Made in 1972, Airfix’s Waterloo British and French Infantry were my first ‘horse and musket era figures as a boy. Ranks of these infantrymen would refight Waterloo time and again across my bedroom floor. Being too young to paint them effectively, I always experienced these battles in a monochrome of Airfix’s cream-coloured plastic. Plastic Soldier Review fully recognised this experience:
“As the only British line infantry available for a long time, many people will have fond memories of these figures, and the chunky detail and basic sculpting were of no consequence as Waterloo was endlessly recreated on tables and floors everywhere.“
Airfix British InfantryAirfix French Infantry
So, I wondered recently what it would be like to actually see them in full colour. The ‘basic sculpting’ and limited detail would pose a challenge, and as for the French infantry, PSR were positively disparaging, saying:
“It’s not that the detail is poor, just that the figures bear only a vague resemblance to human beings. Legs are thin and spindly, and everyone seems slightly hunchbacked. The whole anatomy is unconvincing and, quite frankly, ugly, making them look more like some sort of troll or similar fantasy creature. Some of the poses are equally bizarre.”
Ugly trolls!? Oof, that’s a bit harsh. Personally, I find them perfectly agreeable but how they would look with paint on them might be another matter. Actually, I had begun to attempt to paint these figures some years ago, but the project never got off the ground and the selected figures have been ‘stored’ somewhere so safe that I can’t locate them. So I decided to choose some other basic poses of the troops left available to me such as those on the march.
The French infantry equivalents strangely have their muskets on the opposite shoulder, but otherwise I thought were reasonable figures.
I also painted a couple of other British infantry figures, including a bugler. The bugler I painted with a red coat rather than in reverse facings as this was in keeping with the illustration on the back of the box which showed a drummer with the same.
Both Airfix boxes included wounded figures which were particularly graphic. As Plastic Soldier Review points out, this gruesome side of the soldier’s experience is rarely found on sprues. The French set included a particularly innovative and, I thought, moving sculpt. This depicts a soldier carrying on his back a wounded comrade who is nursing a head wound. The tangle of arms and legs was tricky to pick out but made for a rewarding paint.
It was not an easy painting experience to get the best out of these old figures, much of the detail being a little indistinct, but with a bit of care they can look very reasonable. It was great to finally see some of my old childhood Waterloo armies come to full technicolour life at long last. I intend to add to this project from time to time with the other figures. Perhaps in the future I can get both entire full colour armies face to face again across those imaginary Belgian cornfields?
This little tradition first began in 2015 and the marching figures now total about 110 troops. These old figures came from Strelets’ “French Infantry on the March (1)” and “French Infantry in Advance” sets which were first manufactured in 2008 and 2009 respectively, and are long since unavailable.
A quick reminder of what happened to the marching column when my cat Marnie encountered them making their way across the icy wastes of the lounge carpet.
And a spoof video created for a family Christmas video challenge a few years ago featuring one of my French infantry marchers.
For this year’s Christmas card, we see a small group of the Army of Advent’s heavy cavalry, The Christmas Carabiniers, led by Major Hollireeth, ride out in the local park following a heavy snowfall. The major’s steed, “Marzipan”, noses the snow hopefully in an effort to find a blade of grass while troopers cheekily take pot shots at snowmen!
About four and half years ago, I bought a 54mm figure from eBay from the family of a deceased model soldier collector. The figure was missing a plume but came with a detached sabretache and had been base-coated but, rather sadly, was never finished. I recall I had a nice exchange of messages with the previous owner’s widow and felt something of a connection to a fellow painter whose unfinished work I was continuing. The description for the listed figure was based on a tiny accompanying handwritten sticky note which had stated; “Officer, 1898, W&C“. That description confirmed to me that this figure belonged to the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry. I eventually discovered that the figure is at least over 40 years old and had been sculpted by Pete Armstrong of Border Miniatures, a firm which was based in Cumbria.
It’s taken me some years to get around to painting it, but I’ve finally done it! The figure is a major of the Westmorland & Cumberland Yeomanry and features a lavishly ornate hussar uniform complete with very rich ornamentation, busby, pelisse and sabretache.
Thankfully, I had spare plume lying around which I deliberately didn’t attach to another 54mm figure which I painted recently belonging to the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry, I thought this could stand in nicely for this Cumbrian figure.
