BRITISH “On War Service” badges arenot hard to find, at militaria fairs, on

the web or at the coin or antique shop.The badges, of several different types,are recognisable not only by their designbut also by their date and the serial num-ber stamped on the reverse. They showan interesting aspect of life on the homefront in Britain during World War I.Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary ofState for War, believed that manpowerwas the key to winning the war. His fam-ous poster with the words “Your Countryneeds YOU” was aimed at every man inBritain who was eligible to enlist.

Order of the White featherThe retired Vice-Admiral Charles

Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald announcedon August 30 1914 that he was forminga band of 30 women who would presenta white feather to “young men of publicschool and university education...foundidling and loafing instead of setting anexample to working men.” After that,white feathers were given out all overthe country, although frequently, theywere mistakenly given to men who hadbeen invalided from the trenches or other-wise unqualified for military duty. This

made the women concerned unpopulareven among those sympathetic to the wareffort and Compton Mackenzie, authorand novelist who served in MI6 duringthe war, commented that these “idioticyoung women were using white feathersto get rid of boyfriends of whom theywere tired”.

Those men who necessarily remainedat home in key state industries sufferedunnecessary shame when they werepresented with white feathers, althoughthe pacifist Fenner Brockway proudlynoted that he had enough feathers withwhich to make a fan.The government’s response was to

authorise production of a badge bearingthe legend “King and Country,” showingthat its wearer was someone who shouldeffectively be excluded from any overtmoral pressure to enlist.

Silver War Badge - honourably dischargedThe Silver War Badge, instituted in

September 1916 and sometimes wronglycalled the Silver Wound Badge, was iss-ued to soldiers who had been honourablydischarged under Kings Regulations392 section xvi: no longer physically fitfor war service, or section xvia: surplus tomilitary requirements (having sufferedimpairment since entry into the service).This may have been due to wounds rec-eived or illness contracted while on activeservice. Each badge is uniquely num-bered on the reverse and has the words“For King and Empire” and “Services

British “On War Service”Badges 1914-1919White feathers stirred a government response by Tony James

Alfred Leete’s iconic 1914 recruitment posterimage of Lord Kitchener. Image courtesy ofLibrary of Congress.

World War I recruiting posters in Britain carried strong emotional messages. They were designedto persuade eligible men to enlist or to shame them into doing so. Images courtesy Library of Congress.

Rendered” around the rim. In the centreis a voided cipher of King George V anda crown. On the back is a vertical pin.It is not hallmarked. Without this sortof identification these men were subjectto abuse, and the horrible possibility ofbeing presented with the white featherof cowardice. The badge was to be wornon the right breast while in civilian dress.Later in the war, medical restrictionswere modified and men who had previ-ously been discharged were able to re-en-list and were permitted to wear the SilverWar Badge on their uniform.

The “Roll of Individuals Entitled tothe War Badge” is held at The NationalArchives in Kew, under reference WO329,and a soldier’s medal card will show theSilver War Badge list reference, if thebadge was awarded.

“On War Service” badgesOne reason for the issue of the “On War

Service” badges was that when the warbegan, voluntary enlistment was unreg-ulated and skilled men were joining upand leaving companies with a shortageof skilled labour essential to maintainingthe country’s war capability. “Badging”essential workers helped to retain thoseskilled workers. While these badges wereunofficial, these company “On War Serv-ice” badges were tolerated by the WarOffice.The Admiralty obviously thought

that workers with war service badgeswas a good idea, as in late 1914 theyissued “The Admiralty Badge” to ship-yard workers “whose services were indis-pensable for the rapid completion of HMShips and Armaments”. The Admiraltybadges were initially un-numbered andthis resulted in men that were other-wise eligible for enlistment in the serv-

ices wearing the badge in order to avoidservice in the armed forces. This was laterrectified with the issue of numberedbadges in early 1916 to replace thoseun-numbered ones. There was a strictcriterion for the issue of the AdmiraltyBadge and this was detailed in an Admir-alty memo of September 26 1914 - thatit should only be given to essential warworkers and that wholesale or indis-criminate issues should not be made.The memo goes on to stress that any manwho could be spared to join the armedforces should not be badged, and thatany man ceasing to perform essentialwar work or leaving the company was toreturn his badge to his employer. Theunauthorised transfer of a badge toanother man was forbidden. Sometime in early 1915, the War Office

followed suit and issued the “On WarService 1915” badge. At first this badgewas an oval badge with a blue enamelledborder and a design in its centre, of threecannon on gun carriages, looking verymuch like the cap badge of the ArmyOrdnance Corps. A cheaper plain brassstamped badge was issued later, whenthe authorities realised the cost, of issu-ing large numbers of the enamelled ver-sion. The “On War Service 1915” badgewas issued to men engaged in essentialwar work (other than shipyard work) anda list of certified occupations drawn up.Oddly, this list did not include coalminers - at a time when coal exports toFrance were at a million tons per month,which was half that required.On the 27th March 1915, the War

Office issued a memorandum about the1915 and 1914 badges to recruiting offic-ers, stressing that these were the onlyofficial badges. Private badges were stillbeing issued by companies but these

would not provide the wearer with anyprotection from accusations of “shirkingand slacking” and did not enable thewearer to avoid compulsory militaryservice, which was introduced in 1916.Some of the private company badgeslooked quite authoritative, even usingthe designation “O.H.M.S.” on them with-out permission. These private “On ServiceBadges” were made illegal on August 41915 and any companies that had beenallowed to issue their own badges wereinstructed to withdraw them and issueofficial badges instead. A large numberof these badges was issued, many of themenamelled and well made. Badges sighted are Rees & Kirby Ltd

1914 of Swansea Wales, Spear & Jack-son made by Thomas Fattorini of Brad-ford, On War Service red, white and bluebanner on gold by Thomas FattoriniBolton, Coventry Ordnance Works, C.

