| (Royal West Surrey Regiment). He is fully equipped but has some rather outdated items in his kit. These include leather gaiters of the pattern more commonly in use during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and a similarly dated Oliver Pattern water bottle. He seems to be armed with a Lee-Metford rifle. His pose in equally interesting if not more outdated than some of his equipment. He is positioned to receive a cavalry charge - the same exact pose taken up by the front ranks of Wellinton's squares at Waterloo almost 100 years before. Another interesting feature of this man's uniform in the use of shoulder patches to denote his unit affiliation. Normally these identifiers would be worn on the tunic's shoulder straps and /or collar. In this case his shoulder straps have been replaced by twisted cords and the badges moved to the very top of the sleeve just below the shoulder seam with the title "Queens" or possibly "The Queen's" above with a "4" and "V" below. This is the earliest example of the use of shoulder patches that I have seen to date. Cabinet Photograph George Barnes - Photographer 12 Oakley Place, London S. E., England c. 1900 |
