Long Range Desert Group "Lemon Squeezer" Hat and Scorpion Badge

The first of a small collection of Long range Desert Group headdress and insignia I will be listing, all from a long established private collection, this lovely WW2 example of the iconic Kiwi ‘lemon squeezer’ is complete with an early example of a rare and of course original, L.R.D.G scorpion hat badge.

Constructed in brass, the Badge is in excellent condition and has at some time been converted to a pin back set up, evidence clearly remaining where the fixing posts were once in place. The hat shows puncture marks where a previous NZ army badge was once in place, no doubt removed to allow fitting of the LRDG badge on joining the group.

Constructed in a Khaki felt the hat has the red and khaki Puggaree of the Infantry and is typical of those worn in North Africa by the L.R.D.G and the New Zealand Forces. Overall condition is very good with no moth damage and some light staining, but missing its sweatband, synonymous with hats worn in very hot conditions where the stitching rotted due to excess sweating.

Introduced by one of New Zealand’s outstanding soldiers of the Gallipoli Campaign, William George Malone, originally for his Taranaki Rifles Regiment, the hat was designed to mirror the outline of Mount Taranaki and to allow ‘run off’ in the rain. The moniker “Lemon Squeezer” soon caught on for obvious reasons.

The story and exploits of the L.R.D.G. are of course well known and need no further explanation, with original examples as I have here now highly collectable and very hard to locate.

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