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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: raonull4 on Tuesday 09 March 21 10:17 GMT (UK)
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hi
looking for possible era,
true colour,
collar badge,
and anything else gleaned from the photo,
i have no knowledge of who it is
only that he s on my cousin's ancestor,
any help would be great,
Raonull4
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The collar badge looks like a Silver Bugle of one of the Light Infantry Regiments.
Tony
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thank you Tony
i could nt quite make up my mind
on whether it was a bugle or not,
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Royal Marines Light Infantry too ?
Red tunic
Ady
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thank you lads that helps might now have an inkling of who
it might be.
Raonull4
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Royal Marines Light Infantry did not wear collar badges on their scarlet uniform (rig) and instead wore an embroidered badge (in their case globe and laurels) on the shoulder strap, just like the Guards did (and still do) too. They did, however, wear a red embroidered bugle on the collar of their blue undress frocks (loose fitting jacket) for a period.
The soldier shown is from an army Light Infantry regiment, as suggested, but the photo’s not clear enough to know which as the shoulder title is indecipherable. Knowing where he came from might offer a clue, although in those days men tended to join a regiment temporarily garrisoned nearby and these could be any regiment. However, dark facings pre-1881 would suggest the 13th, 51st, 68th, or 85th. Going by the pattern of tunic I’d date the photo to the very late 1870s.
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hi
thank you for replies and help,
at the moment i m leaning towards it s a
Philip Potkins reason being its a familly photo
and he s the only member i can t find in 1881 census
he lived in Sufolk,
but having no luck finding him in military records,
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hi
thank you for replies and help,
at the moment i m leaning towards it s a
Philip Potkins reason being its a familly photo
and he s the only member i can t find in 1881 census
he lived in Sufolk,
but having no luck finding him in military records,
I’ve just noticed that in your photo he has a good conduct stripe on his left lower cuff, where it had only moved from the opposite cuff after 1881. Combining that with the design of the collar badge, and the regiment’s with dark coloured ‘facings’ (collar and cuffs) after that year, suggests that it is almost certainly the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and I suggest that you focus your search there. The other, numbered regiments that I mentioned had either, adopted white facings, or had a different design of collar badge to that shown in your picture.
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thank you
i had wondered about those stripes,
and thank you again your help is much appreciated.
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thank you
i had wondered about those stripes,
and thank you again your help is much appreciated.
I’m sorry but I’ve just realised that he has another good conduct stripe on the right lower sleeve (please forgive my old eyes), which means that my original assessment was correct.
Before 1881 the general position for good conduct badges (inverted stripes) was the right lower sleeve, but there were some exceptions. Fusiliers, Light Infantry, Highlanders and Rifle regiments were to wear the stripes on both lower arms and that’s what we see here. It confirms the photo as pre-1881 and takes us back to the numbered regiments. However, we can rule out the 13th and 51st, as although they had dark facings at that time, their collar badges were distinctly different to those seen in the photo. That leaves the 68th (after 1881 1st Bn DLI) and 85th (after 1881 2nd Bn KSLI). On the table beside the soldier is a white helmet, which tells us he’s with a battalion serving overseas in a tropical climate, most probably India. Going by the late 1870s date of the uniform style I can tell you that from 1872 to 1885 the 65th/1st DLI were in India, and from 1868 to 1880 the 85th/2nd KSLI were also in India. In 1881 the latter served in South Africa for the 1st Anglo/Boer War, where their uniform was largely unchanged from when in India, apart perhaps from some units staining their helmets a darker colour (than white), often using tea. Hopefully this still enables you to narrow down your search.
Again, my apologies for any confusion inadvertently caused.
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hi
i don t why but India was in my head and i have nt a clue why,
i do know i can rule out Highlanders the only scots down this side
of the familly joined the famill in 1951 from then back,
all lines resided in Sufolk,
from the info you ve supplied if i m correct i need to be researching pre 1881,
the chap i have in mind would have been 24 in 1881,
not so sure that ties in with the photo.
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hi
i need an opion on this could it be Royal Marine light infantry,
don t think its chap i thought it was but found his brother instead,
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hi
i need an opion on this could it be Royal Marine light infantry,
don t think its chap i thought it was but found his brother instead,
1. Yes it is definitely pre-1881. If you read my posts again you’ll see why.
2. No, he cannot be RMLI. They did not wear collar badges on their scarlet tunics, as I explained in my first post.
3. I have gone to some detail to explain why he is either, 68th (Durham) Light Infantry, or 85th King’s (Shropshire) Light Infantry. That is definite based on his uniform and collar badge combination.
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ok thank you n
was just i found his brother in RMLI at the right time
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ok thank you n
was just i found his brother in RMLI at the right time
As you can see below the RMLI did not wear collar badges on their scarlet tunics!