Men’s On War Service badge 1915 in brass

This poster of 1915 stresses an equal importance between those who went to the front andthose who stayed at home to help manufacture munitions and other war matérial. Imagecourtesy Library of Congress.

Back of badge showing Thomas Fattorini ofBolton and serial number.

Lindley & Co OHMW (On His Majesty’sWork) by Vaughtons Birmingham, DavidColville & Sons Ltd OHMS by W.J.Din-gley B’ham and Gas Light & PowerSupply “On Public Service” by VaughtonsLtd Birmingham. The British Alum-inium Co Ltd OHMS badge was issuedto 11,423 workers at the company plantsin London, Fife, Kinlochleven, Larne,Stoke-on-Trent and Warrington in 1915,despite not being authorised by theMinistry of Munitions.

Women’s BadgeIn May 1916, the War Office (Ministry

of Munitions) issued a badge exclusivelyfor women workers. While women werenot eligible for service in the armed forcesand there was a lot of opposition to theissue of the badge, the Committee on WarService Badges finally gave in to pressureand issued the badge. In recognition ofthe valuable contribution women weremaking to the war effort. Many womenwere already wearing private companybadges (although these were made illegalin 1915) and if nothing else, it wouldmean the wearer would get a seat on abus!The women’s badges were triangular

with a brooch pin fitting. They were iss-ued to women working in the munitions

factories, including skilled and unskilledworkers, clerical staff, charladies andeven canteen workers. Over 270,000“On War Service” badges were issued towomen between May and December1916.

The Badge MakersThe companies producing the badgesappear on archive lists, together withmany others, as government contrac-tors during the war years. The numberof badges produced can only be esti-mated, although Tom Tulloch-Marshallin his article “On War Service Badges1914-19 The Official Issues” lists somefigures –1,347,627 male badges as atJuly 1916 and 270,000 women’s badgesissued from May 1916. The companies include:• Arthur Fenwick & Company Ltd ofBirmingham which was establishedin 1888 as a manufacturer of both fullsize and miniature medals, orders ofchivalry, masonic jewels and civic re-galia. In addition to manufacturingthe ‘On War Service 1914’ badge, thecompany was also commissioned bythe government to provide the 1914-15 Star, the British War and VictoryMedals.

• D. G. Collins 1894-1960 silversmithsand badge makers of Newgate Street,London.

• Firmin and Sons which has a historythat dates back to 1677 manufactur-ing orders, decorations, medals andstate gifts, made the unnumbered1914 blue enamel badges.

• H. B. Sale Ltd of Birmingham whichis still manufacturing medals, coins,tokens and badges.

• J. R. Gaunt and Son, established in1750, has been producing militaryand uniform buttons since 1870 inBirmingham and in London from1899. It is now part of the FirminGroup, a company that specialises inthe manufacturer of military uni-forms and accessories.

• Mappin and Webb, who have since1774 operated as silversmiths, withfactories in Sheffield and London.

• Thomas Fattorini, manufacturerssince 1827 in Birmingham andBolton.

• Vaughtons Ltd, established 1819, re-galia manufacturers of Birmingham.

• Woolley & Co. of Birmingham whosehistory dates back to before 1788,when it was making “1788 patternlight dragoon sabres” and later the“1796 pattern cavalry trooperssword”.

• J. A. Wylie and Company, which madethe women’s On War Service badges aswell as Girl Guide badges and badgesfor various railway companies.

Unknown symbolSome of the 1915 On War Service

Badges of plain brass have a raised cap-ital letter on the reverse below the crown;letters seen are K L M P R S T U as wellas an incuse T. It is conjecture as to themeaning of this letter although with thelist of certified occupations includingworkers in shipbuilding, mining, munit-ions, postal services and transport,several of the letters may be matched torecognised occupations. So, nearly a hun-dred years on, there are still questionsto be asked and research to be done.

References“On War Service” Badges, 1914-19 The Official

Issues by Ton Tulloch-Marshall –originallypublished in issues 45 &46 of “The Ar-mourer” magazine 2001

Web sites –Brittons Badges, Sally Bosleys BadgeShop, Ebay

The British & Commonwealth Military BadgeForum

www.barnesfamiliyhistory.org.ukWikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_War_ Badge_(SWB)White feather photograph in heading by Joao EstevaoAndrade de Freitas, Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

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Women’s brass triangularOn War Service badge

manufactured byJ.R.Gaunt & SonsDated 1916 withpin fastening

During World War I many British womenworked alongside men in munitions factories

A YMCA poster of 1915 appealing for fundsto assist and comfort British women engagedin war work. Image Library of Congress.