The Gordons


Gordons All Ranks c1891


These men of the 1st Battalion are veterans of Egypt as their medals reveal. The photo was taken in Ceylon where the battalion was stationed from 1888 to c1895 in which year they were required to form part of the Chitral Relief Force. The group here has one officer seated in the middle. He is a junior officer but is not a young man so perhaps he is the Quartermaster. He is in dress, with the gold corded sporran, but his cap is the undress glengarry. All the men here are in dress uniform wearing the glengarry. This is because when posted abroad they did not take the feather bonnet.

The two men on the left of the picture are wearing other ranks dress uniform with the appropriate sporran. The man holding the Queen's Colour is the sergeant-drummer (drum-major) with full plaid and drummer's shoulder wings. Standing next to him is a staff sergeant with a gold laced doublet that has no collar badges. He holds the yellow Regimental Colour. The red sash of office is worn over his left shoulder, this is in contrast to the sergeant who is sitting on the right of the photo, who has his sash on the normal side for an NCO, the right shoulder.

The RSM, sitting to the right of the officer as we look at him, has a crown badge of rank on his right fore-arm. He has a gold laced doublet also with no collar badges and his shoulder cords are gold but not so full as the officer's. He has an officer's type sash on his left shoulder, and a similar plaid. He also has a white leather sword belt like the officer, and a gold laced waist-belt. His sporran is similar to the undress type worn by officers.

The man sitting the other side of the officer is the band sergeant. He has a gold laced doublet with gold chevrons and a band badge above. He has a full paid but it is arranged in a different way to the sergeant-drummer. The other man of interest is the one standing on the right of the photo with a large beard. He has a badge on his upper right arm that is white embroidered crossed axes, the badge of a pioneer.


Uniforms | Regimental Details


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by Stephen Luscombe