Officers 1875

This informal group shows a strange assortment of dress. Some of the officers are not Scots Guards. The man in the cocked hat is a staff officer and the man sitting on the ground, second from the left, looks like Army Service Corps. While two of the officers sitting in the middle have the forage cap, others have a service cap with the cap star fixed to the front. One officer, sitting third from the right, wears this with civilian clothes. The frock coat is worn by many of them but one of the men in a forage cap has a shirt and tie. The officer sitting cross legged to the right has a beard which is unusual for this late date but he must be a Crimea veteran which would explain his miniature medals. Normally only medal ribbons were allowed to be worn on the frock coat.
One aspect of the photo is a puzzle. An officer sitting on the left, with a sash on his left shoulder, has a pillbox cap with diced cap-band. The normal forage cap for officers had a peak. Other ranks wore this cap but with a cap star. It is unlikely that this group would include an other rank, improperly dressed or not.

Uniforms | Regimental Details