to the rear to attach them to the surround, wheras the collar badges just have two lugs for a cotter pin. Also the hpc has three brass flanges to hold to central rear red felt in place, but the collar badge has only two. The collar badges also came in pairs with the dragon facing left or right depending on which side of the neck they were worn - see attached photos. (Note as I previously mentioned the Victorian type (top photo) have only 11 battle honours, wheras the later Edwardian ones have 13 following the addition of the Boer War honours)
However "in the flesh" the hpc and collar badges cannot be mistaken simply because of the dimensions.
Can you remember which size yours was?
Regards Paul

Paul

The badge is definitely small and about one inch across sounds right. I will ask ny son for the actual measurement just for the record. However, I am sure your identification of it as a collar badge is correct, since I remember the badge with only two lugs and two flanges on the reverse.

I am very grateful to you for your attention in what is a personal and trivial matter. The Border Regiment has been a tiny part of my immediate family, probably since my father inherited the badge nearly 100 years ago, so it is good to know that there are still people who have an expert and constructive interest in it.

Regards
Brett