There was a good attendance at our July Coffee Morning when the speaker was Col (Retd) Tony Pinder, Project Officer from the Fovant Badges Society, founded in 1961. A familiar sight along the A30, the badges remaining on the Downs owe their survival to the hard work of many volunteers over the past 89 years and the efforts of the Society.
At the end of WWI there were 20 badges, the first being that of the London Rifle Brigade which was cut out in 1916 to demonstrate their pride in Regiment and comrades. With 40,000 troops occupying the area below the Downs, the idea soon spread to other Regiments and more badges were cut out by soldiers in their spare time, each taking about 3 months to complete. It was reported that conditions were so bad in the camp that volunteers were not hard to find, as the site on the Downs was an escape from the wet and muddy conditions in the camp below. The badges of 2 Wiltshire Regiments and the Royal Corps of Signals were added after WWII – the latter in 1970 to mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation.
In 2001 major work needed to be carried out to prevent the badges sliding down the 30° slope on which they are situated. The Fovant Badges Society raised the sum of £200,000 in 18 months to enable the work to be carried out. The money came in large and small donations from around the world, with £70,000 given by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Also in 2001 the site was declared an ancient monument and is now protected, in agreement with landowners on whose land the badges are situated. A decision was made to preserve for the future only 7 badges, due to the cost of maintaining them. The others, already in a poor state, will be allowed to fade away. The Fovant Badges Society is anxious to attract more members to enable their valuable work to continue for the benefit of future generations.
In July of each year the Society organises a Drumhead Service held in the grounds of East Farm, Fovant, and attended by over 300 people, including military representatives from the Australian High Commission, current Colonels and Old Comrades of the Regiments concerned and civic dignitaries. Standards of the British Legion and Regimental Associations are on parade with music provided by the Shaftesbury Silver Band. Those who cut out the badges all those years ago are not forgotten. |
