red coat

[harribobs]

You could also apply for a T.F. commission from the age of 17years old.

Graham.

it'd never happen in this day! ( he had had his first gun long before that )

[Graham Stewart]

Chris,

The T.F. were wearing scarlet right up until August 1914. I have over 1,000 photos of the Northumberland, many of them T.F. photo's taken at annual camps before the war and a lot of them are in scarlet. SD became your uniform for daily wear, but they were still be issued with scarlet.

Colour Sgt Boyd, 6th Bn, N.F.(T.F.) c.1912

Graham.

[harribobs]

Graham,

cheers, but you misunderstand me, my interests are almost totally on the conflicts and so i've never really run across the them in red jackets

here's the 7th batt band at annual camp

and a great picture of a serjeant and his family, which we think is approx 1907

cheers

chris

[Graham Stewart]

Chris,

Dear me, you must have missed some good photo's then.

4th Bn, NF possibly their last annual camp at Greystokes, Cumbria 1913.

[harribobs]

and got some good ones as well!!

Edited February 23, 2007 by harribobs

[Graham Stewart]

Chris,

Seriously though are you telling me that you've never seen Manchester Territorials in scarlet between 1908 and 1914, or do you just not bother picking them up? As much as I love seeing them in SD, I love them even more in scarlet, especially when you see the changes in the pattern of the jackets.

Graham.

P.S.

Remember seeing a photo album at Tynemouth Fair some years ago that was stuffed with Manchester City Battalion photo's, with some nice head and shoulders showing S/T's. Bet that would have made you happy?

[harribobs]

i may have the odd one )

but 99% are in SD's or more casual....

and there's the family pictures

Oh yes....Pals battalion albums are rarely on sale these days!!!

[leigh kitchen]

Just had a check of Mike Chappell's "British Territorial Units 1914 - 18", page 15 -

"The only obligatory uniform for officers & men of the Territorial Force was regulation service dress, authorised patterns of full dress were laid down for each unit, but its provision was optional. If & when full dress was to be worn, Territorial Force Regulations clearly set out conditions as to its use. Officers badges of rank were similar to those in the regular army, the letter "T" being worn on the shoulder cords & straps in full dress uniform. In service dress the "T" was worn below the collar badges.

A distinction of the Volunteer & subsequently the Territorial, was the substituton of silver or white metal lace & ornaments for any that were gold or gilding metal in the Regular Army. This was never popular, and the Territorial, it would seem, was not keen to be seen in the public eye as anything less than a Regular. As this rule was likely to affect recruiting, the War Office made provisions in TF Regulations for any unit desirous to adopt gold in lieu of silver to seek permission through its County TF Associations. Applications (which required full details of why the unit was requesting permission), once endorsed by the TFAs, would then be passed to the War Office for consideration. Many but by no means all TF units did apply & these requests, which are still on record, reveal that permissison was granted in every case".

[Graham Stewart]

I believe Mike had gone through T.F. Regulations, Circular Instructions for the T.F., Kings Regulations, Army Orders, Army Council Instructions and Dress Regulations, all of which are the governing material regarding the organisation and running of the Army. Equivalent documentaion can be found for both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, but even today I'm astonished at how many people seem to think everything was carried out on the whim of a Colonel.

Graham.