{"product_id":"ww2-r-n-leading-wireman-trade-badge","title":"WW2 R.N Leading Wireman trade badge.","description":"\u003cp\u003e One of the rarer WW2 Royal Navy trade badges.in good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePer the Imperial War Museums’ reference collection, that “L” letter badge combined with crossed torpedoes specifically denoted Leading Wireman between 1940 and 1943, then Leading Wireman (L) from 1943 to 1946.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhy torpedoes for an electrical trade: it looks odd until you know that up until 1944, the Torpedo branch held responsibility for electrical matters in the Royal Navy . All shipboard electrical installations fell under the Torpedo Branch, and torpedomen with electrical training were known as Leading Torpedo Operators (LTOs) . So the crossed torpedoes marked the parent branch, while the “L” marked the electrical speciality and rate.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat the man actually did: a WWII Leading Wireman would have kept a warship’s electrical systems running, ship’s lighting and power circuits, telephone and internal comms, electrically fired guns and mines, and increasingly through the war, power supplies for radar and ASDIC sets and degaussing gear used to protect against magnetic mines. It was a trade that grew rapidly in importance as ships became steadily more electrified through the war.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gradia Militaria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53627482079560,"sku":"July26-526","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0924\/1103\/5976\/files\/IMG-1611_ae03a50a-71b3-48e6-97cf-8d04cb53f038.heic?v=1785572836","url":"https:\/\/www.gradiamilitaria.com\/products\/ww2-r-n-leading-wireman-trade-badge","provider":"Gradia Militaria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}