# Old Belt Buckle Identification / Question



## qjdb (19 Jan 2009)

My Grandmother just passed away (CWAC nurse in WW2), and in her house was a buckle.  My father and my aunt both knew that I was the most likely to be able to find out what it was, so they gave it to me.

I don't think that it was my Grandpa's, as he was Navy, is there a possibility that it could be WW1 vintage?











Cell phone pictures, so not the greatest, but they get the picture across.  Lion on a Crown.

Engraved on the shaft of the 'insert' part are the Roman Numerals XVI, and the 'surround' part has the XVI on it as well.

Grandma was born in Nova Scotia, and that is where she and Grandpa lived before and after WW2.  Her family is from there, while he was from Colorado.

Any ideas?  I don't know enough about the different insignias of Regiments to be able to even know where to start looking, so I started here  ;D

Cheers

qjdb


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## Michael OLeary (19 Jan 2009)

You may have a better chance of a detailed response if you post on the British Military Badge Forum.


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## qjdb (19 Jan 2009)

So, I assume that you think this might be a British Badge, then?  Interesting.  Thanks for the link.

Cheers

qjdb


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## Blackadder1916 (19 Jan 2009)

The buckle could have been your Grandmother's if, as you relate, she served as a nurse during the war.  However, if she had been a nursing sister she would have been in the RCAMC not the CWAC.

The buckle is the type used on the waist belt for nursing sisters dress uniforms which were very different from the uniforms worn by the gals in the CWAC.  The "Lion and Crown" is the royal crest and was the insignia used on the waist belt buckle instead of an RCAMC insignia.

The following link is to an image of a WW1 nursing sister dress uniform (I haven't found an image of a WW2 era uniform yet). You can click on the area of the buckle to enlarge it and show the detail.
http://warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/guerre/photo-e.aspx?PageId=2.E.1.b&photo=3.A.1.z&f=%2fcwm%2fexhibitions%2fguerre%2fnurses-e.aspx


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## time expired (19 Jan 2009)

Given that the lion is above the crown,could it be
a M.P. buckle?.
                  Regards


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## qjdb (19 Jan 2009)

Blackadder1916 said:
			
		

> The buckle could have been your Grandmother's if, as you relate, she served as a nurse during the war.  However, if she had been a nursing sister she would have been in the RCAMC not the CWAC.



hmmm, you have made me think that I need to do some more research on my Great-Grandmother, to find out if she was a Nurse in WW1 or something.  My Grandma was definitly in the CWAC, I have a couple of pictures of her in her uniform.  I guess maybe she wasn't a nurse, per se, but rather a medical assistant.

Darn it, makes me wish that I had chatted with her about her military history more.


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## Nfld Sapper (19 Jan 2009)

qjdb said:
			
		

> hmmm, you have made me think that I need to do some more research on my Great-Grandmother, to find out if she was a Nurse in WW1 or something.  My Grandma was definitly in the CWAC, I have a couple of pictures of her in her uniform.  I guess maybe she wasn't a nurse, per se, but rather a medical assistant.
> 
> Darn it, makes me wish that I had chatted with her about her military history more.



Don't kick yourself over it, I'm sure something will turn up as to the origin of the belt buckle


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## time expired (20 Jan 2009)

I was watching an old program from the ITV series Soldier Soldier
on TV last night,this was sort of a Brit.army soap opera from the
70s,and a female medic was wearing a hatbadge with the same
device,Lion over the Crown,.So I suspect the buckle is your 
Granmothers and that she was therefore a nurses assistant.
                            Regards


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## geo (20 Jan 2009)

If you follow the link provided by blackadder, you'll find the full dress uniform - with capbadge AND belt buclke


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## Soldier1stTradesman2nd (20 Feb 2009)

If I am not mistaken the belt buckle seems to have been used by the costume designers in the movie Passchendaele, as worn by Caroline Dhavernas playing Nurse Sarah Mann. Then again, not sure how far in historical accuracy the crew went to make this movie...


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## geo (21 Feb 2009)

Soldier1st...
the costume designers did a tremendous job in providing accurate uniforms.
(if you have looked at the above thread - the war museum link provided by blackadder shows the exact belt buckle of the nursing sisters)


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## Servicepub (27 Mar 2009)

This style of buckle, with a brown belt, was worn uniquely by Nursing Sisters and was identical in both World Wars. It would not have been worn by a nurse's assistant or by any member of the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC).
Although you cannot make out the detail of the buckle, here are a couple of photos of different orders of dress for N/S.


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