R.E. Bomb disposal honour badges

[John P]

PEODS operators were either Ammuntion Technicians (ATs) who were Warrant Officers/NCOs or Ammuntion Technical Officers (ATOs) who were Commissioned Officers.

ATs wear this trade badge while officers wore a smaller variation without the 'A', some would say because like their heads there was nothing in it!! ATs and ATOs were originally in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps before amalgamating with others to form the Royal Logistic Corp and were (amongst other locations) responsible for bomb disposal duties in Northern Ireland where they became well known by their call sign of Felix.
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[kiwieod]

thanks bonnex,I have read about the episode with the QEII and seen the movie juggernaunt(nothing like what actually happened)
perhaps this badge was used by the 421 unit

 

[Bonnex]

thanks bonnex,I have read about the episode with the QEII and seen the movie juggernaunt(nothing like what actually happened)
perhaps this badge was used by the 421 unit

No, it is not the 421 badge. I don't think I still have a picture of it but it was quite elaborate. It was unofficial (the Army brass don't approve) and not to be worn on uniform. As John P pointed out members were ATs or ATO and the qualification badge that he shows suffices.

Interestingly the ATO who dropped, with minders, close to the QE2 was not para trained, much to the annoyance of a friend of mine who was a para trained ATO and was in the next office when the task came in.

There are two other badges. RAOC/RLC Territorial Army personnel qualifying as EOD(IEDD) Operators wore/wear the badges shown below. Note the officer's badge (the smaller one) is not quite empty. The 'V' is for volunteer. As far as I am aware only two TA officers qualified for the badge.

 

[AE501]

The ATO who jumped on the QE2 had done the short 5 jump course which Sandhurst officer trainees could take as a taster, but did not qualify for para wings.

 

[AMMOTECHXT]

No, it is not the 421 badge. I don't think I still have a picture of it but it was quite elaborate. It was unofficial (the Army brass don't approve) and not to be worn on uniform. As John P pointed out members were ATs or ATO and the qualification badge that he shows suffices.

Interestingly the ATO who dropped, with minders, close to the QE2 was not para trained, much to the annoyance of a friend of mine who was a para trained ATO and was in the next office when the task came in.

There are two other badges. RAOC/RLC Territorial Army personnel qualifying as EOD(IEDD) Operators wore/wear the badges shown below. Note the officer's badge (the smaller one) is not quite empty. The 'V' is for volunteer. As far as I am aware only two TA officers qualified for the badge.

View attachment 125983

I know this is not staying on the subject of RE bomb disposal badges but I believe that the ATO (Geoff C?) who was sent to the QE2 incident, although not qualified as a military parachutist, had plenty of experience of sport parachuting. I believe that the type of chute then in use as a high performance, steerable chute, was in fact a round design, the `Para Commander', still in use in some holiday destinations, towed from boats. A few years later `squares' were introduced, they were more manoeuvrable and because of their higher forward speeds could be used in more extreme wind conditions. In the mid 1980s I owned an early seven cell version made in 1979 that had a relatively slow forward speed. In the mid 1980s 7 cell versions were common as main chutes but were much more higher performance than mine, with 5 cell squares or rounds as reserve chutes. 9 cell squares tended to be used by heavier people or by people in certain specialist roles, eg Germany's GSG 9. Having a nine cell canopy meant a more gradual descent and if HAHO (high altitude high opening) was required they could be dropped miles from their target destination.
When I served at DLSA Didcot, PEODS were by then not a part of 421 EOD Company but still came under HQ 11 Ord Battalion, now 11 (EOD) Regt RLC. I was a shadow member of 421 EOD Company in the period 1990-91 and I can confirm that there was no `421' badge, just the AT trade qualification badge as shown by John P and the ATO badge as has been mentioned. When 421 EOD Company was deployed to the Middle East in 1991 we numbered no more than 40. Only three of us were actually stationed at Didcot. We were drawn from units all over the UK and Germany. In addition to ATOs and ATs there were drivers, staff clerks (including one WRAC) and supply controllers. We were sent out after the Gulf War, for the clear-up of ammunition. Out there we came under the control of 5 Ord Battalion, based in Germany. I believe that 421 EOD Company actually took over from members of 221 EOD Company, who had been deployed mostly from Germany. I think that only their rear party and our advance party (I was not in it) coincided.

Getting back to the subject, Dutch and Belgian bomb disposal badges are similar to British RE bomb disposal badges.

 

[Bonnex]

I am conscious that I have a number of outstanding answers to find (from Livens Bombs to Littlejohn projectiles) so it is very pleasing to be able to 'tick one off'. In this case it is the unofficial badge of the parachute section of 421 EOD Coy RAOC. A previous member of the section kindly sent me the attached image together with an outline history of the section. I am not able to publish the history piece but it reads substantially as per the learned contributors to this thread.

Herewith attached the badge which was typically worn on a track-suit top.

Rather a nice badge I think.

 

[Williams_castle]

I can make a belated contribution to this thread. Operation Granby is one of my interests and a few years ago I acquired the tropical uniform worn by a WO1 of 421 EOD Company. As you can see, the shirt bears the "A" badge discussed above. With the tropical shirt were the matching hat and trousers, all 70s vintage, and an aircrew overall inner, all contained in a cardboard water bottle box dated 1991!


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