Brassard : Lieutenant M S Fox, 186 (Special) Company, Royal Engineers

Special Brigade brassard made of eleven vertical strips of woollen fabric in a continuous sequence; green, white, red. One end of the brassard forms a tongue, while the other is full-width. A blackened metal two claw buckle is attached for fastening. The brassard is lined with orange cotton fabric.

This brassard was worn by Corporal (later Lieutenant) Martin Sydney Fox, an Englishman, of 186 Company, Royal Engineers. 186 Company (Coy), together with 187, 188 and 189 Companies, were the original chemical warfare units of the British Army, and were combined in early 1916 as part of the larger 'Special Companies' of the Royal Engineers, 186 Coy becoming C Special Company. The brassard was worn by Fox during the first British gas attack of the war, at Loos, on 25 September 1915, and in all further actions until their use was discontinued in late 1916. Fox wrote of the brassards: 'All ranks of our R.E. Companies had been issued with a brassard of pink, white and green bands, which indicated that we were doing a special job; this enabled us to move about the trenches without hindrance or suspicion; in fact there were instances when the infantry was glad to give us priority; a further use of the brassard was to permit our exit from the trenches when our job was done, as all sentries had been advised of this, though it didn't let us go far enough!' Martin Fox served throughout the war with the Special Brigade, and in later life published two books based on his experiences, 'With the Special Brigade R.E. A brief story of 186 Company, R.E. and 'C' Special Company, R.E. 1915-1919', and '"CORPORALS ALL" With the Special Brigade R.E. 1915-1919'.