Some time ago, I did manage to find a photo of the painting instructions. Some of the text wasn’t clearly visible but there was enough information still there to help. It seems to reference Book 4 of the British Uniforms of the Yeomanry Force Series by Barlow and Smith, a copy of which I thankfully have. Artist for that series, Bob Marrion, did paint some of the regiment’s uniforms but not specifically the one depicted by Border Miniatures. Another W&C 54mm figure made by Mitrecap Miniatures which I painted was, however, based on a Bob Marrion painting from this book’s cover.
The Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry had a history which stretches back to 1819 with the local Carlisle Journal stating that “we hope every man who approves of the gallant conduct of the Manchester Yeomanry will embrace the opportunity of enrolling his name with these doughty and victorious heroes”. The ‘gallant conduct’ the paper was referring to was the recent ‘Peterloo Massacre‘ where the said Manchester Yeomanry needlessly charged into the unarmed and peaceful civilian crowd, killing 18 people, and injuring 100s more!
Richard Simkin’s depiction of the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry published in the Army & Navy Gazette, October 1st, 1898.
Hussar pattern jackets were a feature of this regiment throughout it’s history. By 1898, the uniform of an officer was extremely elaborate. The jacket is scarlet with much silver braiding and a lot of detailing on the Austrian knots of the cuffs. There are three rows of silver buttons extending down the jacket with a scarlet and yellow barrel sash around the waist.
The officer’s pelisse was an affectation the 5th Earl of Lonsdale brought into use for officers on assuming command in March 1897, the year before this figure is dated. The pelisse was also scarlet and trimmed with black fur. There are a row of meddles to be seen on this pelisse which the painting instructions simply indicated were to be painted ‘according to choice’. I elected to colour the tiny medal ribbons in a way which suggests some of the regular British army’s campaigns of the 1870s and 1880s (the South Africa Medal, the Egypt Medal, etc.).
The officer wears a busby of black fur. The silver cap lines are extensive, looping around before finishing in two ‘acorns’ on the chest. The busby has a scarlet bag with three silver lines. The busby should also have a silver chain chinstrap which I’d neglected to paint on these photos and left black, but which I have since corrected!
The overalls were of dark blue featuring silver double stripes down the legs with scarlet showing in the centre. The knee boots are black with a silver ‘v’ notch at the front.
Finally, the sabretache was a separate piece which thankfully did come to me with the figure. The Full Dress sabretache is described as being made from red leather and featuring a scarlet panel with silver lace surround. In the centre is a crown of gold with a silver monogram of “WCYC”. Naturally, the details of this monogram are a little tricky to pick out but I’ve approximated it.
To finish off, there’s the usual alder wood plinth and engraved plaques before our man joins the other twenty three 54mm yeomanry figures up in a display cabinet.
With so much fine detail on a small metal figure, some of the details were inevitably a little indistinct but otherwise my first Border Miniatures figure was very pleasing to paint. And as if that wasn’t enough, Border Miniatures also produced a fully mounted version of this same figure which I manage to locate and purchase a few years ago!
E.A. Campbell, an artist whose paintings had informed a number of yeomanry in my 54mm scale series, depicted an officer of the W&C Yeomanry c.1909 as seen from the rear.
While painting, I was always mindful of the circumstances in which this figure came to me. I can only hope the previous owner of this Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry officer would have appreciated my efforts with it. For all of us model painters, I suppose that there will always be one last figure which we get to leave unfinished. As such, we can only hope they’ll be someone else to come along and pick up the paint brush and carry on.
At the end of a post made back in July, I mentioned making a forthcoming announcement regarding one of my 54mm Yeomanry figures and I can now share that news.
Over the summer, a serving member of the Queen’s Own Yeomanry named Joshua contacted me to discuss a proposal. He was serving with ‘A (Yorkshire Yeomanry) Squadron’ which has a lineage back to the Yorkshire Hussars, the Yorkshire Dragoons and the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry. He was due to leave the Squadron and was looking for a meaningful gift. Seeing one of my 54mm yeomanry figures on this blog, specifically a captain of the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry, he suggested that it would serve as “a fitting tribute to the history we serve and honour today, and a striking centrepiece to spark conversation and pride among those who follow” displayed in the squadron’s newly refurbished bar space.
