3rd battalion kings african cap badge & backing

Sheet cut brass 3rd battalion kings african cap badge & rare red cloth backing for wear on bush hat.

What the badge is

The KAR didn't wear a conventional regimental cap badge on the fez. Instead, fezzes bore an Arabic or Roman number, with the wartime-raised battalions wearing theirs on geometric-shaped patches of cloth. The same system carried over to the bush hat in the Second World War. The Imperial War Museum holds a matching example for the 7th Battalion, a blackened brass 'V' shape (the Arabic numeral 7) on a woollen backing, worn on the upturned brim of the bush hat.This is the same construction: a flat brass numeral with two loop fasteners, mounted through a red wool felt backing.

History of the 3rd Battalion

• Origins: It traces back to the private armed forces recruited by the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1888, which became the East African Rifles. In 1902 it was officially designated the 3rd King's African Rifles and stationed in Nairobi. It was the Kenya battalion, with seven companies and a camel company.
• First World War: In 1916 the 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions were each expanded into two battalions through recruiting in their home areas, fighting through the East African campaign against the Germans.
• Second World War: By 1939 there were six regular KAR battalions, with the 3rd and 5th raised in Kenya. A duplicate, the 2/3rd, served with 25th (East African) Infantry Brigade, 12th (African) Division in Kenya, Eritrea and Ethiopia, 1940 to 1941.
• Post-war: The battalion received new Colours, with a presentation of Colours to the 3rd Battalion by the Duke of Gloucester in 1950. It served through the Mau Mau emergency in Kenya.
• Today: 3rd Battalion Kenya Rifles was formed from the 3rd KAR in 1963. Nicknamed "The Scarlets", it is the senior unit of the Kenya Army infantry.