2nd Seaforth Highlanders kit

[Tinhat47]

Yeah, mine only show about 1.5 inches

[goldeagle1939]

Don't mean to copy what your doing, but I am putting together the same gear for the same regiment. I jjust joined the group the other day and imagine my delight when I saw this thread

Anyway, I have been going over all the replys and the pictures. One question I have that still lingers is what insignia would he have been wearing? if I remember correctly it was discussed a little a while back but not in too much detail, Or maybe I missed something?

But I remember that he would have been wearing the brass shoulder titles, and of course the rank insignia ifany is worn. But on the color pictureof the three Seaforth men, what is the pin they are wearing on their right breast above their pocket flap?

sorry to ask so many questions, I'm new here so feel feel to set me right if I'm out of line. Thanks,

Mike

[4thGordons]

Hi Mike - and welcome!

The badge/Pin you refer to on the coloured picture is an IMPERIAL SERVICE badge. This is because the men are Territorials (originally conceived of as a home defence force that would take over protction duties in the UK freeing up the Regulars to fight) in both the Boer War and universally in the Great War Territorials volunteered for overseas (Imperial) service - an act that was recognized by this badge. They are generally only usually seen in early war pictures (1914 early 15) they would not have been seen on 2nd Btn Seaforths as they were regulars.

In terms of other insignia - badges of rank as normal, buttons would be of general service type on the service dress, and brass shoulder titles "Seaforth" during the war Seaforths post 1922.

Hope this helps

Chris

[goldeagle1939]

Thanks Chris, that does help clear up some confusion.

At what point did the cloth shoulder titles come into prominance? Just curious as I have seen them around.

[Tinhat47]

My pre-1922 "Seaforth" titles came in the mail yesterday. Probably repro as they weren't very expensive (they came as a package deal with Royal Scots Fusiliers titles and a Camerons glengarry badge) but still at least historically accurate!

[Andrew Upton]

Don't mean to copy what your doing, but I am putting together the same gear for the same regiment. I just joined the group the other day and imagine my delight when I saw this thread

Ah, sounds good - whereabouts in the world are you, and which group?

My pre-1922 "Seaforth" titles came in the mail yesterday. Probably repro as they weren't very expensive (they came as a package deal with Royal Scots Fusiliers titles and a Camerons glengarry badge) but still at least historically accurate!

Where was that - WPG? Still need to sort out some titles, but looking to try my local dealers first, see if he has any originals.

As a few people have been asking how my kit's coming along, I thought I'd make a start with some pictures of one of my most recent acquisitions, bought from someone selling off some of their excess kit. It's an original post-war tunic with the cut-away skirts. Possibly private-purchase Indian made, as it's been very highly tailored (fits me a treat) but the lining is rather shoddy:

[Andrew Upton]

One addition I've made is to add an extra pair of hook-and-eyes to the collar, to allow it to be worn tighter round the neck - often seen in period photo's, and much smarter in my opinion:

[Andrew Upton]

Last picture for now - will get a few more pictures of the other bits and pieces I now have in due course:

[goldeagle1939]

Andrew, I'm from the US. But my heritage on both sides of the family are English and Scottish and I have always had a fascination with England or anything from the U.K.

Don't have a group at the moment. But I am working on starting a Seaforth Highlanders group. As far as I can tell the only other group I have found this side of the pond is the 42nd Black Watch of Canada. No one else is doing Gordons, QOCH, Seaforths, or RSF. So I been doing months of research making sure everything is right. Luckily I found this site and particulaly this thread to get the details down.

By the way, great looking Jacket. Nice find.

Mike

[Tinhat47]

Where was that - WPG? Still need to sort out some titles, but looking to try my local dealers first, see if he has any originals.

Nah, I asked at WPG and they didn't have any Seaforth stuff. I got them on eBay.

I have the Seaforth hose and flashes (made from a stock set with a bit of ol' Richards ingenuity) now and am waiting for my tunic to arrive from WPG and my kilt as well. I picked up a nice kilt safety pin too.

[Andrew Upton]

Andrew, I'm from the US...

