by Bill Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:56 am
Morning Jonhno, You have entered a weird and wonderful world. CEF badges are very colletable, but unfortunately, they are getting to be very expensive. And there are fakes coming out in droves, plus the ones that have been around for many years now. Here is a link to the page for references compiled on the British and Commonwealth Military Badge Forum. The questions that you asked are best answered by Joe Harper's book, A Source of Pride. The standard pocket reference is the Babin's book, Canadian Expeditionary Force Cap Badges 1914-1918. But it is only line drawings of the cap badges, and it is not complete. There is also an excellent CEF Gallery on the B&CMBF. See http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/canadian_expeditionary_force/cef_index.htm
In answer to your question about drawings etc, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has many files pertaining to the FWW badges, and some of these are thorough documentation of the development of badges for some battalions. Others, not a shred of paper. Two factors complicate the issue. First, many badges for the early contingents (1 Canadian Division and 2 Canadian Division) were designed overseas and approvals if any went through the GOC of the divisions and then maybe the documents made their way to the offices of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada. Second, a fire at an HQ destroyed a lot of records.