Pith Helmets

[Matt Richards]

One more idea then I'll lay this to rest. One could put a tartan patch on the left side of one's helmet and Puggaree - "scotchifying" it to use a terrible word. Tartan would match your kilt of course. Same would apply equally to one's bush/slouch hat.

I have a color illustration at home from one of the Osprey World War I uniform books that shows a transport driver with the Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders in either Mesopotamia or Palestine, and he wears an old holdover slouch hat pinned up on one side with a A&S Highlanders collar dog over a blue square. I'll see if I can dig it up tonight.

https://irishhistoricalmilitaria.com...dges%20035.jpg

[BoldHighlander]

I have a color illustration at home from one of the Osprey World War I uniform books that shows a transport driver with the Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders in either Mesopotamia or Palestine, and he wears an old holdover slouch hat pinned up on one side with a A&S Highlanders collar dog over a blue square. I'll see if I can dig it up tonight.

https://irishhistoricalmilitaria.com...dges%20035.jpg

Cool!

[BoldHighlander]

Fascinating to see the variety of shapes among those pith helmets.
I still like the style of the type of hat worn (in white) by the British during the Zulu War and (in khaki) during the South African War.

Glad your enjoying them, Mike
If I had my choice I'd pick the khaki one, at least for field use (it wouldn't show dirt as quickly ).

Here's another one for you:



A few jocks (Gordons?) at a field hospital, Paardeberg Drift.

[Downunder Kilt]

Great photo Terry, and good to see you back, again. Hope that flu thing is all over now. In the top middle of the photo there is a soldier entering the doorway with what appears to be a slouch hat (that's what I make it out to be)

Can't imagine that this makeshift hospital was the best place to be when wounded. Can understand why so many either had limbs amputated or died of gangrene.

[BoldHighlander]

Great photo Terry, and good to see you back, again. Hope that flu thing is all over now.

Thanks Mike!
You & me both! I actually had to take an enforced break from the computer. I had coughed so much that I ended up with a severe strain of my ribs & ab' muscles!

In the top middle of the photo there is a soldier entering the doorway with what appears to be a slouch hat (that's what I make it out to be)

Good catch! It might just be the angle, but does the pith helmet on the gent sitting to the right (with the rifle) look a little different than the others? (...I think its just me )

Can't imagine that this makeshift hospital was the best place to be when wounded. Can understand why so many either had limbs amputated or died of gangrene.

Makes one shudder, doesn't it?

[Downunder Kilt]

Terry I would say that you are spot on with it being a bit different. I see it as having a lower/wider dome and the brim seems a little more pronounced.

I have done that coughing trick once before, many years ago and I can empathise with how you were feeling mate.

[BoldHighlander]

Terry I would say that you are spot on with it being a bit different. I see it as having a lower/wider dome and the brim seems a little more pronounced.

That's what I'm seeing too.

I realize the others have khaki covers, which slightly changes the shape, but not sure that this is the case with this one.

I have done that coughing trick once before, many years ago and I can empathise with how you were feeling mate.

ith:

[Mike_Oettle]

Yes, Terry, the khaki version is much more practical. And neater than the style using a khaki cover (presumably on a white helmet).
The white helmets with their enormous brass badges were what did for Sir George Pomeroy Colley and his men at Majuba – the Boers used them for target practice.
The slouch hat is an interesting oddity. But the dressing station itself really is the horror.
The First World War was significant in medical history because the surgeons learnt as they went and devised operations that were better in treating the wounded. But my guess is that this was principally in France and England, while the military medics in such faraway places as Mesopotamia/Iraq were still operating to Boer War standards.
Lord Roberts lost his son because of the surgeons’ lack of skill. They simply said they could do nothing for him after he was wounded, and it took him a whole day to die.
Regards,
Mike

[BobsYourUncle]

One more idea then I'll lay this to rest. One could put a tartan patch on the left side of one's helmet and Puggaree - "scotchifying" it to use a terrible word. Tartan would match your kilt of course. Same would apply equally to one's bush/slouch hat.

Not sure one's clan badge would look good on the front where a regimental one was placed in the pre-Khaki era.

What you describe was the standard way unit insignia were worn on Pith Helmets in the Scottish regiments at various times in their service of the empire. The photos that follow come from two sources: (1) Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, by Alastair Campbell of Airds, Tempus Publishing 2005, a collection of photographs fro the Regimental Museum at Stirling Castle, and (2) Regiment Magazine, Issue 32, Sept/Oct 1998.

This is a photo of Kit Layout for Inspection, 1926, A&SH p. 56. This clearly shows the tartan badge backing and white hackle on the pith helmet, referred to in the text as a Solar Topee. This is one of the best views of the way the badge backing and hackle were affixed.



Here is a photo of an Argyll private, also clearly showing the configuration, this time in Cairo between the wars. This photo is from the Regiment Magazine spread.



Another private, another view:



Here's the CO sporting the look, in Regiment Magazine:



Also in Egypt--A&SH p. 51. "An attempt to enforce the disarming of two Egyptian battalions led to a vicious action in which one officer and five other ranks were killed and seven wounded. The Acting CO, Maj. J.R. Couper, was awarded the DSO and Privates G. McLeod (left) and J. Wright (right) received Military Medals.



The Prince of Wales inspects the 91st A&SH 1st Bn in Poona, 19 November 1921, A&SH p. 50. "The Prince's combination of Tropical and Home Service uniform earned him a rocket from his father."



The same badge backing/hackle arrangement for the 2d Bn A&SH in India, Regiment Magazine:



However, no badge backing or white hackle in evidence in the Tochi Valley, Waziristan in 1897, Regiment Magazine:



However, the badge backing is present on the Argyll's pith helmets in Waziristan in 1937, A&SH p. 63:

[BobsYourUncle]

Cocky and over-confident Argylls land in Capetown, South Africa to fight in the Boer War. They would soon learn that the swingin' six sporran and white Slade-Wallace web gear would make excellent targets for Boer snipers...



The same badge backing/hackle arrangement was used on the Argyll's slouch hats in South African Boer War service:



The white "Zulu" style helmet was also worn by the Argylls in India: