Cushion
Object name
Designer
Date made
1940s
Place made
Description
1940s Royal Army Chaplain's Department (RAChD) cushion was an original Royal School of Needlework design approved by the H.M. War Office during World War II. The cushion has a simple design, with the RAChD emblem worked with cotton threads on a heavy cream cotton.
Content description
Royal Army Chaplain's Department (RAChD) cushion made in the 1940s, using cotton threads on a cream cotton ground. This cushion was part of the Royal School of Needlework's wartime embroidery efforts. The school designed a kit for every regiment in the allied forces by the end of World War II, as well as the prototype badge for each kit. The maker of this object has used this kit to craft a cushion. The small cushion uses chain stitch, satin stitch, and French knots to create the crest of the Royal Army Chaplain's Department, which sits on a green and brown crown of laurels. Inscribed in the centre of the medallion in golden cotton thread is the motto of the Royal Army Chaplain's Department, which is 'IN THIS SIGN CONQUER'. The back of the cushion is also cream coloured, and the cushion is filled with wadding of unknown material. We are grateful to the Paisley Thread Mill Museum for informing us that these kits involved skeins of Clarks stranded cotton and that the packs were made by Briggs, who later became part of Coats Threads.
The RSN's regimental stitch packs were approved by the War Office. At the beginning of the war the RSN included just the main British regiments, but by the end of the war they included almost all the allied regiments plus the new corps which were established during the period. Inside the pack were instructions and transfers of the design in two sizes. When first launched it was suggested that the designs could be used in domestic settings, such as for a Radio Times cover.
This cushion was donated by the daughter of Reverend Walter Evans, who served as an Army Chaplain for 40 years, and Peggy Evans, who had moved around with her husband as he worked. Their daughter found this cushion when sorting through their possessions after they died in their final home in West Wales. Rev. Walter Evans joined the army in 1942 when he was 26 years old and served in many different countries across the globe, including Germany, Italy, and North Africa. After the war he left the army for a short while before joining again in 1952. He spent the last five years before his retirement working as the Chaplain of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The embroiderer of this object is unknown. These kinds of kits were made for male and female stitchers at home and on the front line, and people could choose the crests of their loved ones' regiments, embroidering using an instruction booklet written by Lady Smith-Dorrien, at that time the head of the RSN. Dispatched through the International Red Cross, they were also later sent to prisoners of war. The embroidery of this cushion has a simple but effective design.
The RSN's regimental stitch packs were approved by the War Office. At the beginning of the war the RSN included just the main British regiments, but by the end of the war they included almost all the allied regiments plus the new corps which were established during the period. Inside the pack were instructions and transfers of the design in two sizes. When first launched it was suggested that the designs could be used in domestic settings, such as for a Radio Times cover.
This cushion was donated by the daughter of Reverend Walter Evans, who served as an Army Chaplain for 40 years, and Peggy Evans, who had moved around with her husband as he worked. Their daughter found this cushion when sorting through their possessions after they died in their final home in West Wales. Rev. Walter Evans joined the army in 1942 when he was 26 years old and served in many different countries across the globe, including Germany, Italy, and North Africa. After the war he left the army for a short while before joining again in 1952. He spent the last five years before his retirement working as the Chaplain of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The embroiderer of this object is unknown. These kinds of kits were made for male and female stitchers at home and on the front line, and people could choose the crests of their loved ones' regiments, embroidering using an instruction booklet written by Lady Smith-Dorrien, at that time the head of the RSN. Dispatched through the International Red Cross, they were also later sent to prisoners of war. The embroidery of this cushion has a simple but effective design.
Dimensions
width: 33cm
height: 26cm
height: 26cm
Materials
Stitches
Motifs
Credit line
Gift of Ann Owen in memory of her sister, Ruth, 2022.
Catalogue number
COL.2022.50
Other numbers
RSN 2678
© Royal School of Needlework