Buttons
This Militia button is pre-WWI. I'm guessing the Canadian General Service buttons that comes next is of the Great War because it's polished to near extinction. Also the maple leaf is very leafish whereas later versions look skinnied out.
A good button is a pleasure to buy, and as I said before a group makes a story. Here are the British, French and German buttons.
Comparing the British and Canadian buttons one sees the same king's crown and belt surrounding the central image. The belt reads the British royal motto "Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense" meaning "Shame be to him who thinks shame of it". This is a motto of ancient significance. The Canadian button has, however, dispensed with the lion and the unicorn and has firmly planted a maple leaf in the place of heraldic symbols, topping it all off with the word "CANADA". This simple change in the button says everything about the sense of self that Canada took to the trenches.
Badges
This same nationalist statement continues with the shoulder titles, from the early open letters to the closed version. You can see in one of these examples that I have covered the LLBean logo on my canvas backpack. I've also shown a reverse side to illustrate the stamping and the maker's name with date.
The word "CANADA" and the maple leaf are predominant in cap badges and "collar dogs". There are many regimental and battalion based variants which are a whole other study. I like the simplicity of the General Service standards.
A classic that I couldn't resist was this artillery cap badge with a rotating wheel. The Canadian variant was to replace the word "Ubique" with "CANADA". The motto means "Everywhere, whither Right and Glory lead. The Canadian badge puts a different slant to the motto.
I bought the 21st. Battalion cap badge for use in local Kingston events.
My favourite has to be the Marguerite cap badge of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. My grandfather served with PPCLI for a year before being transferred to the British army in Salonika. He was fluent in Turkish and Greek since he'd been born and brought up in Smyrna. He worked for the British in intelligence. His PPCLI cap badge is now mounted on his grave stone. The one I own was bought by me ten minutes after it was posted. I have not seen another available on that same dealer's site in three years.
For those who are trying to find such a badge for sale I should say that I am now selling brass reproductions. They are cast from this original. In the next photo the reproduction is on the left.
Contact me at timothyjsoper@gmail.com Paymemt can be made by PayPal. The cost is $40.00 Canadian and includes taxes and postage. The 21st Battalion badge is also for sale for $30.00
A last curiosity is this poppy badge. Is it a bit of trench art or a later creation by a soldier? Whatever, it has a kind of classic authenticity and draws on yet another plant symbol.
Medals
These next medals are the standard service medals. The fourth on the right is a later coronation medal for George VI. In the mini medals there is a Greek "Order of Redeemer" medal, a medal for service to Greece in recognition of my grandfather's part in the Salonica campaign.
Beneath this photo is a detail of the back of the "British War Medal". I like it especially for its Art Deco look. Beneath that is a detail of two versions of the Greek medal.
This next medal is the French "Croix de Guerre". The holes in the ribbon are for a missing wreath or star added to recognize additional merit in the decoration. Similarly the oak branch on my grandfather's "Victory" medal recognizes a "Mention in Dispatches".
The following badge "For Service at the Front" carries a large fine warning inscribed on the back to disuade those who did not do service from wearing it! Though it is a CEF badge I wonder if it was issued by the British. Where is the maple leaf after all?
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