Inniskilling Fusiliers cuff rank tunic

[USN]

 

 

This tunic is a more recent acquisition, a nice tunic belonging to a captain of the Inniskilling fusiliers, it is in pretty good shape minus a missing button, missing collar brass and I believe there was at one point something sewn above the ranks on the cuff. As always, thought and opinions are always welcome.

 

Many thanks,

USN

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FROGSMILE]

It’s a very nice whipcord rather than serge jacket (a variety of cloths were available) and a little unusual in that it’s not been made bespoke but by using the British Army’s stock sizing system and then being adjusted to fit.  This suggests to me that it’s a later war jacket when to attract and kit out officers from more modest financial backgrounds a system of uniform grants was introduced.  This was a sum of money granted to each officer aspirant to fund the basics of his uniform.  To make this a reasonable outlay for the taxpayer the stock sizing and adjustment method was to be used as it was cheaper than bespoke and perfectly adequate for its purpose of creating a field uniform.  There were 36 stock sizes and I enclose a label for a later period soldiers jacket that you can compare with the label in your jacket provided by the outfitter.  This sizing system remained in use from Queen Victoria’s reign until gradually replaced by a NATO sizing system as part of an agreement between member nations circa 1958+.

I enclose collar badges of the type needed for the 1912 style (stepped) collar you have on your jacket.  You should be cognisant that for the previous 1902 collar the orientation of the castle central device is different.  To simplify matters this pragmatically minded regiment’s officers adopted the same badge for their forage caps.  Also be careful with buttons in that during WW1 the flag atop castle on all insignia flew to viewers left but between the world wars was changed to viewers right.

NB.  In British official nomenclature your garment is a jacket rather than tunic.  Tunics were the full dress, ceremonial garment for reviews and formal duty and invariably among the most expensive uniforms.  In the majority of British infantry units a ‘tunic’ was thus scarlet.

Edited 14 March by FROGSMILE

[FROGSMILE]

A final point that I omitted is that officers didn’t ordinarily wear sewn on badges on their lower arms, so I think that the loose threads and position of an old badge indicates that he was probably a warrant officer (sergeant major) who was subsequently commissioned and had officer rank retrofitted, although it’s odd that all traces of loose thread weren’t removed by the tailor.  

Edited 15 March by FROGSMILE