A 2nd Boer War example of a khaki Colonial helmet with flash to the 4th or Royal Lancaster Regiment. (Author’s collection)
The Colonial Pattern helmet was officially introduced for use by the British Army in 1877 1 although it had been worn in India several years prior to that date. Continue reading
Although not officially established as part of a tropical uniform for officers until 1885, the sun helmet was used unofficially as far back as the Indian Mutiny (1857-1858). It was described as being a “white helmet with blue pagri.” 1 Continue reading
An example of an officer’s version of the Home Service Helmet. This one is provenanced to W. Swan of the Army Ordnance Department. (Author’s collection)
While we focus on sun helmets on this website these are, of course, only one form of headgear among many worn by armies throughout history. The subject of this article is the British Home Service Helmet, which in this writer’s opinion was inspired by the Colonial Pattern sun helmet worn in India from at least as early as the 1850s.
This style of the wicker helmet was called the ‘K’ Pattern and is c1896. (Author’s collection)
Helmets made of wicker were in use in India from, at least, the 1850s and lasted into the early 20th century with units despatched to the Second Anglo-Boer War from India. These helmets and their cork Colonial equivalents were replaced by the Wolseley pattern in the first years of the 20th century and this was completed by 1910. Continue reading
These figures are taken from a talk given to the Royal United Services Institute (R.U.S.I.) in 1860 whose subject was ON IMPROVEMENTS IN HELMETS AND OTHER HEADDRESS FOR BRITISH TROOPS IN THE TROPICS, MORE ESPECIALLY IN INDIA. These drawings, of a civilian hat, were selected to illustrate, up front, the impracticality of this eccentric’s proposed implementation of his theories.
Julius Jeffreys, a Victorian doctor, was an HEIC Staff-Surgeon of Cawnpore and Civil Surgeon of Futtehgurh in India during the 1820s and 1830s. He was a prolific author, traveler, inventor and a champion of the welfare of British troops serving in India and the Tropics. However, although his theories were often of great merit the execution of them was sometimes quite impractical to say the least. One has to add to that his inability to express himself in a concise and readable manner, to which this author can attest having ploughed through a good deal of this man’s turgid prose. Continue reading
William Stephen Raikes Hodson, founder of Hodson’s Horse, wearing a crested Ellwood’s helmet c1850s.
Ellwood and Sons were among the first, if not the first, English helmet manufacturers to supply the Indian trade and specialized in felt headgear for officers of the Honourable East India Company’s army and later the British Army in India. Their helmets were in use in India during the 1840s but with the advent of cork helmets, especially those of Hawkes & Co., declined in use from the late 1860s onwards. Continue reading
Bearing in mind that Ellwood & Co. made felt hats for the Indian trade, including the military, I thought the following might be of interest. Continue reading