Stuart Bates

Michael, here is a story that might be of interest. I was alerted to a Royal Artillery Home Service helmet with QVC and accompanying storage/transit tin. The tin had the owner's name and unit on the brass nameplate but not decipherable from the photo although the seller did give the unit as Hants & Isle of Wight Artillery. I asked for the owner's name and he replied K.H.Devitt. Now one of the photos showed a paper label under the headband inscribed Lord Headfo?t and 3rd R. ?o???. I found Headfort G.T., Marq. in the Army List of 1898 as a Lt in the 3rd Battalion Royal Scots. Googling on Headfort gave me Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, the 4th Marquess of Headfort, and the 1900 Army List and London Gazette told me that he had transferred to the 1st Life Guards on 7th March 1900. Now I found Kenneth Hayward Devitt in the 1901 Army List commissioned as 2nd Lt 19th July 1900 into the Duke of Connaught's Own Hampshire and Isle of Wight Artillery (RGA) and in the Army List of 1902 as 2nd Lt in the RFA. Now it is entirely possible that K.H.Nevitt somehow bought Lord Headfort's Royal Scots HSH and converted it to Artillery as the seller discovered that the badge had indeed been changed with two extra holes clearly visible on close inspection. The upshot is that the seller is changing the description and the buyer may even get a better helmet than originally described. Stuart PS. Here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em=290106145230

I'm not sure if this is really the right area for this topic but... Does anyone have any photographs of Victorian soldiers onboard ship, and/or milling around on quaysides, etc, embarking and disembarking? Photos of soldiers wearing Foreign Service or Wolseley helmets are what is required. We want to use any such photos in an upcoming book so any help much appreciated. Stuart

Here is the interior of my Australian Wolseley. Note the leather strips which form the ventilation spacers around the headband. Stuart

How about an interior shot Peter? Stuart

I couldn't leave out my Northumberland Fusiliers Wolseley. Note the red stripes which form the top of the puggaree.

Here is the interior. It was made by Hobson & Sons. Note the leather strips which form the ventilation spacers around the headband.

Here is my only other Australian helmet which is a post 1953 Infantry Wolseley. Stuart

Here is the interior. The maker is William Jones of Regent Street, London.

I agree with Eric that the tunic having buttons rather than toggles makes it a non-regular tunic ie. not a Light Dragoon tunic.

Here is a side view

Here is my latest helmet. It is a New South Wales Foreign Service helmet to the NSW Infantry, although since it was worn at home as well, I'm not sure about calling it a Foreign Service helmet but that is the style. Anyway it features the "Badge of the Colony" plate which was designed by James Barnet and Capt Francis Hixson and was adopted for use in 1876. It consists of the Coat of Arms of the NSW colony within a Waratah wreath (the Waratah being the floral emblem of the colony) and a lion and the stars of the Southern Cross. The scarlet cloth backing was approved in 1883 so that dates my helmet to 1883-1901. In 1901 the Australian States federated and control of State forces was ceded to the Commonwealth. Anybody out there got any Australian helmets to show? Stuart

I almost forgot that I had this Australian Infantry post 1953 Wolseley but here it is.

Eric, I can never forget that the DRs are for officers only I made that mistake some time ago. The NAM book "A Most Desperate Undertaking" is unclear on the subject, with few decipherable photos/illustrations of highlanders except the one I mentioned. Barthorp is more along the lines you specified thereby leading me into some confusion, uniforms not being my strong suit. Stuart

I just found a tunic that looks very much like this one and is described as WWI Canadian Royal Military College Dress Tunic. Here is the link http://www.germanmilitaria.com/OtherNations/07CanWW1.html Stuart

Michael, I have no information on the Dorset Yeomanry so can't really comment on that aspect of the helmet. It follows the 1822 pattern heavy cavalry helmet, that one had a black comb, and the comb does look similar to the 1812 pattern heavies. I guess I would ask for a closeup of the badge and trace it from there. However, the seller states that the skull has been replaced now what does this mean? If the skull has been replaced what does this make the helmet? A spare parts one. If this is true I would leave it alone, otherwise I would research the Dorset Yeomanry. Stuart

Michael, the 1846 DRs were followed by the 1855. I have a book produced by the National Army Museum whose subject is the Crimean War and it contains a photo of 3 soldiers of the 42nd wearing the double breasted doublet and the caption reads "Soldiers of the 42nd Foot... armed with the 1853 Pattern Enfield Rifle Musket". They have the diamond shaped buttons. Pity I can't post the photo but copyright prevents that. Stuart

The jacket of the 42nd man is definitely not that of the Crimean war. The DRs of 1846 which were in force for the Crimean conflict state a "scarlet jacket, double-breasted, with two rows of uniform buttons, ten in each row, in pairs, or at equal distances". I haven't yet got the next set of Dress regulations for 1855 but the 1857 DRs state a "scarlet jacket, single-breasted, with eight buttons at equal distances". Barthorp in "British Infantry Uniforms since 1660" states that the 1855 tunic/doublet changed in 1856 from double-breasted to single-breasted. This means that the photo is post 1855. Stuart

Michael, I think you meant your last post for Eric. Stuart

Eric, having looked at the website which contains the photo and doing some more reading I agree with you that it is an OR. He would be of the 3rd, 4th or 14th Light Dragoons all of whom had scarlet facings and is pre 1861 when all of those regiments converted to Hussars. The website photos show the scarlet cuffs as being under the braid. Stuart

Eric, I must admit that when I first saw the image I thought an OR but the cuff braid just seemed too elaborate for an OR. As I said peakless caps were not unusual for officers but what concerns me most is the scarlet around the cuffs overlaying the braid. In illustrations that I have seen the scarlet cuffs were pointed and beneath the braid. Another mystery. Stuart

Not really Michael. Although if pressed I would say cavalry helmets quite often have the wrong plume ie colour or an officer's helmet with a OR's plume and vice versa. The ones in really bad condition would bear very close inspection as you have noted with the ear bosses on the 3rd DGs. But, I guess, one wouldn't or shouldn't buy items in really bad condition. Badges or helmet plates are always a possible area of concern but, for example, just because a helmet plate to a Home Service Helmet has been changed doesn't mean that it is not genuine. Soldiers often transferred from one regiment to another necessitating a change of plate. One thing to be careful of if you ever look at Foreign Service helmets is that there must be some form of ventilation between the headband and the shell of the helmet. This normally takes the form of rubber or cork spacers, normally 8 in number, or some form of corrugated material, leather or cardboard. The absence of this indicates a repro/theatrical prop. This is what I mean - Stuart

Yes, I'm beginning to really appreciate the Wolseley style too. I missed out on a 2nd Battalion Manchester one with a yellow stripe to the puggaree in Bosleys last auction. Postal bids are a bugger of a way to do business. Stuart

Interior shot.

Graham, I was hoping that it would be to the 2nd Battalion, but such is life. Here is a side view of the Northumberland Fusiliers Wolseley. Any chance of getting some group photos that could be used, with suitable attribution, in the upcoming book? If so can you email some lo-res examples for us to choose from. Stuart

Eric, the braid to the cuffs is far too elaborate to be a mere trooper and who can say what a soldier chose to wear for a photograph in the 1850s-1860s. Stuart