HIR 6

Another puzzling picture. Better to say, it is more of an enigmatic badge. The captions and the date on the picture provide all the essential information. We see a postcard dated August 10, 1914, posted in Budapest on the 14th, which, according to the photo workshop stamp, was made in Szabadka. The picture shows the sender, Lieutenant Lajos Homolay. An insignia number 6 is attached on the left side of the officer’s shako. The number stands for the 6th Honvéd Infantry Regiment. The picture was apparently taken for the lieutenant on the day of mobilization, before leaving for the battlefield.

The badge can be the same as the one I show in the post. Red enameled regimental number. This insignia is mainly interesting because during the Great War we see the regimental numbers on crew caps, moreover in a cheaper plate design, and later even cheaper waxed canvas. Wearing the numbers on the left side of the cap was, in principle, mandatory. Since I’m not a uniform expert, I’m always surprised when I see something different from this. Such was the appearance of the number of the 309th regiment on the shoulder strap of the jacket.

This is also the case with this badge, also because of the very early date. It is particularly interesting that on the back of the presented badge there is not a pin, but a tab, in a vertical direction. The tab was presumably inserted into a slot cut on the side of the shako and fixed on the other side with something, say some matchsticks. But that would be a very hasty solution. I do not know really how the fixing was solved.