Description
Physical description
A printed rectangle of red "waterproof" cotton on which printed a blue central tablet on which the sans-serif letters R.C.C.S. in white, with stops between.
Label
The badge is that of 1st Division with a central rectangular blue tablet and white letters superimposed, Signal Corps colours being blue and white. Note the use of stops between letters, the most common but not the universal pattern of RCCS patches. This sign was approved in February 1941 and continued in use to the end of the war.
Being of printed cotton, this particular badge dates from after November 1942. 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.
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. http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/mediawiki 1.5.5/index.php?title=1st_Canadian_Infantry_Division#Order_of_Battle_1943-1945 (March 2007)
Centre of badge
R.C.C.S.