Brass Shoulder Title - "Cyclist"

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Can anyone tell me which unit wore the slighty curved brass shoulder title "CYCLIST"?

I had assumed for a long time it was the Army Cyclist Corps......however I cannot be correct as that Corps was huge and I would expect to see hundreds of examples for sale, when in reality examples are rarely found on badge dealers stalls.

It also appears that this title is one of the few that has been faked using incorrect dies.

Steve.

[Adam H]

Steve,

As per usual these days I am at work...but something in the back of my head tells me that your badge may have Canadian origins...

I that members of the (rather small) Canadian Cyclists of the CEF wore "CYCLIST" shoulder insignia, and that they were curved. Will check for you when I get home, or perhaps one of the other lads has some reference material to hand that they could do a look for you.

Cheers,

Adam

[Marc Sherriff]

Acording to Ray Westlake (Collecting Metal Shoulder Titles, page 145 badge number 1587 plate 100) it WAS worn by members of the Army Cyclist Corps 1914-1919.

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Super replies chaps, thank you.

I would be interested in anything you dig out on those Canadian Cyclists Adam. Perhaps the Candian title is different from the British? It would be interesting to note the differences.

Thanks for the look up Marc. I`m still puzzled why this one is so hard to find? But I guess the same could be said about the "TANKS" shoulder title......thousands of men in the Tank Corps, but very few titles on the market. One can only speculate, but perhaps only a limited number of titles were produced upon formation of the Cyclist Corps?

Thanks Again,

Steve.

[Adam H]

Hi Steve,

I checked in my only reference that has anything on the Canadian Corps Cyclists insignia, "The Charlton Standard Catalogue of First War Canadian Corps Badges" and this book lists 4 shoulder titles used by the Canadian Cyclists 1914-18. They are:

Thick letters, straight, attached to a lower bar: "CYCLIST"

Narrower letter, straight, attached to a lower bar: "CYCLISTS"

As above but curved and joined at the top and bottom: "CYCLISTS"

Slightly curved, smaller lettering: "CYCLISTS" above "CANADA"

I would hazard a guess that the top 3 are "British" and were worn by the Canadian cyclists as well, and that only the last type is uniquely Canadian.

Unfortunately I don't have any examples to show but could try to scan the page of the book to give you a look. Not sure how well it would work though...

Hope that's a bit helpful.

Cheers,

Adam

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Adam,

Thanks for the listing, super stuff. Yes, I would be very interested in a scan from the page of your book. Any clues or small differences in the font used would be great.

Steve.

[Ciaran Byrne]

There were actually a few small units of cyclists attached to cavalry regiments. Certainly the lancer regiments had cyclists attached to them pre-WWI. There was also cyclist battalions such as the 1st/25th London, Kent and Cambridgeshire battalions so the shoulder title may have came from there.

[Gary Jucha]

Hunts Cyclists

FYI . There is a web site associated with the Huntingdonshire Cyclists

http://www.huntscycles.co.uk/

Gary J.