In reply, I was pleased to offer my model as a gift. Rather than standing in storage or gathering dust up on a shelf, it’s nice to think of a painted figure finding a more meaningful purpose. Discussing arrangements for collection, it turned out that my village was more or less along his planned route south and so we arranged to meet in the car park of my local pub. The handover of a 54mm model soldier must be one of the rarer exchanges made in British pub car parks! As a thank you, Joshua generously presented me in kind with a special bottle of Queen’s Own Yeomanry Port celebrating the anniversary of the regiment’s formation back in 1971.
Joshua also kindly agreed to send photos of the model yeoman in his new surroundings:
The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry officer figure appearing here alongside the badge of ‘A (Yorkshire Yeomanry) Squadron’, The Queen’s Own Yeomanry. The running fox badge was a feature of the former East Riding Yeomanry regiment; the blue and gold stripes being the QOY’s colours.
Some other larger models (possibly 90mm scale) stand here alongside my 54mm Captain. These larger figures were also a gift made by a former serving officer. Very nicely painted, they appear to feature the yeomanry regiments which amalgamated into the Queen’s Own Yeomanry, a lineage today maintained by ‘A’ Squadron. Left: The Yorkshire Hussars, Centre: East Riding of Yorkshire, Right: The Yorkshire Dragoons.
Here, our gallant Captain stands under his personification in watercolour form. The artwork was “…presented to the 26th Armoured Car Company (East Riding Yeomanry) by Captain Cyril G. Lloyd.” First purchased in 1915 and presented in 1937, it seems the tradition of such gifts continues on in the regiment to this day, nearly a century later.
And finally, here our Yorkshire yeoman stands alongside what appears to be a piece of an armoured car with the QOY ‘running fox’ badge visible upon it, a symbol which would have been very familiar to an officer such as he back in 1908.
And so, as this miniature Yorkshireman takes up his new assignment with ‘A Squadron’, another yeomanry figure is slowly in progress. More on that in another post.
I recently posted about a set of toy soldiers which I discovered in the Queen’s Hussars Museum. The figures were painted onto wooden blocks and suggested being a part of the tradition of paper soldiers. This inspired me to dip into my copy of Edward Ryan’s excellent book, “The Illustrated History of Printed Paper Armies of the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries“. Published thirty years ago now, this limited edition book was sumptuously produced in hardback in 1995 with countless delightful colour illustrations of paper soldier sheets throughout. It’s big and very heavy (being 500+ pages), making bedtime reading something of a challenge, but anyone with an interest in model soldiers, uniforms and military artworks couldn’t fail to enjoy this book.
Reading through the pages, I noticed a number of depictions of Scottish Highlanders. Many of these old drawings were made by publishers based in mainland Europe and Highlanders were a popular subject. Consequently, some of the original illustrators were probably unfamiliar with the finer details of these British uniforms and so patterns of tartan in particular could be fanciful. I was struck by how these interpretations of highlanders stood as potential templates for imagi-nation highland troops, akin to my recent post on my own fictional Highland regiment, The Clavieburn Highlanders.
L-R: The Black Bun Watch; The Clavieburn Highlanders; The Cranachan Highlanders; The Hogmanay Highlanders. Four entirely fanciful Highland regiments.
The process I’d gone through in choosing my tartan designs seem to have their echo in some of these paper soldiers from years past including this one below by the French firm Pellerin of Épinal entitled “Infanterie Anglaise – Ecossais”. The feather bonnets almost look like turbans and the kilts seem to be an unusual yellow colour with red hoops and threads. Notably, the sporrans show badger heads, a feature actually specific to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. It’s odd that the artist, seemingly a little unfamiliar with the topic, still knew that very specific piece of information about a highlander’s uniform.
Paper Highlanders by the German Anton Scholtz (below) look at once both familiar and very peculiar. The black feather bonnets seem to have turned white with black hackles. The kilt tartan meanwhile appears to feature a bizarre rainbow effect of all the colours of the spectrum! Finally a kind of white sash hangs loosely over the right shoulder. The author pithily states that the figures seem “more appropriate for a ballet than a battlefield“.
American paper soldiers by the Advance Publishing Company of New York do appear closer to the reality, although the specifics of the tartan is still a work of the artist’s imagination.
The following highlanders are made by Charles Pinot of Épinal and feature strangely skirt-like yellow kilts with dark red hoops. Also strange to see are the blue lacing on the coat, although the bonnets look a lot more realistic with their diced headbands. Altogether more fanciful, however, is the appearance of a Scottish version of what was a French military institution – a vivandière/cantinière, (a female canteen provider). Finally, note the considerably large white bag standing in as the artist’s ‘best guess’ of what bagpipes looked like (the skin of an entire sheep according to Edward Ryan).
