7 TH. DRAGOON GUARDS HELMET

[Mervyn Mitton]

This wonderful helmet is for an officer of the 7th. Dragoon Guards - The Princess Royal's . They were first established in 1688 on the accession of King William 3rd. They served in the Cape from 1843 to 1848 and I think this helmet is about that date. It has a beautiful silver helmet plate with Queen Victoria's cypher and unlike their later badges the plate is shaped like a breast star.

Dragoons are heavy cavalry and wear cuirasses - officers used to wear gold plated helmets in order to be seen clearly through the dust in battle.

How they were formed is interesting - The Princess Royal ( the first to have this title - now usually given to the eldest daughter of the Monarch) Mary, was the daughter of Charles 1st. and became the Mother of William - Prince of Orange in the Netherlands. When Charles 2nd. died in 1685, his brother becames James 2nd. - however, he was Catholic and was driven out in 1688 (he later became the 'old pretender' and his son - Bonnie Prince Charlie, became the 'young pretender'). Just after Charles died The Princess Royal fled towards York to escape prison - the Earl of Devonshire came to her rescue with his guard. When William became King one of his first acts was to give Devonshire a Dukedom and allowed him to form the 10th.Horse - later the 7th Dragoons - The Princess Royals'. Since 2006 they are the Royal Dragoon Guards , with the 4th. and 5th Dragoons.

The man who brought it in , paid ?10 - in a pub - in the 1950's !!!

[Mervyn Mitton]

[Mervyn Mitton]

[Mervyn Mitton]

[Stuart Bates]

Mervyn,

what a lovely example of the 7th DGs helmet. Yours is the 1871 pattern and so cannot date 1843 to 1848. I have several officers' helmets to other DGs and Dragoon regiments but only an OR's to the 7th.

They, of course, amalgamated with the 4th Dragoon Guards in 1922 and I attach a photo of a 4th/7th Trooper showing his Wolseley helmet with the white over black hackle.

Stuart

Edited April 26, 2009 by Stuart Bates

[Mervyn Mitton]

Stuart

Thankyou for that info. - I have a book on their service in Sth. Africa in the 1840's and thought it looked similar. I also have a lovely example of the King's Dragoon Guards - Edward V11 - will post it another time.

I would also like to purchase a copy of your new book - sounds very informative - congratulations. We occasionally have the topees from Boer War and, also, the WW2 S.A. sun helmet. The Zulu War British ones are now very hard to find - although the Boers bought a lot of surplus ones and used them for the ZARPS (police) and the President's Guard.

Mervyn

[Stuart Bates]

Mervyn,

send me a PM with your address and I will post you out a copy of the book. The postage will be expensive as it costs A$35 to send one to the UK. I have to send off a couple today so will check the postage to SA.

As to Boer War helmets there are a lot of fakes out there. One giveaway is the lack of ventilation between the headband and the shell of the helmet. Another is having the chinstrap attached directly to the helmet rather than looping over internal hooks on each side.

I know that Peter Suciu would be interested in any SA helmets as he is the international collector whereas I only collect British. Maybe you could start a new topic or simply add to the book one .

Cheers,

Stuart

Edited April 26, 2009 by Stuart Bates

[Mervyn Mitton]

Stuart - would it possible to see an image of your 7th. Dragoons o/r's helmet ? Would make an interesting contrast.

Sending payment for book tomorrow - look forward to seeing a copy.

[Stuart Bates]

Mervyn,

here is my 7th DGs ORs 1871 pattern helmet. I will post an 1847 pattern of the 5th DGs for comparison.

Book will be posted today.

Stuart

[Stuart Bates]

Here is the 1847 pattern helmet. This one an officer's of the 5th Dragoon Guards.

Stuart

[Mervyn Mitton]

Stuart - your helmets are magnificent - I am going to print off the 7th. O/R's for reference. I wonder if members realise the current value of rare helmets like these. I would put these three at between ?5 - 6000. ($ 10/11000).

On the photograph - what is the round emblem on his left sleeve - doesn't look like a machine gun ? The cavalry .303 bandolier is also a good example - they wore this pattern in the Boer War. How many helmets do you have in your collection - were they all sourced in Aust.? With the 5th. Helmet , it is interesting that the 'sunburst' around the badge is only in outline - how are other Dragoon helmets shown? Our Edward 7th. is the cypher of the King.

One question - I notice that your plumes are replacement nylon - our two in the shop window have faded, do you have an address for replacements ?

Mervyn

[Stuart Bates]

Mervyn,

the badge on the 4th/7th trooper is MG within a wreath, therefore a machine gunner.

You might try http://www.theplumery.co.uk/modern%20milit...ry%20plumes.htm for replacement plumes. I got a couple years ago from Regimentals in the UK. I replaced a couple because the horsehair ones were so "ratty" but I still have them.

The sunburst "outline" seems to be appropriate to the 1847 pattern and changed with the introduction of the simplified 1871 pattern heavy cavalry helmet. About 130.

Stuart