Fovant, Wiltshire - Badges, postcard FDI special pmk, carried by helicopter 1980

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  The Fovant Badges [on hillside near Fovant, Wiltshire]
• Publisher: The Post Office - No. SWPR11
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  11&half p Machin
• Postmark(s): Special Fovant Badges pmk First day of sale of postcard 4 July 1980 Salisbury. + Cachet: "Carried by Scout helicopter"
• Sent to:  na
• Notes / condition: not a rare card but not common with these postmarks and history, nice local interest. Has small label remnant top left.

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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he Fovant Badges are a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill, Fovant Down, near Fovant, in southwest Wiltshire, England. They are located between Salisbury and Shaftesbury on the A30 road in the Nadder valley; or approximately 1⁄2 mile (800 m) southeast of Fovant. They were created by soldiers garrisoned nearby, and waiting to go to France, during the First World War; the first in 1916.[1] They are clearly visible from the A30 road which runs through the village. Nine of the original twenty remain, and are scheduled ancient monuments and recognised by the Imperial War Museum as war memorials.[1] Further badges have been added more recently.

The Fovant Badge Society holds an annual Drumhead Service which is attended by the Australian High Commissioner, local mayors and members of parliament. These services fund the upkeep of the badges.

After the outlines were cut into the grass-covered hillsides, they were refilled with chalk brought from a nearby slope, up to 50 tons per badge.[1] The badges took an average fifty men six months to complete.[1]

Reading left to right (north-east to south-west), the badges at Fovant are:[2]

Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (only central part remaining)[3]

YMCA, restored in 2018.[4]

6th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (City of London Rifles) (claimed to be the first of the badges cut here)[5][6]

Australian Commonwealth Military Forces (the largest, 51m×32m)[7]

Royal Corps of Signals (cut in 1970 to commemorate the Corps' 50th anniversary)[8]

Wiltshire Regiment (added in 1950)[9]

5th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade)[10]

8th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Post Office Rifles)[11]

Devonshire Regiment[12]