WWI British Field Artillery uniform

[K Bandow]

Picked this up yesterday. I had seen it at a show in Chicago area last weekend and fought hard to figure out who the seller was. Well, a little over a week later and it is mine! The story the seller told me is that he bought it from a friend who'd purchased it from Niles Laughner in the late 1990's. The uniform apparently had come out of an estate in Canada in the 1970's, but sadly there is no name with it. The boots are marked on the tag as being French made, and based on the hobnails, I think I'd agree. I would love to find out more about the grouping, as I know quite little about WWI British uniforms. Any help is appreciated!

[K Bandow]

Tunic close-ups

[grandads-kitbag]

HI , this is a nice lot but with respect , Im not sure its a WW1 tunic we need to see pics of te insiding and the double pleate under the collar, what colour is the cotton linning to the pockets ?

[K Bandow]

Pictures posted above, sir!

[Bond]

Very nice but the tunic appears to be the 1922 version of the or's sd tunic and the cap could be interwars, hard to be certain.

Jerry B.

[K Bandow]

The 1922 version had quite different lining and only a single pleat under the collar, sir.

[Bond]

The 1922 version had quite different lining and only a single pleat under the collar, sir.

I know that but your pics do not show either of those features clearly, I can see only one pleat in the pictures and the bright daylight means the lining does not look correct. If as you say there are double pleats and the correct lining, well obviously I withdraw my comments about the tunic. I just looked again and one does show double pleats so congrats on your pick up.

[xcskis]

Rfa

what a great pick up, very nice and quite hard to find with this type of sleeve insignia, congratulations

[Gary Cain]

Indeed. The jacket is fantastic and I love the boots.

[grandads-kitbag]

Superb lot an yes the boots are gorgeous

[tubist73]

That looks like a fine WW1 tunic you have there. Nice condition and, as already stated, with very rare sleeve insignia. I am not sure how there were any doubts about this tunic as the lining is clearly of WW1 vintage and the double pleats are obvious (unless you added some photos later?).

Just to be sure, can you confirm that the pocket flaps are unlined? And if you look at the inside front, where the buttons are sewn in, you should see a seam in the material running from the collar downwards. From the slightly different material it looks as though the collar may have been replaced at some point.

The cap also looks to be a nice example of the 1905 pattern service dress cap. One of these recently sold on eBay in the UK for over GBP 400 - without a badge, buttons or chin strap.

Anyway, very nice set. Thanks for sharing it on the forum.

Matthew

[K Bandow]

That looks like a fine WW1 tunic you have there. Nice condition and, as already stated, with very rare sleeve insignia. I am not sure how there were any doubts about this tunic as the lining is clearly of WW1 vintage and the double pleats are obvious (unless you added some photos later?).

Just to be sure, can you confirm that the pocket flaps are unlined? And if you look at the inside front, where the buttons are sewn in, you should see a seam in the material running from the collar downwards. From the slightly different material it looks as though the collar may have been replaced at some point.

The cap also looks to be a nice example of the 1905 pattern service dress cap. One of these recently sold on eBay in the UK for over GBP 400 - without a badge, buttons or chin strap.

Anyway, very nice set. Thanks for sharing it on the forum.

Matthew

Matthew,

Thank you kindly for the inputs! I got a great deal on the lot, just a little above that GBP 400 amount you mentioned .

I went ahead and took pictures of the spots you mentioned to check. Let me know what you think!

[tubist73]

These other pictures confirm a nice original WW1 tunic. And you seem to have struck very lucky with the price! It does seem as if the collar has been replaced at some point from the differences in material - often period done - or maybe it was just re-lined underneath.

Anyway, congratulations again on a very nice group of items.

Matthew

[Paul B]

WWI Grouping

An absolutely superb grouping, and at what I consider to be a very good price

One interesting point is visible from the photograph of the interior. The white lining located roughly on the back of the breast pockets is of a early design -later tunics have a single strip of white linen (later cotton) running the top length of the pocket interior. The shorter semi-circular lining strips seen here are indicative of a tunic produced before June 1915, although the exact date of this change hasn't been ascertained from official list of changes documents.

Are there any traces of where the original paper label was -this is a small rectangular paper label bearing the sizing, manufacturer's details and the nomenclature of the tunic. It's usually missing, as on this example, but there's sometimes glue residue on the interior lining roughly behind the right breast pocket.

It's not easy to find an early example of a WWI vintage service dress tunic...a very good catch indeed.

All the best

Paul.