{"product_id":"ww2-british-honduras-logging-unit-cap-badge-1941-45","title":"WW2 British Honduras Logging Unit cap badge 1941-45","description":"\u003cp\u003eWW2 British Honduras Logging Unit cap badge 1941-45. Very rare badge 38mm across.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe British Honduran Forestry Unit was a civilian body of forestry workers who came from British Honduras to Scotland in two contingents to help support the war effort during the Second World War, with 900 workers arriving in two waves, the first 500 in September 1941 and a second 400 in November 1942. The men were dispersed to camps in Traprain Law (East Lothian), Duns (Scottish Borders), and Kirkpatrick Fleming (Dumfries and Galloway) for the first group, with the second group sent to Golspie (Sutherland) and Kinlochewe and Achnashellach in Wester Ross. \u003cbr\u003eThe unit came about after the Battle of the Atlantic Committee demanded a radical increase in home timber production to reduce pressure on shipping. In May 1941, Colonial Secretary Lord Moyne cabled the Governor of British Honduras, Sir John Hunter, asking whether 500 skilled woodsmen could be recruited, and the Governor agreed within days. Pit props were needed for coal mines fuelling steel production and ammunition manufacture, the rail industry needed timber to repair bomb damage, and there was a broader need to rebuild bombed buildings. \u003cbr\u003eBeing used to a tropical climate, arriving in the midst of a harsh Scottish winter must have been a shock, but the men settled in, felt welcomed locally, played in bands, attended dances, and were regulars at pubs and sports days. The unit was disbanded in 1943. \u003cbr\u003eAfter the war ended the men could not be forcibly repatriated as British subjects, and many stayed on, housed in hostels in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with several marrying locally and starting families. One notable veteran, Sam Martinez, stayed on in Edinburgh, living there until the age of 106. \u003cbr\u003eOn rarity: these badges are genuinely scarce on the collectors’ market since the unit was small (under 1,000 men total, civilian rather than military), short-lived (1941–43), and not part of a mainstream regimental supply chain. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gradia Militaria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53449816113480,"sku":"July26-018","price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0924\/1103\/5976\/files\/IMG-1374_a2ac5792-f742-4fe8-991e-8d88b52ba63f.heic?v=1783173389","url":"https:\/\/www.gradiamilitaria.com\/products\/ww2-british-honduras-logging-unit-cap-badge-1941-45","provider":"Gradia Militaria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}