Can someone please confirm that there was a 1766 Mobile Ammunition Carrying Coy RASC) around at that time. Believed that their sign was 'witch on a broomstick' and, if so, it would be good to find a picture of it.
Chris, looked in the RASC W.W.II official history for you but couldn't find any mention. Most of the text re Sicily seems to deal with supply by mules and related problems? No.9
Thanks for that No 9 - I think it's going to be the sign of a formation to which an RASC Unit was attached rather than a sign specific to the 'Galloping Grocers'!
RASC - how do you get ‘Galloping Grocers’ from Run Away Someone’s Coming? You may well have already seen these Chris, but in case not, looking through the Kelly Badge site http://www.kellybadge.co.uk they currently list two. One for the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division 1943-1945 and one for Royal Engineers 202 Sqn. Some scraps on the net suggest the Royal Engineers formed the 2nd AA Div? Not RASC but the badges are on sale if you want witch on a broomstick? R1F223 BLM 1.7.9 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (Red Witch On Broomstick On Black) 1943-1945 Embr £20.00 D1D402 Royal Engineers 202 Sqn (Black Witch On Broom-Stick) On 36mm Olive Square Woven £4.00 No.9
Thanks very much No 9, that certainly is the shoulder flash that has been referred to. As you say connected with RE and not RASC. A common factor of this military research - every answer prompts several more questions! In the early fifties we were known as the 'Galloping Grocers' which I assumed came from the early ASC days when horse drawn waggons were used to bring up supplies. Have also seen 'Ally Sloper's Cavalry' and 'Army Slavery Corps' which must be WW1 vintage. The corps march is known as 'Wait for the Waggon'.
Top draw Chris, glad the find helped out. Very nice patch, seems a bit flashy for the British, more like something the Americans would come up with. Then again, there's the pretty outstanding SBS badge? No.9
A bit unlikely, I would have thought, for a RASC company to have its own badge and it would have been part of a larger formation which did have a badge. After all, the ammunition they carried was carried somewhere, like in the direction of the guns.
Hi Guys I know this is a really old thread, but I just wanted to let you know I have found a RASC unit with a Witch on a broomstick as a company symbol. It was 396 GT Coy which was mainly attached to the 8th Army in N Africa and Italy.
Thanks for posting that. Can I ask what the source is, please? Secondly, there's not a reference to a company with an open umbrella and a bowler hat as a badge, is there?
Just spotted this about RASC http://www.mi9-is9.com/is9-wea.html IS9 WEA Newsletter If you look carefully the witches on this final newsletter have bowler hats and curved handle umbrellas - thanks to Phil Froom for spotting this - we wonder if it is because this is the final demob newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A thread about Bowler hat and brolly formation sign here which never got resolved http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/41459-bowler-hat-brolly-formation-sign/
Hi Idler, my source for the RASC unit known as "the witches" was from the "Rats only" company magazine of the RASC 396 company that I viewed in the archives at Duxford. https://photos.app.goo.gl/aDqUoGuav6DHrYpG2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/3bbyG0B9nzLDo9Qy1