All of which shows what interesting new ideas can be created when uniform design is entrusted to the imagination, rather than the history book. If there were 1/72 scale equivalents available, I’d love to provide my Clavieburn Highlanders with a Scottish Vivandière, her bottle no doubt containing many a ‘wee dram’ of Scotch whisky!
Highland infantry paper soldiers were often issued as black and white line drawings and this would have provided scope for purchasers to colour their own tartan designs too.
I suppose what this post has been attempting to draw attention to is that there is a long-established recorded precedent of painting semi-imaginary Scottish highland infantry uniforms going back over 200 years. Suburban Militarism is proud to be part of that tradition!
You’ll note that each regiment above references either a Scottish seasonal festival or food. The raising of the fourth and final regiment in the Highland Brigade continues that tradition.
Introducing; “The Clavieburn Highlanders”!
For those not in the know, the burning of the Clavie is a Scottish tradition celebrating New Year’s Eve, which under the old calendar fell on the 11th of January. The Clavie is a cask on a pole, filled with wood and tar. It’s then set alight and the burning Clavie is then carried through the streets of the town of Burghead before being taken to the top of a Hill and placed there while still alight.
The painting of Highlanders with all their complex tartan patterns, chequered hatbands and socks, lacing and other details strikes me as being somewhat masochistic. Nonetheless, as potentially onerous as it could be seen to be, I seem to eventually settle into the challenge and enjoy it.
I decided last year that I wanted my Army of Advent’s highland regiments to closely match the historical versions. This was in part because the Scottish highlander is so uniquely distinctive that I wanted to confirm that as being ‘genuine’ highlanders and avoid painting something absurd, leaving me the creative freedom to focus on the tartan alone.
For the Clavieburn Highlanders, I wanted a tartan that stood out as visibly very different to the other Highland regiments I’d painted. This was harder than it sounds because the tartan designs which I painted for the other three weren’t so much planned as simply ‘the tartan which I ended up with after failing at the original design’! The tartans which I previously painted were –
Regiment
Tartan
The Hogmanay Highlanders
Black-green background, flat red threads and deep green squares (this tartan is similar to that of the Black Watch).
The Cranachan Highlanders
Dark Prussian blue background, deep yellow threads, deep green squares (this is similar to the tartan of the Gordon Highlanders).
The Black Bun Watch
Black green background, no threads, turquoise-green and deep green squares (a sort-of blend of the Black Watch / Argyll & Sutherland’s tartans).
This ‘trial and error’ approach continued with the Clavieburn Highlanders. In the end, I created a tartan with dominant dark red squares, criss-crossed with Prussian blue and smaller, darker blue squares. This is very vaguely inspired by the piper’s tartan of the Scots Guards. I have forgone painting any threads for this tartan in an effort to maintain some sanity!
I’m not quite sure how convincing it is overall as a tartan but it certainly makes the Clavieburns stand out from their sister regiments. Either way, as an imagi-nation force, some creative licence might be granted.
Types of the Advent Army’s Highland Brigade. From left to right: The Black Bun Watch; a Clavieburn highlander; a Cranachan highlander; a Hogmanay highlander.
Regimental distinctions: From left – The Black Bun highlander wears a Tam O’Shanter but would otherwise have red over white feather hackle, wearing navy facings. White hackle / navy facings – The Clavieburn Highlanders. Red Hackle / yellow facings – The Cranachan Highlanders. White over red hackle / navy facings- The Hogmanay Highlanders.
Command-wise, the regiment is missing the usual senior officer, ensign and piper. I could resolve this by buying another full box of Highlanders but then I’ll have another whole box of troops to paint without any command figures and then when would it all end?! Taking overall command, I’ve pressed into service the mounted officer figure from my old childhood-era Airfix Highlanders, painted as the regiment’s highly respected Commanding Officer, Captain Burns-Knight.
The Scottish mounted Airfix veteran, now standing-in as Captain Burns-Knight of the Clavieburn Highlanders.
Other command figures for the Clavieburns are as below; a pioneer sergeant and a sergeant-major:
I had my regimental plaque made for the plinth by my usual supplier, a small business based (appropriately enough) in Scotland and not far from the Mull of Kintyre. On the rear of the plinth is the regimental motto, “Slàinte, sonas agus beartas”. This is a Scottish Gaelic phrase meaning “Health, happiness, and prosperity”.
