A brass and enamel lapel badge of a ship called RMS Laurentic. The design is in the shape of a ship’s wheel. RMS Laurentic was built in 1908 for the White Star Line (whose flag is also on the badge) and before World War 1 carried thousands of passengers across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada. On the outbreak of World War 1, RMS Laurentic was converted into a troopship, and brought thousands of Canadian soldiers to the UK. In January 1917 she was sunk by a mine off Ireland (which had been laid by a German U-boat) and sank within an hour with the loss of 354 lives including Chief Petty Officer Charles Albert Taylor, age 24, a member of the Royal Navy crew, who lived in Folkestone.
