British Captains Uniforms

[evanrichards]

Hello,

I am trying to put together a British Captains uniform around the year 1915.

I am struggling to find many reference images online. The regiment I am trying to replicate is the 1st Monmouth. They were a territorial regiment but I am unsure if that has any bearing on the style of uniform. Did Captains wear jodhpurs/breeches or knee high boots?

Any help would be appreciated.

[FROGSMILE]

55 minutes ago, evanrichards said:

Hello,

I am trying to put together a British Captains uniform around the year 1915.

I am struggling to find many reference images online. The regiment I am trying to replicate is the 1st Monmouth. They were a territorial regiment but I am unsure if that has any bearing on the style of uniform. Did Captains wear jodhpurs/breeches or knee high boots?

Any help would be appreciated.

Captains were at the top end of a group officially described at the time as ‘company officers’, sometimes also described as junior officers.  In essence they were the group of officers closest to the men and shared much but not all of their trench conditions.  An infantry captain usually commanded a company.

Their lower garments when at regimental duty (serving with an infantry battalion) were most commonly breeches, long puttees** and ankle boots.  Some adopted a fad for lighter coloured breeches made from Bedford cord or sometimes cavalry twill, but these premium garments stood out and made them a target, so sensible officers in the trenches soon avoided them and left that affectation to junior officers working in staff appointments at headquarters.

In 1915 cuff rank was by far the most common type of jacket for Territorial officers, who were distinguished by a small letter T beneath their collar badges.  By the end of 1915 a popular adoption for headdress was a new type of ‘trench’ forage cap with a softer construction (no stiffeners) and a fold down earflap for warmth in inclement weather conditions.  I’ll post some suitable images by way of illustration as I find them.

For the Monmouthshire Regiment the design of officers collar badges was common, but 1st to 3rd Battalion the officers each had their own discrete pattern of cap badge. 

** some officers adopted leather leggings (gaiters) in lieu of puttees, especially a proprietary type with a spiral leather strap known as Stohwasser gaiters, but these too quickly made an officer a target and by 1916 sensible officers made themselves look as much like their soldiers as was feasible without losing their recognition close up.

NB.  The colour image shows a Guards officer and I enclose it only to show the infantry field service equipment that he wears.  Swords were largely abandoned by the summer of 1915. 

Edited 7 April by FROGSMILE

[evanrichards]

Brilliant that just what I was after!

Thankyou for you help