Don't have a group at the moment. But I am working on starting a Seaforth Highlanders group. As far as I can tell the only other group I have found this side of the pond is the 42nd Black Watch of Canada. No one else is doing Gordons, QOCH, Seaforths, or RSF. So I been doing months of research making sure everything is right. Luckily I found this site and particulaly this thread to get the details down.

By the way, great looking Jacket. Nice find.

Thanks for that, group member decided to sell it at just the right time for me, and as I said a perfect fit to boot!

Nah, I asked at WPG and they didn't have any Seaforth stuff. I got them on eBay.

I have the Seaforth hose and flashes (made from a stock set with a bit of ol' Richards ingenuity) now and am waiting for my tunic to arrive from WPG and my kilt as well. I picked up a nice kilt safety pin too.

Which seller was that on Ebay, might have to have a look-see?

As hose have been mentioned, another installment - the red and white diced hose tops as used by the Seaforths in 1914. This pair original (probably fairly modern) ex-military issue bought on Ebay:

[Tinhat47]

Ah, I saw those hose tops on eBay! Nice to know you got ahold of them!

The seller I got the titles off of was http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Hogspear__W0QQ_armrsZ1

He also has a somewhat battered WWII-era Seaforth kilt in waist size 31"

Someone else is selling Seaforth titles too: http://tinyurl.com/n45an2

[Andrew Upton]

Ah, I saw those hose tops on eBay! Nice to know you got ahold of them!

The seller I got the titles off of was http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Hogspear__W0QQ_armrsZ1

He also has a somewhat battered WWII-era Seaforth kilt in waist size 31"

Someone else is selling Seaforth titles too: http://tinyurl.com/n45an2

There's a few sellers of hose-tops on Ebay, usually fixed Buy-It-Now, etc, but this pair had a low starting price. Finished at about £18.something less postage, but I had one of Ebays £3.00 off Clothing vouchers to use, which paid for the postage and a little bit of the hose

Seaforth titles and the kilt look good, both bookmarked - the kilt especially looks like it may have been measured on a big setting (as sellers tend to do) - given that and it's long length as well it looks like it might be a good fit on me, and I can't actually see any damage that doesn't look like it couldn't be cleaned with a spot of soapy water...

Another instalment, using the pictures and dimensions shown by Joe Sweeney I was able to knock up the two following pairs of copies of the Seaforth four-layered red flashes using cotton tape bought off the web and some elastic I had tucked away at home:

[goldeagle1939]

There's a few sellers of hose-tops on Ebay, usually fixed Buy-It-Now, etc, but this pair had a low starting price. Finished at about £18.something less postage, but I had one of Ebays £3.00 off Clothing vouchers to use, which paid for the postage and a little bit of the hose

Seaforth titles and the kilt look good, both bookmarked - the kilt especially looks like it may have been measured on a big setting (as sellers tend to do) - given that and it's long length as well it looks like it might be a good fit on me, and I can't actually see any damage that doesn't look like it couldn't be cleaned with a spot of soapy water...

Another instalmment, using the pictures and dimensions shown by Joe Sweeney I was able to knock up the two following pairs of copies of the Seaforth four-layered red flashes using cotton tape bought off the web and some elastic I had tucked away at home:

Good Job Andrew. I plan on making a set for myself sometime soon. They don't look to hard to make.

I saw the same kilt. Its a little too big for me. so I think I'll let it pass. Too bad, Id like to find a ex military kilt as well, but I'm quite small. Because of this, I am having a reproduction made for me. Once I get things together I'll post a pic with my progress. I did find some trews though, so they'll do for now.

[Andrew Upton]

Good Job Andrew. I plan on making a set for myself sometime soon. They don't look to hard to make.

I saw the same kilt. Its a little too big for me. so I think I'll let it pass. Too bad, Id like to find a ex military kilt as well, but I'm quite small. Because of this, I am having a reproduction made for me. Once I get things together I'll post a pic with my progress. I did find some trews though, so they'll do for now.

Blimey, said to the man with a 29/30 inch waist!

The flashes were incredibly easy, sourcing the tape was harder - they are literally just a long and short section of tape folded over and then stitched with the shorter inside to form a loop for the elastic/retaining tape at the top and so the visible edges are evenly spaced (I tweaked Joe's measurements ever so slightly, so all the ends were exactly 2cm apart). Top tip - if you do make copies, you might want to make the strips ever so slightly longer, but keeping the spacing of the ends the same - I'm finding at the moment that folding the top of the hose over the flashes tends to obscure most/all of the shortest red strip.

In another installment, here's what my glengarry now looks like:

It took me a while, but I was able to find a reproduction Seaforth badge on Ebay with a pair of lugs 4.2cm, the same width as the two holes made into the cap at some point. A little tweaking with the pliers ensured an excellent fit with no new holes.

The silk badge backing came off a very faded blue glengarry which came from the same cheap Ebay lot where I got my spats I'm still working on. The backing was faded badly on the front, but stitched in place. Removing the stitching and taking it off showed the back was still nice and unfaded. I trimmed off the fraying and reversed it, punched two holes to fit the badge lugs, and voila!

[Old War Skule]

Good job, Andrew. Everything's coming along nicely. Good luck with the shoulder titles. I'm hunting a pair for the Argylls.

[Andrew Upton]

Good job, Andrew. Everything's coming along nicely. Good luck with the shoulder titles. I'm hunting a pair for the Argylls.

Thanks for that.

Another couple of pictures:

Original short puttees (probably WW2/post-war era), bought by myself many years ago in good shape for a few pounds. I have heard these are a little longer than those used during WW1 - anyone know what length WW1 short puttees should be?

Long khaki hose, one of a couple of pairs knitted by my Grandmother:

[Joe Sweeney]

Andrew,

They did not manufacture short puttees in the Great War. All were cut down standard length so any length will do.

I have a set from the 11th Bn Gordons (Pte. Reid) and still has his puttees. I actually have both ends of his cut down puttees for both legs.

Joe Sweeney

[Andrew Upton]

They did not manufacture short puttees in the Great War. All were cut down standard length so any length will do.

I have a set from the 11th Bn Gordons (Pte. Reid) and still has his puttees. I actually have both ends of his cut down puttees for both legs.

Thanks for that Joe, I've seen you write that before, though I had kind of presumed they were being cut down to at least a reasonably standard length (you know, QMS issues Private Bloggs with a 9ft pair and the instructions "by tomorrow morning I want these to be 3ft long, and not an inch more you 'orrible little man!", and so forth ). My short pair as-is measure just over 3 1/2 feet flat-to-point, with a little over 1 1/2 feet of tape.

[goldeagle1939]

That's what I plan to do. I have a full length set of putties (reproductions) that I plan to cut roughly in half. That would make them six feet I think. If it is too much I'll just cut them down some more.

[Andrew Upton]

That's what I plan to do. I have a full length set of putties (reproductions) that I plan to cut roughly in half. That would make them six feet I think. If it is too much I'll just cut them down some more.

I would try and find an original pair myself - in the UK at least they still turn up in large quantities and very cheaply (lots of reenactors buy 9 ft long pairs made by sewing three short pairs together, and they still can be sold at a profit for £10-15!). Plus they're original and military quality to boot.

[goldeagle1939]

I would try and find an original pair myself - in the UK at least they still turn up in large quantities and very cheaply (lots of reenactors buy 9 ft long pairs made by sewing three short pairs together, and they still can be sold at a profit for £10-15!). Plus they're original and military quality to boot.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind

[goldeagle1939]

I would try and find an original pair myself - in the UK at least they still turn up in large quantities and very cheaply (lots of reenactors buy 9 ft long pairs made by sewing three short pairs together, and they still can be sold at a profit for £10-15!). Plus they're original and military quality to boot.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind

[Andrew Upton]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind

Just a few originals that are one Ebay at the moment, all less than £10:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ww2-WWII-British-unifo...p3286.m63.l1177

http://cgi.ebay.com/WW2-British-Army-Ankle...p3286.m63.l1177

http://cgi.ebay.com/Genuine-British-Army-S...p3286.m63.l1177

[goldeagle1939]

Thanks for the links Andrew. I think your right, original is the way to go. On a somewhat related note, the putties in the first link look rather greenish to me. It might just be my computer color scale but the other two look decidedly khaki while the first one looks more green.