WW2 battledress tunic

[chris vickery]

Was wondering if one of our resident experts can help me out. Recently I picked up a tunic on eBay. I'm not an expert onbadges/ insignias etc. but this uniform appears in very good shape and the price was right. It carries slip ons, RCA red on blue. Both shoulders have the CANADA title strip. Also are grey diamonds which I beleive to represent Atlantic command. On the left sleeve are service chevrons (3) in red. There is also a badge which I do not recognize, all I can say is that it is a circle with an arrow attached to it within a circle, I beleive it is a trade badge of some sort. This tunic also carries a lanyard of burgandy and blue. Above the left pocket is a ribbon I think is CVSM, blue, red and green. On the inside is the veterans name, number and places he was stationed, mostly onthe East coast. Can anyone give me an idea as to which regiment this came from or any kind of history? Was wondering if this guy was attached to a coastal battery, training camp or? Thanks!

[Bob Potter]

As I prepare to place my size 9 squarely into my mouth, I believe that that circle-within-a-circle-with-an-arrow patch is for an anti-aircract unit. That would go with the RCA shoulder titles.

Happy hunting

Bob

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Is the circle/arrow red with the arrow pointing off at 45 degrees? If so, it is a 'Mars Badge', the sign of a trained soldier, only worn in Canada, though from the Atlantic Command flashes, this seems consistent. Bet the CVSM has no silver maple leaf in the middle.

[SteveF]

I have to concur with Bruce that the badge with the circle and arrow is the Mars badge. In the modern army a soldier who has completed the required training and time in service is awarded a single chevron to denote that he is fully trained. During WW2 of course a single chevron indicated a lance corporal who was a junior non-commissioned officer. Therefore the use of the Mars badge to indicate when a soldier had completed all of his training / time served.
That's all I can tell you off the top of my head.

Cheers,

Steve

[SteveF]

I just referred to the Canuck site and there is mention there of use of red and blue lanyards by a number of units within the 3rd Canadian Divisional artillery, which doesn't seem to fit in this case. Perhaps you can try posing this question on the Canuck forum as there are some very knowledgable uniform / insignia types there (no offence to anyone here).

Steve

[chris vickery]

Yes indeed, once again my friends at MLU have helped me out. The badge is as Bruce described and yes the CVSM is without the silver leaf. AS far as my earlier question, any ideas as to what or who this guy would have been with?

[Bill Alexander]

Chris the Royal Canadian Artillery was composed of many different types of units in home defence. This included Coastal Artillery, Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Field Artillery plus various and sundry units like Survey and Schools of Artillery. He could have belonged to any of these. Perhaps the dates/postings that you mention would help determine with whom he served.

[chris vickery]

Handwritten on the inside of this battledress are the following places- Balmoral, NB Fredrickton, NB Jolliette, PQ Petawawa, ON Brockville, ON Debert, NS Valcartier, Que Fredrickton, NB. This fellow certainly moved around. The name inscribed is Gnr. R. Savoie.

[Bob Potter]

That "Gnr" is most likely "Gunner." That goes with the RCA tabs.

Bob

[Bill Alexander]

Chris, Had a look at the places the tunic lists and each of them had military bases or purposes. Some more clear than others. For example Joliette was a Basic training centre, intended to bring the literacy level of recruits up to standard and give basic military training. However, in what capacity this fellow was there is open to question. He may have been in training or assigned as staff. Petawawa was an artillery school and major training base, again conistent with his patches. Valcartier and Debert were also major staging bases and training centres. Not a lot of help.