19th century sleeve insignia 'S'

[Tony]

Is the 'S' on his sleeve for sniper or sharpshooter maybe? Or something else?

Cheers

Tony

[Guest Rick Research]

Never mind THAT-- Why is he wearing a fur kilt????

[Graham Stewart]

Tony,

He's a "Scout" of the 1st Battalion, Queens(Royal West Surrey Regiment), the photo obviously taken in India circa 1900, which is where the battalion was stationed from 1892 until 1908 when it was posted to Aden.

Rick,

If that's a fur kilt I'll eat hay with a cuddy.

Graham.

[Tony]

Thanks Graham,

How do you know he was 1st Battalion?

Tony

[Graham Stewart]

Tony,

2nd Bn, Queens was in South Africa from 1899 to 1904 when they returned to England, then went to Gib in 1910.

Graham.

[Tony]

Graham,

My great grandad was in the Queens and in S. Africa so that's very interesting to hear.

I don't know who the above soldier was but he was a mate of my g grandad's brother Bill who is in my avatar, I think the whole family were in the Queen's till the Great War.

Tony

[leigh kitchen]

I may be wrong, but was'nt this "S" scout badge worn only in India?

[Tony]

I may be wrong, but was'nt this "S" scout badge worn only in India?

Spot on Leigh, see Graham's post No. 3.

Cheers

Tony

[david grumpy]

No. It was however Indian issue, although the example shown is a variant I have not seen before, with the little spiky bits indicating compass points. The Indian government were responsible for clothing ALL british soldiers in India, and erred on the economical side, shall we say. Cavalry scouts in India wore the regulation British fleur de lys.

I have a few ills. of the S wreath badge worn on the Western Front by units fresh from India.

The 'jacket' is the standard Indian Pattern dress frock, unlined but tailored and fitted. It has the same cuff, facings, collar etc as worn in the period of the Zulu war, long since replaced at Home. SNCOs had piping to the frock front and bottom.

[david grumpy]

another thort .... I would be surprised if the badge was 19th century.

Mafeking had not happened, Baden-Powell had not happened, Scouting [military] was not the in-thing.

More like 1904 =20th century.

[Tony]

That's interesting to hear. Don't you just wish people wrote their names, unit and date on photos.

Tony

[david grumpy]

No, not at all, it would ruin the fun of detective work. I like to make old photos talk to me!

[Mervyn Mitton]

Please 'talk' to us - I found thread 10 a little confusing with your events and the dates ?

[david grumpy]

OK!

The badge was invented in c.1904 which is 20th Century not 19th.

'Scouting', both for the army and for boys, became all the rage in the ten years that followed the end of the SA [boer] War, ie 1902 onwards.

I do not have a firm date for the India Pattern badge, but the British Fleur-de-Lys large size was sealed and introduced 1905, the small size 1907, whereas the India version appears for the first time in Indian Clothing Regs 1909 although photo evidence says a few years earlier.

[Mervyn Mitton]

David - I was not querying your badge knowledge - it was the bit about Mafeking hadn't happened ? Mervyn

[david grumpy]

The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero. The Relief of Mafeking (the lifting of the siege) was a decisive victory for the British and a crushing defeat for the Boers.^[1]