24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regt. of Foot, 25mm 1855-1881

A 25mm button of the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot with repair to the reverse. Although the front of the button which is on display is in good condition it seems that the central part of the reverse has been damaged and some sort of hard substance substituted together with a functional fixed copper loop for fixing. It is not really possible to say precisely whether this was an officer’s button or a soldier’s.   This is the pattern worn from 1855 until 1881 when the 24th became the 1st & 2nd Bns. The South Wales Borderers. This button is notoriously hard to find. I cannot imagine this is entirely becauise of the enormously successful film Zulu but I recall an example selling for over £200 several years ago. jul21/3

Personal note: I took decades to complete a set of the 109 line infantry buttons [before the arrival of the mobile telephone, digital camera, and internet and this was the last but one i acquired. The last of all was the 41st and I’m not sure way that should be so difficult to find. Athough this 24th button is the pattern worn at the time of the South African War of the 1870s by officers, the film mentioned above describes it then as the South Wales Borderers. Despite that error I recall in the 1960s dining in the Brigade mess at Cwrt-y-Gollen in Powys and noting all the Victoria Crosses around the walls.