Other British Army Units
An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcards is the standard reference book on embroidered silk postcards. It contains references to over 2600 different cards with over 270 illustrations. The section on British Army lists xxx cards. The cards listed below are additional cards discovered since the book was published. The latest additions are shown in RED.
This page covers embroidered silk postcards for units of the British Army that are outside the other groupings. Most of them are rare and few new discoveries have been made. The group includes: individual Divisions (especially the 63rd Royal Naval Division that was raised from reservists of the Royal Navy and the men remained officially as sailors despite wearing normal army khaki uniforms); the Household Battalion (raised from reservists of the Household Cavalry); the Expeditionary Forces Canteens; the Gymnastic Staff; and the Training Reserve Battalion. The Interpreter's Badge is also included on this page.
Images of a representative number of cards for these rare units are shown beneath the listings.
Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.
No part may be reproduced, stored, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.
The 55th West Lancashire Division (Red rose badge only)
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
SOUVENIR DE FRANCE
SOUVENIR FROM FRANCE
The 63rd Royal Naval Division 63RD RN DIVISION A HAPPY BIRTHDAY
63RD RN DIVISION FORGET ME NOT
63RD RN DIVISION TO MY DEAR WIFE
The British Expeditionary Force EF
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FRANCE 1917
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FRANCE 1918
The Civilian Railway Companies CIVILIAN RY COMPANIES LONDON NORTH WESTERN CIVILIAN RAILWAY No 2 COMPANY FRANCE 1917
The Expeditionary Force Canteens (Badge only)
The Interpreter's Badge (worn by any soldier who could translate a foreign language)
GREETINGS FROM FRANCE (Sphinx head)
55th West Lancashire Division
The card above is for the 63rd Royal Naval Division. On the right is a card for the 63rd Royal Naval Division Engineers.
Expeditionary Forces Canteens.
Very few cards are known just for the British Expeditionary Forces.
Interpreter's badge
The two cards shown below have been included here because nobody has any clue about their meaning. Clearly, they mean something and were produced for a reason, but I have been unable to discover anything about them. If anybody has any information about them, please email me on: gabrian@btinternet.com.
See also the page on Silk Card Puzzles.
