United States Army officer’s service cap badge in bronze, produced in England during the Second World War by J. R. Gaunt and Son Ltd of London for issue to American officers serving in the European Theatre of Operations. This American military officer’s headdress badge displays the recognised US Army cap device in clear relief, incorporating the coat of arms of the United States as the central device — a spread-winged American bald eagle displayed with wings elevated, bearing the shield of the United States on its breast with vertical stripes, holding an olive branch in its dexter talon and a bundle of thirteen arrows in its sinister talon, with a scroll in its beak inscribed “E PLURIBUS UNUM” (Latin: “Out of Many, One”) — the whole struck in bronze as a single-piece construction. The reverse bears the backmark of J. R. Gaunt and Son Ltd, London, with the maker’s stamp as the primary distinguishing feature identifying this example as British-manufactured wartime production rather than a standard American-contract badge. The standard US-manufactured officer’s cap badge of the Second World War period was produced in gilt or gilt-washed metal; the bronze finish of this example is consistent with the subdued finish applied to certain British-manufactured US insignia of the period and represents a recognised production variant distinct from both the standard American gilt badge and the later post-war all-bronze subdued patterns.
The US Army officer’s service cap badge in the form of the coat of arms of the United States was prescribed under Army Regulations as the headdress device for all commissioned and warrant officers of the United States Army, worn on the service cap and campaign hat throughout the Second World War. The regulation device had been standardised in the early twentieth century and remained consistent in its principal elements — the displayed eagle, shield, olive branch, arrows, and motto scroll — throughout the interwar and wartime periods, though variations in the precise rendering of the eagle’s posture, the angle of the wings, and the detail of the shield were produced by different manufacturers, making maker attribution an important element of specialist collecting in this field. J. R. Gaunt and Son Ltd was one of the most distinguished British military badge manufacturers of the twentieth century, established in Birmingham in 1884 and subsequently opening premises in London, manufacturing insignia for the British Army, Commonwealth forces, and allied nations across both world wars. During the Second World War, Gaunt received contracts to produce American military insignia for the substantial US forces stationed in and transiting through the United Kingdom from 1942 onward — forces which required replacement insignia and could not always wait for American-manufactured items to be shipped from the United States. Gaunt-manufactured US insignia commands a consistent premium over equivalent American-made examples in the collector market, reflecting both the relative scarcity of British-contract US pieces and the prestige of the Gaunt maker’s name within British and American militaria collecting.
Manufactured in bronze by J. R. Gaunt and Son Ltd, London, consistent with British-contract US Army officer’s cap badge production of the Second World War period, this example provides a well-defined representation of the standard US Army officer’s headdress device as worn by American officers serving in the European Theatre from 1942 to 1945. J. R. Gaunt-manufactured US Army officer’s cap badges are collected as examples of Second World War American officer’s uniform insignia in British manufacture, allied forces headdress hardware of the European Theatre of Operations, and militaria associated with the substantial American military presence in the United Kingdom during the Second World War.
Dimensions
Approx. 50mm width x 52mm height
Condition
Excellent
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