Description
Physical description
badge
A Rectangle of maroon wool on which is sewn a central bar of blue wool on which the white embroidered the sans-serif letters R.C.C.S., with stops between the letters.
Label
This badge is the 5 Division patch onto which is sewn a blue bar bearing the white initials of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. Blue and white reflect the Signals corps colours. Note that this version has stops between the letters, the slightly more common form.
Being of wool, this badge may pre-date the end of 1942. Formation patches and unit shoulder titles were produced in three materials, woollen cloth, felt and printed cotton. Of these, felt was probably the least common. Both Canadian and British firms produced the woollen versions but, particularly in Britain, there were problems with supply and with the colour-fastness of the dyes. From November 1942 a printed cotton material with a strong backing became available in the UK, often now referred to as 'canvas'. After initial production problems with skewed shapes and letters, most patches and titles produced in the UK were in this material. It was supposed not to fray, run or fade but complaints about quality began to emerge around October 1944. A request to return to wool does not appear to have been possible before the end of the war.
The use of distinctions superimposed onto formation patches to denote the arm of service to which units of a formation's corps and services belonged (ie: Signals, Engineers, Ordnance, Service, etc.) was a uniquely Canadian practice. The first such distinctions were granted at the end of 1940 and beginning of 1941 to the Ordnance Corps and the Engineers, followed by the Signals and Service Corps. As the number of these distinctions grew it appears that the general rule was for the corps' or service's initials to be superimposed onto the parent formation's basic patch in yellow (gold) letters. Notable exceptions were the use of a cherry bar to denote RCAMC units, the use of red and blue for RCE and the white on blue lettering for RCCS.
In April 1942 National Defence HQ in Canada notified the overseas army that shoulder titles had been approved for corps and services units (ie: RCE, RCOC, RCASC, RCAPC, RCAMC and CProC (Provost)) and recommended that these be used in conjunction with plain formation patches. This was not taken up immediately and the switch to the officially favoured style was piecemeal across the various corps and services and formations. It is worth noting that the RCEME, formed in February 1944 (some sixteen months after the British counterpart), never wore a distinction on a formation patch. By summer of 1944 distinctions on formation patches were probably the exception rather than the rule, certainly at divisional level. Notable officially sanctioned exemptions were the RCCS white letters on blue and the Army and Corps Artillery zig-zags, all of which retained their distinctions to the end of the war.
For an account of the development of patches in 5th Armoured Division, see INS 17.
Formation history: For a summary history of 5 Division see INS 17.
History note
Associated person: John Tiffin Murray Stewart b. 1917, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. d. 6 August 1964, 47 yrs., heart attack. Service record: Gunner M 4044 RCA. 1942: Reg. H2, HQ RCA, 1st Administration Corps. RCA CASF (Canadian Active Service Force) 1st Division. 1943: Reg. H3, 3rd Field Regt. RCA CASF 1st Division. 1944: 1st A Wing. No. 1 CARU (Canadian Artillery Reinforcement Unit).
Family history: 11 December 1942, married Elfreda Joan, nee Knight, at Congregational Church West Wickham, Kent. 15 June 1945, returned Canada. 27 June 1946, joined by family (on board 'Letitia'). August 1948, all family return to UK ('Queen Mary'). Moved to family home, Cavendish Way, West Wickham, Kent. Subsequently bought house, Oak Avenue, Shirley, Croydon.
History note
Bibliographic references: DISTINGUISHING PATCHES: Formation Patches of the Canadian Army. Clive M. Law. (Private) Service Publications, Nepean, Ontario, 1996.
On central bar
R.C.C.S.