Cap Badge

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Cap Badge

This badge belonged to Robert Darvall, a member of the Wellington Infantry Regiment. It would have been worn on his cap, with similar but smaller badges on his collar. These badges marked him out specifically as a soldier of the 9th (Hawke’s Bay) Company, from the North Island of New Zealand. The British Empire drew on soldiers from all of their Dominions and colonies, and Darvall is an example of this.

Darvall was born in England, but settled in New Zealand. He fought on the Western Front and was injured on the 4th November 1918, a week before the armistice. He survived and returned to New Zealand. Some time after the war, he and his wife moved back to England.

Read Robert Darvall’s full story on the Lest We Forget archive.