The Ultimate Souvenir

If ever a man possessed a souvenir of his war service, that spoke of a close shave with death, then this surely has to be it.

The damaged Suffolk Regiment cap badge belonging to Private Bert Fower, shot by a sniper in the Ypres Salient in October 1915, a wound that left him with a fractured skull and 70% disability; a disability that saw him invalided out of the Army two years later after a long recuperation due to his being unfit for further military service.

The bullet stuck the centre of his forehead taking out the centre of his cap badge and exited the skull above his right ear. Unconscious, he was conveyed to a Regimental Aid Post and then onwards to a field hospital and within 24 hours, he was back in England. As to how his badge survived is unknown. A quick thinking comrade picking up his hat that had fallen in the mud, retrieved the base and shoved it into his pocket? The story goes that he awoke in hospital to find it on the table beside his bed.

Bert received a 20/- pension per week for life and had impaired vision for the remainder of his life. Over time, his disabilities were reduced to just 50% when his case was reevaluated after the Second World War.

Bert’s story first came to my attention in 2014 when his family sold his medals and those of his brother-in-law through a Staffordshire auction house. Two years later, the well-known coin specialists, Baldwins, sold his medals and paperwork in London where they were brought by well-known Suffolk collector, David Empson.

Dave was a member of the Friends of the Suffolk Regiment and he wrote an article on Bert’s life and his mementos, but he refused to part with the grouping, despite numerous requests many Suffolk collectors (and I was quite a way down the hierarchy in those days so I didn’t stand a chance!)

However, when David sadly died last year, his collection had started to appear for sale. Several items that I know to be in his collection have been offered in various auctions and recently Bert’s group came up for sale.

I was fortunate enough to purchase it, but some key items were missing from the sale, namely his Discharge Scroll in its tube and also some key papers concerning his pension. I’m guessing that as David’s collection was so great that in trying to sort out all his treasures, that these items might have been separated and perhaps mixed up in another part of David’s collection?  but if anyone has his scroll, please let me know as I’d like to reunite it with Bert’s other items.

I’ve sat here looking at this badge for over an hour, surmising what history it has seen. Front line service in 1915 of a young Kitcheners Army recruit, a nearly deadly shot that for a miracle, averted a fatality. A badge that took the force of the snipers bullet causing it to ricochet off course, the Castle and Key of Gibraltar; the ancient symbols of the Suffolk Regiment that stood steady as their ancient watchword and saved a man’s life.

The badge looks to have never been cleaned and around the crown I san see minute traces of dirt, where possible it fell into the bottom of a muddy trench, to be snatched up by a chum and pocketed for Bert as the ultimate souvenir.