Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

First World War ‘Sweetheart’ 11th Battalion Colour Patch Enamel Brooch

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Unknown

c. 1915

Overview

An 11th Battalion rectangular enamel ‘Sweetheart’ badge showing the Battalion’s colour patch of brown over light blue.

Historical information

The 11th Battalion was the first unit recruited in Western Australia for the Australian Imperial Force and formed the 3rd Brigade along with the 9th, 10th and 12th Battalions. On 25 April 1915 the 3rd Brigade led the ANZAC landing on Gallipoli, later defending the beachhead and taking part in preparatory attacks on Lone Pine before being evacuated in December 1915.
On returning to Egypt the 11th helped form the 51st Battalion which served in France at Pozieres, and Ypres in 1916. In 1917 the Battalion was involved in the Third Battle of Ypres and in an advance following the German retreat to the Hindenburg line, a decisive event leading into the Spring Offensive between March and April 1918. The Battalion continued in the field until late September and on November 11th the armistice was signed to end the fighting. The Versailles peace treaty followed on 28 June 1919.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2008.14.1

Item type

Badges

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Enamel Paint

Metal

Width

26 mm

Height or length

14 mm

Weight

4 g

Contextual Information

The 11th Battalion’s rectangular colour patch is brown over light blue. The upper colour designates the Battalion and the lower colour indicates the Brigade that a soldier served in. Colour patches were used to help identify soldiers in the heat of battle and were originally worn by Australian soldiers on the upper sleeve of their uniforms between 1914 and 1949, before being reintroduced in 1987 and worn on the right side of the slouch hat or on the shoulders of some dress uniforms.
Sweetheart badges were commercially produced symbols of love, support and pride for a loved one serving in the AIF and were worn by girlfriends or wives of serving soldiers. The keepsakes could be gifts from servicemen or could be purchased by the women themselves.

Keywords

Year

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Historic significance

Social or spiritual significance