My mixed bag collection (mostly British for a change)

[tubist73]

Thanks for all those wonderful details Seigfried. Although I have family members who served in the RAMC during both world wars, I have very little medical knowledge myself. I have also never seen another overall/gown like this anywhere else; I assume it only survived for so long because it was unissued.

Here's an update with a private of the King's Royal Rifle Corps from about 1917. It's built up around the recent acquisition of a Service Dress jacket named to a Rifleman Wood. The jacket has many mid-war features, including two buttons sewn to the inside - all that is left from the gas-helmet pocket that was once there (see Bodsworth, p.49). The black rifle buttons seem to be original (with rusted split rings inside) and, interestingly, all but one of the large front buttons have Queen Victoria's crowns on them, probably left over in the stores before being issued. On the sleeves are two faded overseas service stripes, a good conduct chevron and a wound stripe.

Rifleman Wood is wearing battle order as he might have done marching up to the front line for an attack, with the small pack on his shoulder straps and a pick axe (dated 1916). He's wearing his 1917 Pattern soft trench cap (with added KRRC black badge); his shrapnel helmet is slung over the handle of his hooked-quillon bayonet. It's unlikely such an early type of bayonet would have been in use at this point but it's marked to the KRR so I couldn't resist!

I took these photos at dusk but the light disappeared fast and I had to resort to flash to capture most details clearly.

Matthew

[Mark P]

Great mannequin Matthew, thanks for sharing. Great markings on the bayonet; amazing condition of Private Woods jacket.

Regards Mark

[tubist73]

Thanks for the positive comments, Mark. I took a chance when I picked up the jacket as it's condition is almost too good to be true. But there are plenty of signs of honest use and just the right amount of wear inside and out.

The nicest surprise for me was the two steel buttons sewn inside, behind the lower left pocket. There are just a few threads left from the original gas helmet pocket that used to be sewn there - for some reason the buttons were just left in place when it was removed. I've not seen one of these before, only read about them.

Here are a few more images of the jacket, inside and out.

Matthew

[Ir 143]

Display.

Very nice, the RAF one has a good look.

[upbeek]

Splendid
I just looked through and it’s a masterpiece!
Well done

Kind regards Chay

[tubist73]

Thanks for the comments, Chay, and sorry it's taken so long to reply. Like many of us caught in the current lockdowns around the world, I've used some of the extra time at home recently to sort out some of the collection and put together a few more displays.

First up is a bit of a rag-tag of US naval and coast guard items thrown together to represent a typical crewman on a landing craft or small ship during one of the many landings in Europe in 1943-44. I don't have much US navy clothing, so this represents almost everything I own, with a few changes of headgear. I'm also a novice regarding much of this equipment, so if anyone can point me in the direction of good source material for US Navy/Coast Guard militaria I'd be very grateful.

Our sailor is dressed for bad weather in a rubberised coat and early M-1 helmet (fixed-bale, Hawley liner), painted with a skull and crossbones emblem on the front. From all the research I've done on this helmet, and opinions from collectors, it seems likely to be a Coast Guard marking. Any more opinions would be appreciated.

He's also pictured wearing a sou'wester (dated 1944 from the contract number) and U.S.N. rubber gloves. The life preserver is the rarer type used by the Coast Guard and dated 1942. I've heard it described as the sausage style! And finally, our crewman is pictured wearing a blue painted M-1, with a yellow band on the rim and '33' stencilled on the front. Other than it being a navy helmet, I know nothing about the markings. Again, opinions welcome. Enjoy and stay safe.

Matthew

[nbroadarrowz]

HI Matthew,
I do like your allied displays, well done, keep them coming.


Barry

[tubist73]

Thanks, Barry, glad to hear you enjoy the focus on Allied subjects.

Here's another 'sublime to ridiculous' change of theme - from a weather beaten sailor to a full dress guardsman. I've shown two of my other guards displays earlier in this thread - the Welsh and Grenadiers - so here is a representation of the oldest guards regiment, the Coldstream Guards, originally formed in Coldstream, Scotland, back in 1650. Although not as senior as the Grenadiers, this regiment is the oldest continuously serving infantry unit in the British Army.

As with the other uniforms, this represents a guardsman between the wars, equipped with a full dress tunic (marked to the 2nd Bttn), peaked cap instead of bearskin, and a basic set of Slade-Wallace leather equipment. All items are dated between 1914 - 1940, with the cap being the newest item (with original badge, very over polished!). I much prefer these more traditional materials, with heavy woollen uniforms, brass buttons, sewn insignia and leather equipment, rather than the modern shiny staybrite buttons etc. They seem to 'feel' more historic, both physically and visually. But that's just me.