It is admittedly quite outrageous to be presenting Christmas / New Year themed soldiery in August – but the truth is that if I leave it too close to Christmas itself then there’s a good chance that they’ll never be ready in time to parade as decorations over the Christmas season. At least the Clavieburn Highlanders are now ready to report for duty when required.
I still have other regiments I wish to raise for the Advent Army and there’s a good chance I may well get stuck straight in on one of those to join the Clavieburns later in the year.
Another 54mm Yeomanry figure from my backlog has been given the plaque and plinth treatment. This latest model is by Tradition of London. Admittedly, I had scarcely encountered the Essex Yeomanry in my past research. The regiment didn’t have an edition in the Ogilby Trust’s “Uniforms of the British Yeomanry” series (though a short reference is to be found in Vol. 10 about the 1911 coronation), nor do they appear in any other book in my collection.
The Essex Yeomanry wasn’t, so far as I’m aware, ever depicted by Richard Simkin, probably because the regiment wasn’t in service between 1877-1902 when Simkin was at his most active. Neither does it appear as an artwork in Harris and Campbell’s “50 Years of Yeomanry Uniforms” or Smitherman’s “Uniforms of the Yeomanry Regiments”.
A detachment of the Essex Yeomanry during the 1911 coronation.
Some artists have depicted the regiment, however. Henry Martens illustrated the West Essex Yeomanry in 1846 as part of a series for ‘Fores’ Yeomanry Costumes“. Artist Brian Fosten painted the regiment for a 1986 collection of postcards called “Military Units of Essex”. The illustration below puts the regiment at about the same time of my Tradition figure and depicts an officer, so the pouch belt replaces the bandolier here, but otherwise is quite similar.
Henry Martens – West Essex Yeomanry.An officer of the Essex Yeomanry by Bryan Fosten
The first troop of Essex Yeomanry in existence were raised at the end of the 18th Century to counter the threat of Napoleon’s invasion. The quality and training of these local volunteers was at best ‘uneven’ and their effectiveness, or hopelessness, was often lampooned as in this contemporary print of the “Essex Calve-lry”.
The establishment of the regiment waxed and waned thereafter, depending on domestic emergencies or unrest, until disbandment in 1877. Along with the County of Norfolk, Essex maintained a county-specific troop within the Loyal Suffolk Hussars. Again, as with Norfolk, Essex saw it’s own yeomanry regiment re-raised following Imperial Yeomanry service in the Anglo-Boer War. The new Essex Imperial Yeomanry then became simply the Essex Yeomanry following the establishment of the Territorial Force and it is in this full dress guise that the Tradition figure appears.
The Essex Yeomanry uniform for Other Ranks is dark green with scarlet facings and scarlet piping.
They also wore green lancer girdles with two scarlet stripes, as seen here.
The regiment originally wore slouch hats with their Full Dress uniform, but in time for the 1911 coronation, the Essex Yeomanry adopted brass dragoon helmets with a white star and gilt oval to the front, together with scarlet plumes.
As previously mention, leather bandoliers were worn by the rank and file.
Overalls are green with two scarlet stripes down the seams.
According to the Essex Yeomanry Association, the Regiment were trained to fight as mounted rifles, and consequently swords were only carried by the officers and staff sergeants. As such, our trooper here carries a rifle, the only figure in my 54mm yeomanry collection to do so. The arm and rifle came separate to the rest of the figure and needed to be glued into place, but it was a good fit.
As with a group of other defunct yeomanry regiments who were re-raised in the period immediately after Imperial Yeomanry service in the Anglo-Boer War (such as the Lincolnshire Yeomanry and Norfolk Yeomanry), the Essex Yeomanry’s uniform was both a little unusual and highly colourful. This particular Tradition figure seemed to have suffered some slight loss of detail to the face and collar in the mould which made it a little trickier to paint, but otherwise was an excellent figure.
With a total of 20 yeomen now finished, I’m really getting through that metal mountain of c.1900 yeomanry now, but there are still a handful to go, so watch this space!
Further to my recent trip to the The Queen’s Royal Hussars Museum in Warwick, I came across a display of toy soldiers which date back to 1810. The set was given as a present by a Major Hodge to his godson.
Major Hodge in the uniform of the 7th Light Dragoons, c. 1805.
