23rd Madras Native Infantry

British and Indian Officers 1897

The officers are all in khaki service dress with Sam Browne belts. The Indian officers wear a khaki turban with a gold fringe attached to green cloth that has their badge on. The British officers have helmets with a pagri that is probably of green cloth. The Indian officers have pale coloured puttees as do three of the British officers, because on parade they are not mounted. The other officers have boots and breeches for mounted duty. The swords worn by the British are attached to the belt in a similar way to most of the Indian officers, ie a frog with two short straps, but the Indian officer standing on the extreme right of the picture has long slings so that his sword drags on the ground. They all have badges on their collars except the officer seated second from the left who has the red tabs of a staff officer. The man in the middle is the commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Welch, who wears a Torin cap instead of a helmet. This would be made of green material since the regiment was a Light Infantry unit.

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