Wartime uniform badge for the Entertainments National Services Association
Record status
Individual type · partial
This object is a bronze uniform badge associated with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). Originating from the United Kingdom, the badge is designed in a stylised triangular trefoil form.
The badge's ornamentation features relief lettering set against a cross-hatched background. A central roundel displays a raised letter 'E', also positioned against a cross-hatched ground. Surrounding the centre, the three lobes or 'leaves' of the trefoil shape feature the raised capital letters 'N', 'S', and 'A', representing the organisation's initials.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
The Entertainments National Service Association was established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. It was later succeeded by Combined Services Entertainment. ENSA's first major wartime variety concert was broadcast by the BBC from RAF Hendon on 17 October 1939. This badge, along with other ENSA and Combined Services Entertainment badges, was given to the museum by Rae Hammond (1926–1995), a theatre manager, author, and authority on magic who may have served with both organisations.
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- United Kingdom
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection record for this single object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Museum object name
- Wartime uniform badge for the Entertainments National Services Association
- Museum object number
- S.353-1989
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.