Canada. A Second War Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Officer's Insignia Set

Item #C5570

$55

Cap Badge: in bronze gilt, voided, maker marked "W. SCULLY MONTREAL" on the reverse, measuring 29.8 mm (w) x 51 mm (h), both lugs intact, scattered gilt wear; and Collar Tab Pair: in bronze gilt, voided, measuring 22.2 mm (w) c 37.7 mm (h) each, intact lugs and pins, on their card of issue. Near extremely fine.

Footnote: The Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers came into being officially on February 22, 1944, with the fusion of various elements from the Royal Canadian Engineers, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, following the model of the British Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). With the increase of mechanized equipment during the Second World War, the need to have one corps dedicated to service and maintenance thereof was becoming increasingly apparent. Trucks had become the de facto means of transportation and logistic support, armoured vehicles had replaced cavalry, weapons were becoming more complicated, as well as the advent of radios and radar, it was apparent that the previous model of having a different corps for each job was inadequate for a modern, mechanized army. The majority of RCEME technicians were, and still are, vehicle mechanics, but the original RCEME structure incorporated twenty-five different trades and sub-trades, employing specialists for each particular job in order to train and deploy them in time to meet the war's demand. While it was somewhat bulky, it was nonetheless a centralized structure for maintaining the Army's everyday equipment which was more efficient than the previous system of having each corps perform its own equipment maintenance, and also allowed for a greater degree of specialization within trades.