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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Mamac on Sunday 01 November 20 09:51 GMT (UK)
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I have a photograph (attached) of a man born in Australia in 1875 and possibly served in the military in India for 2 years. I would imagine this was taken in the 1890s. Can any of you knowledgeable people identify what regiment he would have been in based on his uniform please?
Thank you.
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Hi
During the twentieth century, the Aussie slouch hat has been worn with the left side pinned up, but before Federation in 1903, the separate colonies had their own 'armies' which had different versions of the hat. (These armies were made up of part time militias and volunteers, with very small full-time components).
The type of hat shown here, turned up on the right, and with a plaited 'puggaree', was worn by the armies of Victoria and Tasmania. The hat was first worn by the Victorian Mounted Rifles (1885 onwards) who were the first Australian unit to wear khaki as their standard uniform. Then from about 1891 it was also used by the Victorian Infantry (militia) and the Victorian Rangers (volunteers) when they adopted khaki uniforms. In Tasmania, the Reserves adopted a similar khaki uniform around 1891. Apart from the Victorian Infantry, these units had coloured collars which appear quite dark in photos so if the picture is pre-1900 he's possibly a member of the Victorian Infantry.
However, during the Boer war Tasmania and Victoria sent contingents to South Africa, equipped with the same hat, but wearing generic khaki uniforms (no coloured embellishments), and he could also be a member of one of these.
T
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Thank you T1 for your very informative explanation. He lived in Victoria and allegedly spent 2 years in India, which made me think that stint might have been with the military.
Knowing a little about the Boer War and how Australian horseman (he was a stockman) were favoured, I'm inclined to think that he went to South Africa. I've found one record of someone with his name volunteering, but he came from New Zealand. I'll keep looking.
Thank you for helping me :-)