Identifying Cap Badges: A Family Historian’s Guide

This thoroughly practical book has been aimed at the family historian, when faced with a family photograph or a cap badge handed down through the family, but who is now perplexed as to how to identify it. As Graham explains at the start – there are a lot of books on cap badges out there, but most of them are organised in Order of Precedence, meaning that you pretty much need to know the answer you’re seeking in order to use those books. However, with his book he’s arranged the chapters by ‘what you see’. E.g. with a chapter on lions and another on birds and so forth. Thus, if you have an ancestor’s cap badge with a lion on it, go to the chapter on lions to find out more.

Aside from the cap badge information Graham has provided: a really useful succinct summary of the organisation of British Army regiments; explanations of the regular Army, volunteers, yeomanry; coverage of battle honours and the history and meanings/origins of the cap badges; and an overview of the changes of uniform including headdress over time. Graham, does touch too on the Royal Navy, the iterations of the Air Force, QAIMNS, Home Guard, SWBS, and munitionettes etc – so the books covers a wide range of the sorts of badges that family historians may frequently come across.

His book is a mine of quirky military info. A clear overview and packed with juicy nuggets to delight cap badge and military family history fans.

• Published by Pen and Sword (hardback) £25. ISBN: 9781526775979. HT