Major Hodge (depicted above) served in the 7th Light Dragoons. The uniform suggests some of the first steps taken from changing the regiment from light dragoons to hussars. He wears a pelisse over his shoulder and the blue mirleton headdress would soon change to that of a busby. The above painting was part of a nice display dedicated to Major Hodge which included his wife’s locket, a letter and the aforementioned set of toy soldiers.
The set appears to be a series of small wooden blocks illustrated with various troop types, looking a little like forerunners to the Peter Dennis’ more modern ranks of Paper Soldiers. Presumably the ‘instruction & amusement’ intended by this set might have been subject to some kind of rules, similar to a wargame. Certainly, the individual blocks lend themselves to the kind of activity we might see in a modern wargame.
There are ranks of infantry:
We see artillery:
Command and troop tents can also be spotted, and perhaps some military transport too?
A variety of other figures in the background suggest plenty of buglers, fifers and drummers, even a small drummer boy (see far right background below).
There are a number of various individual officers, both standing and mounted, essential in the guidance and tuition of youthful future army officers. There are also some soldiers in green, which I assume could stand for the riflemen of the 95th Regiment of Foot. A single firing figure suggests a sharpshooter or skirmisher.
Any ideas on this fellow below? A cleric, perhaps, acting as an army chaplain?
Curiously, given Major Hodge was a Light Dragoon, one thing that I couldn’t see much of was cavalry. It’s possible that some of the single mounted figures might stand in as a cavalry formation, I suppose.
The other notable absence, if we are to assume some sort of wargaming purpose, is the lack of any opposition. All the troops appear to be British redcoats! Unless the opposition troops are in storage somewhere, it could be that the “instruction and amusement” was not in the context of a wargame as we might understand it today at all, but simply a means to introduce the elements of an army to young minds.
Whatever it’s purpose, the set is a fascinating forerunner to the model soldier and wargaming hobby of today. The set can be viewed, with free entry, at the Queens Royal Hussars Museum, Trinity Mews, Priory Road, Warwick, and a visit is recommended for anybody with any interest in military history.
As financial constraints on local council budgets place increased pressure on military collections and museums, this sometimes forces changes to more restricted opening times or economic choices of accommodation, and I was interested to what, if any, changes have taken place in Warwick. The Yeomanry museum is only open to public at weekends with the rest of the week only available by appointment (something I cheekily took advantage of back in 2016) and this excellent museum was unfortunately closed on the day of my visit. Both the Queens Royal Hussars and the Fusilier Museum, however, were open to the public.
Pageant House, site of The Fusilier Museum. The Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum is housed next door (to the right) in the basement. Photo by Michael Dibb, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Fusilier Museum of Warwick was previously housed on the 2nd floor of an ancient Jacobean manor before moving to new premises at Pageant House. The collection once again occupies the 2nd Floor, although the entrance lobby contains some information and features an interesting cannon. This 1874 field gun was originally with an Egyptian force led by Colonel William Hicks, also known as “Hicks Pasha”, before he and it were wiped out at the Battle of Shaykan in 1883 by Sudanese Mahdist forces. Another British-led Egyptian force eventually recovered it 15 years later when another Mahdist army was heavily defeated at the Battle of Atbara. That small cannon witnessed a lot of drama across the desert wastes of Egypt and Sudan before coming to rest in Warwick.
The entrance to the museum included this nice model below of an 18th century fusilier. The total extent of the museum appeared to be a little diminished since my last visit, with just two small rooms and an exhibition room dedicated to D-Day and the WWII armistice. The entrance fee was a modest £5 which I was more than happy to pay given the cost pressures on local museum budgets from council cuts.
The below case was the most relevant so far as Suburban Militarism is concerned, with its focus predominantly on the 1700-1914 era. Choice exhibits include scarlet fusilier uniforms with an 1878 foreign service pattern helmet, and the dark green Rifle Volunteer officer’s patrol jacket were on display. Below can also be seen a Mahdist helmet with its chain and gambeson neck protection, presumably taken from the same 1883-1898 period as the cannon in the lobby. Such war booty of ancient forms of armour must have been as much a source of wonder then as it is now. Finally, it’s worth noting the bear and staff silver candlesticks – the bear and staff being a symbol of Warwickshire.
A side room told the story of the regiment’s connection to General Montgomery, a former Warwickshire Fusilier and had a number of very interesting and unusual exhibits relating to the end of the Second World War.
