McNeill’s painting of the Regimental Sergeant Major and a private is well observed. They are veterans of the Boer War so must be men of the 2nd Battalion East Surreys. The forage cap worn by the RSM is blue with a red welt around the top. His tunic has the distinction of having gold lace around the collar, cuffs, and the shoulder straps. There is a Royal Arms badge of rank on his right sleeve although at this stage an embroidered crown would be more likely. He has a brown leather waist-belt instead of white, and a sword is suspended on his left side. He has white gloves and carries a silver-topped stick. The private has two good-conduct stripes on his left forearm and a marksman’s badge above. This is crossed rifles surrounded by a wreath and topped with a star. This showed that he was the best shot out of all the corporals and privates in the battalion. The tunic agrees with the photos of a dress tunic 1912 apart from the collar badges which are wrongly shown here as white metal instead of yellow. His white leather waist-belt has a 17 inch sword bayonet in a scabbard on the left hip. He stands to attention with his .303 Short Lee-Enfield. The blue home service helmet differs from the officers’ pattern in having a slightly rounded peak with no metal edge.
