Sweetheart brooch, 54th Division, 1939 (c)

Brass, enamel and diamante, manufacturer unknown, in the form of an inside-out umbrella and a guidon bearing the divisional number, '54'.

Small, jewelled representations of regimental and unit badges of this type were given by serving officers to their wives and girlfriends.

This brooch was given by Major George Drew Fanshawe, Royal Artillery, to his wife during World War Two (1939-1945). In 1940, the 54th Division (Territorial Army) had no divisional sign; the inside-out umbrella was its divisional sign during World War One (1914-1918).

The 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division was originally formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. During World War One it fought at Gallipoli and in North Africa and the Middle East. It was disbanded after the war but fully mobilised again in 1939.