On exiting the museum and heading down the staircase, I spotted a familiar face to Suburban Militarism, Hannah Snell. Private Snell served with distinction (covertly due to her gender) in the 6th Regiment of Foot (the Warwickshire Fusilier’s precedent) and then later in the Marines. Hannah Snell was previously mentioned in my ‘Girl Soldier’ blog post from 2017.
Having visited the Warwickshire Fusilier Museum solo, my wife then kindly accompanied me to The Queen’s Royal Hussars museum, which was a short walk away. The QRH museum was previously housed in the very ancient Lord Leycester’s Hospital building. With it’s uneven floors and aged wooden walls, it made for an unusual location, but space and other constraints made it ultimately unsuitable (in 2016, for example, I had leave early on the day of my visit to make way for an immanent wedding reception!). In recent years, thanks to a successful fundraising campaign, the museum has moved to a new facility and this was my first visit in this new location.
After a chat to the friendly staff on reception, we headed upstairs where most of the pre-1945 exhibits were housed. The museum is understandably keen to promote the association between the regiment and Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister, who began his career in the army as a 2nd lieutenant in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars and later became the colonel of the regiment from 1941.
Churchill in the uniform of an officer in the 4th Hussars. Imperial War Museum, Public Domain.
The museum displayed some sumptuous hussar uniforms c.1900. On the wall behind was a depiction of an early 7th Hussar uniform c.1800, when the regiment was still officially designated as light dragoons.
Left: Piper uniform of the 8th (Royal Irish) HussarsOfficer’s Full Dress uniform of the 4th Queen’s Own HussarsOfficer’s uniform of the 8th Hussars
There was a particularly nice display of an officer of the 3rd Hussars reclining in the officer’s mess. Scattered around the room were various artifacts and accoutrements relating to the life of a typical Victorian hussar officer. While languidly smoking his cigarette, his busby with its ‘garter blue’ bag plume, and olivets rest on the mantlepiece; his shoulder belt, a glass of port and some riding boot pull hooks lie on the table. Over the fireplace is a painting of a horse, I dare say an officer’s favourite charger.
The 4th Light Dragoons and the 8th Hussars were both present at the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava and a number of artifacts either related to this specific action or, the Crimean War more generally. There was a nice example of the 4th LD’s shako and stable jacket, and a sabretache of the 8th Hussars. More personal objects included a pipe apparently carried during the charge, and some bandages and bone fragments from Sergeant Heron of the 4th LD, who had been tended to by Florence Nightingale herself. Thanks to her care, Heron survived and retained his gruesome souvenirs.
Hooves of the 4th Light Dragoons’ horses which had served in the Crimean War were on display in the form of snuff boxes. This was a common enough practice for honoured deceased military horses who had won the admiration of their riders, and indeed there was at least one more hoof to be found elsewhere in the museum.
There were lots more to see in the upper floor including;
a bugle played by 7th Hussars’ band at the Battle of Waterloo
examples of sabres, shabraques and holster caps
artefacts connected to Churchill’s time in the 4th Hussars
a particularly sobering torn and blooded stable jacket from Captain Unett of the 3rd (The King’s Own) Light Dragoons. It had a savage sabre cut to the back from the brutal Battle of Chillianwallah in 1849. The Captain survived partly thanks to his despatch box cushioning the blow.
Finally, after viewing the ground floor which featured more modern conflicts and peacekeeping duties, we crossed over a courtyard to visit The Parker Gallery, dedicated to Major Sir Michael Parker. This building included artefacts bequeathed from the former hussar’s family to the museum. Major Parker (known as MJP) had a career in which he’d displayed a considerable talent for event organisation and, a victim of his early success, went on to organise hundreds of official or royal occasions, tattoos, as well as the yearly Royal Tournament (which I myself once attended as a child).
The gallery was an interesting one with more models, information, uniforms and headdresses, and also included a very nice large display of a model military marching band. One of the particular pleasures for me were the artworks scattered about the gallery by familiar military artists such as Richard Simkin, Henry Martens and Charles Stadden.
An officer of the 3rd Light Dragoons, by L. Mansion and published by Lefevre.An 8th Hussar by Simkin.Top: a 7th Hussar. Bottom: a 4th Hussar, both by Simkin.
In summary, I’d say the move to the new premises for the Queen’s Royal Hussars Museum was a great success. The premises and the exhibits are excellent, and with free entry, is well worth repeated visits.
There was one other pleasing exhibit in the QRH museum which I thought worth expanding about at greater length, so I’ve kept that back for the next follow-up post!
Suburban Militarism