1st Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment, 1875

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1st Battalion, 24th Regiment, near Cape Town, 1875.
(John Young Collection.)

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1st Battalion, 24th Regiment, near Cape Town, 1875.
Note the Drummer sounding a call on the bugle, the trio in middle ground look interesting too.
(John Young Collection.)

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12th May 1875, the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment providing the Guard of Honour for the laying of the foundation stone of the Cape Parliament building. Note the Bandsmen between the crowd and formed ranks.
(John Young Collection.)

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Detail of the above. Note the early pattern crested helmet worn by some of the bandsmen.

JY

Great photos, thanks for posting John. I noticed the shape of some of the helmets look different too. Maybe just the shadows but the helmet on the man on the left in the 2nd photo looks huge on him. More “pointy” than the bugler next to him too. Was there a new issue of helmets between 1875 and 1879 or a mixture of styles on issue at the same time?
Regards Phil.

Phil,

The crested helmet was notably worn in Abyssinian Campaign in 1868, I have seen photographic examples of it being worn in South Africa as late as 1877/8. The “Roman” crest was open to the front to allow ventilation to the wearer’s head.

Thanks to Frank, our resident expert in Cape Town, he has identified the tented encampment is being at Wynberg. Which in allowed me to narrow the camp photographs down to a time-frame of 2nd January to 3rd February 1875. After that date the battalion were relocated to the main barracks in Cape Town, with elements providing the guard at the Castle.

The album containing the photographs was the property of Captain Henry Harrisson, ‘B’ Company, 1st/24th.

JY

John
These photos are terrific. I am impressed. Is the album at Brecon?
Julian

Julian,

I have dropped you an email.

JY

Hi JY
Agree with Julian's comments , fantastic photo's .
90th Very Happy

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