Tony Barton
Company Commander
As my recovery progresses, I’ve now had the energy to get the trench set out and take some more pics.
Here’s a few more pics on the same theme. Two more of the Northampton’s bomber, this time showing his “ Battle Patches “ and bomber’s badge , and the grenade vest hung on a convenient peg while he checks the fusing and fit of the safety pins. He’ll be doing this alone : grenades were tricky things, and caused a lot of accidents until the design was improved from 1917.
*******************************************************************************************
Another Somme soldier, this time from the 5th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, recruited in Birmingham. He’s a Territorial, which means that he was a part-time soldier pre-war. When war came, the Territorials , although they were formed for home defence, largely voted to serve overseas , and were deployed from the end of 1914 to fill the gaps in the Line caused by the losses of the Regular Divisions. Although most Territorials used the 1908 webbing set , as replacements were sent out many had to be equipped with the 1914 leather equipment. He has very colourful patches , including blue shoulder straps and red rectangles on the shoulders and on the rear of the helmet.Notice the brass Shoulder Titles ( I’m very pleased to have got those done in etched brass: if they can do the word “ Warwickshire” in this scale,they can do anything ! ).The sandbag helmet cover was very common, almost regulation in many units. This unit later served in Macedonia.
*******************************************************************************************
Another Territorial, this time from my local lads : the 5th Battalion Prince of Wales’ Own West Yorkshire Regiment , recruited in York. They first went out to France in April 1915, and stayed out to the Armistice. They were in 146 Brigade, alongside their fellow West Yorks Battalions ( 1/6 Bradford , 1/7 Leeds , 1/8 Leeds ) in the 49th Territorial Division, whose role was in support at the start of the battle. On the 28th July they were involved in attacking the infamous Schwaben Redoubt.
This young lad ( my underage soldier Fred ) is equipped absolutely typically. The helmet is muddied up to make the apple green paint less conspicuous.
“ Anyone want bully as a swap for McConochies ? “
The soldiers lived on bully beef and biscuits, but some branded tins were more sought after than others.....
Another , drinking tea. The Unit patch was the T on the sleeve , coloured differently for each Battalion .
And finally , with the company officer doing his rounds. He’s a 2nd Lieutenant, and I have done another post on him to discuss all the details. Suffice it to say that officers’ outfits were rather different from the men’s, although they tried increasingly to blend in , at least in the frontline , as the war progressed.Their survival chances were always worse than the men’s , throughout the war, so wearing
ORs uniforms and carrying rifles was often normal when going into attacks.
***********************************************************************************************************************
Here’s a few more pics on the same theme. Two more of the Northampton’s bomber, this time showing his “ Battle Patches “ and bomber’s badge , and the grenade vest hung on a convenient peg while he checks the fusing and fit of the safety pins. He’ll be doing this alone : grenades were tricky things, and caused a lot of accidents until the design was improved from 1917.
*******************************************************************************************
Another Somme soldier, this time from the 5th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, recruited in Birmingham. He’s a Territorial, which means that he was a part-time soldier pre-war. When war came, the Territorials , although they were formed for home defence, largely voted to serve overseas , and were deployed from the end of 1914 to fill the gaps in the Line caused by the losses of the Regular Divisions. Although most Territorials used the 1908 webbing set , as replacements were sent out many had to be equipped with the 1914 leather equipment. He has very colourful patches , including blue shoulder straps and red rectangles on the shoulders and on the rear of the helmet.Notice the brass Shoulder Titles ( I’m very pleased to have got those done in etched brass: if they can do the word “ Warwickshire” in this scale,they can do anything ! ).The sandbag helmet cover was very common, almost regulation in many units. This unit later served in Macedonia.
*******************************************************************************************
Another Territorial, this time from my local lads : the 5th Battalion Prince of Wales’ Own West Yorkshire Regiment , recruited in York. They first went out to France in April 1915, and stayed out to the Armistice. They were in 146 Brigade, alongside their fellow West Yorks Battalions ( 1/6 Bradford , 1/7 Leeds , 1/8 Leeds ) in the 49th Territorial Division, whose role was in support at the start of the battle. On the 28th July they were involved in attacking the infamous Schwaben Redoubt.
This young lad ( my underage soldier Fred ) is equipped absolutely typically. The helmet is muddied up to make the apple green paint less conspicuous.
“ Anyone want bully as a swap for McConochies ? “
The soldiers lived on bully beef and biscuits, but some branded tins were more sought after than others.....
Another , drinking tea. The Unit patch was the T on the sleeve , coloured differently for each Battalion .
And finally , with the company officer doing his rounds. He’s a 2nd Lieutenant, and I have done another post on him to discuss all the details. Suffice it to say that officers’ outfits were rather different from the men’s, although they tried increasingly to blend in , at least in the frontline , as the war progressed.Their survival chances were always worse than the men’s , throughout the war, so wearing
ORs uniforms and carrying rifles was often normal when going into attacks.
***********************************************************************************************************************
Last edited:
