Tag: Sweetheart Brooch

Amiens 1917 Sweetheart Brooch.

WWI Suffolk Regiment Sweetheart Brooch.

West Yorkshire Regiment Sweetheart Brooch.

WWI Royal Artillery Sweetheart Brooch.

WWI Era Dorsetshire Regiment Sweetheart Brooch.

WWI Era Bedfordshire Regiment Sweetheart Brooch.

During the course of the Great War, servicemen leaving home for the front line had to say goodbye to those they loved, and often left gifts and keepsakes for those they’d be missing. One popular gift was a small brooch depicting the service crest or regimental badge of the soldier in question. This gift was intend for soldiers to show that their home and their families would be in their hearts during their absence. The name ‘sweetheart’ can be misleading here, as it suggests that the item was only given to those in intimate relationships, but this isn’t the case. This was given to anyone the soldier would be leaving behind; therefore this could be their wife, parents, and even children. If it was given to a wife or a girlfriend, it was worn by that woman as a symbol of their pride and regard for their soldier.

The brooches themselves were small, and fitted with pins so that they could be worn on a blouse or a lapel. The style originated from the cap badges of a regiment or corps, and such brooches were first issued during the Boer war in Africa, twenty … Read the rest