An interesting and rare example of an officer’s Colonial pattern Foreign Service Helmet showing the neck curtain secured by an elastic strap. (Photo courtesy Benny Bough)
“From the earliest times fear of the sun’s rays must have sometimes urged the soldier or traveler to wear down the back of the neck a white handkerchief or handy piece of cloth. The official introduction of a neck curtain, however, appears due to Sir Henry Hardinge, who, in 1842, prior to leaving for India as Viceroy, ordered white cap covers for tropical use, to which was added some time later a white neck curtain.” 1,2