Page 14 - BB april 24

Roadside Box, patrolman and motorised bike c. 1920s
Thanks for the
memories... from Myra Doyle
I loved the story about the AA badge – took me back to years ago in UK when I was growing up... our local AA patrol man had an impressive motorbike and sidecar. He had a brown and yellow uniform and could be seen touring around the local vicinity or sitting outside his ‘box’ waiting for a distress call.
All AA members had the badge on the front grill of their car, and the AA men used to salute them when they passed them on the road.
AA Boxes resembled Dr Who’s but in AA colours. AA patrol men used them for ‘shelter’ out in the country and they had a ‘rescue’ telephone inside for members to use in distress. No mobile phones in those days if you broke down!
My dad’s garage had an AA sign outside to indicate he was an AA-certified approved repair establishment.
As our family garage was AA we always considered AA superior to RAC – but the RAC had similar facilities and patrolmen as well.
Funny how little events spark off so many memories. Thanks to Malcolm and Frank for sparking this one.
Myra Doyle
In England in 1920 members were issued with keys to wooden roadside telephone boxes which could be used to call the organisation for assistance (the boxes had been erected from 1912 as shelters for watchmen or patrolmen). There were almost 1,000 boxes in their heyday, and they remained in use until the 1960s.
The first AA badges were used for practical purposes. In 1905 the bicycle scouts were issued with a simple metal badge carrying the AA sign and their individual scout number, as a means of identification for all passing drivers.
And of course, distinctive badges were provided to AA member drivers from 1906, who would proudly display them on their vehicles.
Research & additional information on the history of the AA via AA historic website : Editor
www.theaa.com/about-us/aa-history/car-badges#
Type to enter text
How to date an AA badge.
Badges are stamped up with issue numbers on them, the table below gives an indication of when a particular badge was sent out:
• 1 to 999,999 - 1906-30
• A-P suffixes - 1930-45
• RST suffixes - 1946-56
(Flat motorcycle badges)
• WXYZA suffixes - 1956-67
(Domed motorcycle badges)
• OA to OZ prefixes - 1945-57
• 1A-9A prefix - 1957-59
• 1B-9B prefix - 1960-61
• 1C-9C prefix - 1962-63
• 1D-9D prefix - 1964-65
• 1E-9E prefix - 1966-67
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