School of Musketry Cap Badge – DUAL CONSTRUCTION

Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original School of Musketry Cap Badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other School of Musketry cap badges.

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In June of 1851 Colonel Hay arrived at Hythe, Kent with a small staff of officers. On 1 August the first instructor, CSgt MacKay of the 19th Foot, was appointed. By 15 September a further three instructors were on strength. They were Sgt. Ruston (3 Gren Gds), Sgt. Lobes (2 Gren Gds) and Sgt. Morris (97th Regt). The first mention of the establishment of the School was in the Army List of 1854 when it was referred to as the School of Musketry. In September 1855 a Corps of Instructors was added to the establishment, consisting of 100 First Class and 100 Second Class Instructors who, as soon as they were sufficiently experienced (except for three who remained at Hythe), were distributed to Depot Battalions and Regiments as required. These men were the Corps of Instructors of Musketry, a misnomer as muskets were being withdrawn from service. The Machine Gun Training Centres had been established in 1914 at Grantham and by the BEF in Wisques, France. This was followed on 14 October 1915 by the creation of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC). Originally equipped with the Maxim gun, these were replaced by the Vickers machine gun shortly after formation of the Corps. In 1919 the name was changed to the Small Arms School. In 1926 the School expanded to include the Machine Gun School at Netheravon, in 1931 absorbing the Chemical Warfare School at Winterbourne Gunner as the Anti-Gas Wing. The original badge of the School was crossed rifles surmounted by a crown. In 1929 the present badge was introduced, consisting of crossed rifles and a Vickers machine gun, surmounted by a crown and surrounded by a laurel wreath. The title Small Arms School Corps came into being at this time. On the occasion of the centenary of the Corps in 1953, March of the Bowmen from the Robin Hood Suite was adopted as the Corps March.

Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other School of Musketry cap badges.