British Uniform Notes, Line Infantry
The representative units of the British regular infantry - the Line Infantry - will be on Home Service and as such occupied with garrison, training or ceremonial duties. The regulars in the UK were but a small part of the British Army, the vast bulk of which was serving elsewhere around The Empire.
To clearly differentiate them from Rifle Volunteers, the regulars will wear the Home Service Helmet. This project is set in 1875 whereas the Home Service Helmet was not formally adopted until 1878 and was not in widespread use until 1879. Before 1879 a shako was worn in non-colonial settings. However, the Home Service Helmet was trialled for several years before being formally adopted, and so - to take advantage of its distinctive appearance - it is assumed that the small number of regular units that will feature in this project are a part of that trial.
By 1875, the Line Infantry were organised into 2 battalions who almost without exception served apart. Each battalion had two standards, the Queen’s Flag and the Regimental Flag. As these regulars have quickly mobilised in response to the emergency, they have done so without their standards. This absence of standards is intended to add to a general sense of disarray resulting from the unexpected invasion.
Standards of the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Infantry:
Company drummers (a role distinct from the drummers in the regimental band) were also buglers, carrying both instruments. Reference to campaigns, such as that in Zululand in 1879, shows that the company drum wasn’t always carried in the field, in which case just the bugle was used to convey commands. For the purposes of this project, the Line Infantry drummers will be portrayed as carrying both bugle and drum, reflecting their difference to the Light Infantry and the Rifle Volunteers, both of whom were solely reliant on buglers.
In terms of field uniform, around 1875 the five-button Frock (or, as it was more properly known, the Undress Tunic) seems to have been going through a period of change, with the earlier 1868 version being noticeably different to the later 1878 version. Regarding the white braiding at the cuff, for the 1868 version this was a single loop with the more intricate trefoil not being introduced until 1878, while for the 1868 version edge piping appears in some images but not in others.
To further confuse matters, the following image is described as being of 1875 but what should be an 1868 Frock has gained facing colours to cuffs that also include the trefoil, both of these being features that were officially introduced in 1878:
As regards the Regiments represented by this project, without definitive evidence of the Frock as worn by them in 1875, the figures shall retain the trefoil with which they are manufactured. In any event, much like with the Home Service Helmets, one might hypothesise that the troops are part of an early trial of the 1878 variant.
