WW2 Army Cadet Force, chrome & red enamel lapel badge

Army Cadet Force” name dates to 1942, during WWII. The organisation’s roots go back much further (school volunteer cadet units from 1859-1860), but they weren’t called the ACF then. In 1914 all independent Cadet units were taken under War Office control and the name Army Cadet Force was first used, though in 1923 defence cutbacks withdrew government support and the units carried on independently through the British National Cadet Association.

Full government recognition resumed in 1942, when the Army formally took over the organisation, equipment and accommodation of the ACF  — this is the point most collectors treat as the “real” founding of the modern ACF, since it’s when the force became properly established with War Office backing and standardised kit.