United Kingdom. A Royal Guernsey Light Infantry (Militia) Helmet Plate With King's Crown

Two-piece construction, in die-stamped bronze gilt, unmarked, centrepiece bearing the coat-of-arms of the Channel Island of Guernsey, surrounded by the inscription "ROYAL GUERNSEY / LIGHT INFANTRY", with a piece of red felt placed behind the voided area in the centrepiece, mounted to a base with seven star points incorporating multiple emanating rays, surmounted by a King's crown, the centrepiece framed within an open-ended wreath of laurel leaves, measuring 108.5 mm (w) x 128.8 mm (h), the two lugs on the plate and the three lugs on the centrepiece wired together and are intact, extremely fine.

Footnote: The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army that was formed from the Royal Guernsey Militia in 1916 to serve in the First World War. They fought as part of the British 29th Division. Of the 2,280 men, most of whom came from Guernsey, who fought on the Western Front with the RGLI, 327 were killed and 667 were wounded. Many Guernsey men had already volunteered for regiments in the British Army before the RGLI was formed. The RGLI was created because there was no Guernsey-named regiment to underline the island's devotion to the Crown. The regimental motto "Diex Aïx" derives from the battle cry used by the Duke of Normandy 1,000 years earlier. The regiment was disbanded in 1919 but the regimental tradition lives on in the Guernsey Army Cadet Force (Det.) Light Infantry, who, although they do not wear the RGLI cap badge, still keep alive the history of the Regiment within the detachment.