Officer's Helmet 1847-71

The helmet introduced in 1847 was called the Albert helmet, inspired by Prussian and Russian helmets that had a falling plume. The household cavalry had adopted this style in 1842, but of white metal with gilt or brass ornaments. This helmet for the Dragoon Guards and the Dragoons was all gilt, or brass. At first the plumes were black for all the regiments but the 1855 Dress Regulations laid out the different distinctions. Whereas the regiments mostly had different colour plumes, three regiments had black: 2nd Dragoon Guards, 6th Dragoon Guards, and the 1st Dragoons. The 6thDG were converting to light dragoons and were now wearing blue tunics, and the 1st Royal Dragoons had white metal helmets. The example seen here is a Queens Dragoon Guards helmet which has the regimental title on the garter around the VR cypher. The helmet was worn with the coatee as in Captain 1852, and after 1855 with the skirted tunic. It is taller than other helmets of this period. Certainly the plume holder is taller than the other ranks' example, but some other officer's helmets have this length. The plume appears higher than all other helmets of this period and may have been attached incorrectly. The photo was taken from a Bosleys catalogue of Sep 2008.

Regimental details | Helmets