Matthew

[tubist73]

I've just revisited a former subject and updated the display with some recent additions. Here is a private from the 15th Bttn, 48th Highlanders of Canada, as he might have appeared behind the lines at a photographer's studio during the Great War. The kilt still has most of its original label inside, stating Davidson tartan for this unit and dated 1917. The sporran is undated but of the period. From some research it seems that both silver and brown badges/titles were worn; both are seen in pictures. Here I've used a matching brown set for the Glengarry badge and collar titles. I had to locate and add the silver badge for the sporran, which was no easy task to find one to fit! I'm still not sure if it's the correct type.

The traditional cutaway tunics worn by Scottish regiments were not official military production until about the 1920s. Before this everything was done at unit level by tailors to shape the inside corners of the jackets for wear with a kilt and sporran. This practice was stopped, I think in 1915, for obvious economy reasons (although it inevitably continued), leading to many images of Scottish soldiers wearing standard SD jackets and, as in my case here, just tucking the front corners inside to give a similar effect. I have just used a generic SD jacket for this that already happened to have holes in all the right places (I'm not a fan of punching new holes in historic uniforms......)

The 48th were formed in 1891 and became one of the first Canadian units to travel to Europe. They arrived in France in February 1915 and served with distinction on the Western Front for the duration of the war.

Matthew

[Etienne B.]

Great stuff.....as usual ;-)

[tubist73]

Thank you for the kind words, Etienne.

And now for something that really stretches my collection - a half-mannequin from the 2nd Anglo-Boer war. I actually picked up this KD tunic for a Great War project but it's an early enough model to have been used in South Africa. There is unfortunately no date visible but it does have the mandarin collar, double pleats and twin inner pockets of tunics produced before 1903. It's in excellent condition overall.

The bandolier is the Pattern 1889 Mk II version, dated 1900 on the end of the main strap. I'm afraid I couldn't be bothered to load it up with incorrect bullets! But mainly I didn't want to damage the delicate leather....

The slouch hat is a well worn stand-in from WW2, as original Boer War headgear is, in the words of the Bard, rarer than rocking horse s***.

Matthew

[John Bonnell]

Hi Matthew
I used to collect Boer War militaria and I've had several KDs through my hands. That's a nice KD! It is definitely the 1896 pattern. My only comment is that unlike in the Great War where large buttons were worn down the front, in the Boer War all buttons would have been small GS. There was a special pattern of Victorian GS button for the KD with a longer shank, but you'd have to trawl an awful lot of button boxes to find a full set.

Cheers, JB

[tubist73]

Hi John and thanks for the confirmation about the KD tunic. The buttons are removable, of course, and I did make sure to use the smaller size GS buttons. As you guessed, they are not the correct VC buttons of the period - that's another collecting project for another day!

Here is a variation with a basic set of 1888 Valise Equipment (Slade-Wallace) on the same tunic. These pieces have been gradually collected over many years, mostly ex-guards items that turn up on the market every now and again. The belt and bayonet frog are nicely marked to different battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. I'm afraid that this particular soldier would have been very thirsty as I don't yet have a suitable water-bottle or canteen.

After years of white blanco being applied it took several hours of careful scrubbing with a wire brush to get the buff leather back to some kind of normal, matching condition. And all while wearing a face mask of course - the fine white powder that comes off this old leather is lethal.

It's been a real learning experience figuring out how to assemble this Slade-Wallace set. Very different from the Pattern 1908 and 1937 webbing I'm used to.

Matthew

[John Bonnell]

Ah, you did use the small buttons, apologies for my mistake! The Slade-Wallace equipment is a bit strange with the chapes at the back, but once it's assembled you can see how it would stop the brace ends pressing annoyingly into the back.

Great work on the figure with the nice KRR jacket. I like the reuse of Victorian buttons. I can't believe all the hook quillon 07s were modified. Some must have made it right through to the end and I'd be happy to use that one, especially with the regimental marking.

[tubist73]

I agree, John, these early items and odd little details make everything more interesting and personal. As everyone says, if only they could talk.....

This next offering is the first in a two-parter, portraying a soldier of the Seaforth Highlanders as he might have appeared early in the Great War. Here he is, first of all, dressed for a photograph in a local studio behind the lines, maybe for a postcard to send home.

The kilt is pre-war, still with its original paper label dated 1914. The SD jacket is also an early piece, of the type produced before 1907 (with half-moon reinforcements inside). I don't have a cut-away jacket from this period so, as with the Canadian highlander above, we can image he has been re-issued with an unmodified SD jacket as per regulations. I'll be showing more details of both items in a future post.

All other items are original WW1 pieces with the exception of the boots. These are actually WW2 German but were the only footwear I own, small enough to fit under the gaiters. The belt is of the 1914 Pattern but unfortunately undated. It is faintly stamped to E Coy QW but I'm not sure which regiment that would be - perhaps the Queen's Westminsters?

Next post I'll be showing the same soldier as he might have looked at the front, sometime in 1915.

Matthew