In June 1940 the War Office was asked by the Chairman of the Joint Services Committee if a badge could be issued for volunteer workers supporting the forces who did not fall under the remit of one of the other voluntary services. There was some precedence for this as a brass badge featuring an intertwined ‘V’ and ‘W’ for ‘Volunteer Worker’ surmounted by a crown had been issued in World War One. It was agreed that a badge could be produced, but workers would have to have spent three months supporting troops and would then have to purchase these badges themselves, rather than having it paid for by the public purse. The War Office also decided that as the work most of these workers was doing was not sufficiently onerous, they would not permit a crown to appear on the badge.

The badge that was then produced was a circular, red enameled badge with an English lion on the top and the same intertwined ‘V’ and ‘W’ as its Great War predecessor, but with the legend ‘For the Forces’ below:

As the vast majority of those entitled to the badge would be women, it was produced with a pin backing and each was numbered to the recipient:

These badges are not particularly rare and are sometimes misidentified as being post war due to the lack of an obvious King’s crown on the badge. They are, however, wartime and another of the myriad home front badges to keep an eye out for.