1 November 2014 A tribute to all who died & suffered as a consequence of World War 1.
This is the eleventh and penultimate of a series of articles featuring Carlton China models relating to the terrible conflict that began 100 years ago.
Part Eleven - Military Caps & Hats Glengarry Cap
Argyll & Sutherland Highlander wearing the Glengarry, which is worn to the side of the head.
Top - Carlton China Model of a Glengarry. Bottom - Argyll & Sutherland Highlander Glengarry cap, the red toorie just visible.
Wiltshaw & Robinson, the makers of Carlton China, produced a model of the Glengarry cap. Caps and hats were excellent vehicles for the large number of heraldic crests that decorated them.
By the 1850s, the Glengarry (a valley in Inverness-shire) had become typical headgear for Scottish regiments.
The cap had tails, as shown right, represented on the china model, not as trailing, but along the side, usually enamelled in red and black. The diced band was embossed on the model, but not decorated. Curiously, on the model, the toorie or pom-pom in the central crease is missing, probably unnoticed or hidden in photographs from which the modeller must have worked. On the china model, the cap badge, which was attached to one side, is represented by an embossed thistle, sometimes decorated, as below. Also shown are three original cap badges incorporating the thistle.
Left - Other side of the Carlton China model of a Glengarry cap with embossed thistle representing a cap badge. Right - Cap badges incorporating thistles.
Field Service Cap
Top - Carlton China model of a field service cap. Bottom - RFC field service cap.
RFC recruit wearing field service cap. Notice the "wings" on his tunic.
The field service cap was first used by the British Army in India as early as 1894. Similar to the Glengarry cap described above, it was also made in Carlton China.
Originally made of fabric in distinctive regimental colours, by the time it was worn by the fledgling Royal Flying Corps in 1912, the cap was made of khaki cloth, as on the left. The Royal Flying Corps, or RFC, was then part of the British Army. By the time of the war the rest of the Army was issued with peaked caps, called service dress caps.
The model does not portray a cap badge as on other Carlton China military caps and hats, though the ornamental buttons to the front are, but hard to see in the pictures here. RFC officers could choose to wear the service dress cap, if preferred. This is discussed next.
Left - Group of RFC pilots at the Front, most wearing field service caps. Right - Cap with Stoke-on-Trent crest.
Service Dress Cap
Top - Carlton China model of a service dress cap. Bottom - WW1 service dress cap with stiff peak and top.
New Zealander RFC fighter ace, Captain Keith Caldwell MC, wearing a "soft" service dress cap. As an officer, he would choose his cap.
In 1914, except for most Scottish regiments, who wore the Glengarry or Balmoral bonnet, caps with a stiff peak and wired top were part of the British Army's standard combat uniform for all ranks and not just officers. They were called service dress caps.
Soon after soldiers started digging trenches, the cap's rigidity was found to be impracticable, so in 1915 a soft version was issued; this could be stuffed in a pocket if needed.
A model of the version with the stiff peak was made in Carlton China, shown left, with an original example.
The picture on the right shows Royal Flying Corp fighter ace Capt. Keith Caldwell MC wearing a 'soft' version of the cap, also called a Trench Cap. A Military Hatter's advertisement from 1916 for Trench Caps is shown below.
Military Hatter's 1916 advertisement for trench caps, aimed at the higher ranks, who were expected to buy their own uniform.
Left - Royal Flying Corp cap badge. Right - Carlton China model of a service dress cap.
On the china model, the 'cap badge' over the peak looks as though it was based on that for the Royal Flying Corp (RFC), probably because Cuthbert Wiltshaw, the pottery owner's son, joined the RFC.
Officers were expected to buy their own uniform and could do so from the many independent military tailors. The advertisement below, for Dunhills in Regent Street, London, gives prices. A khaki service tunic alone is priced from 6 guineas (£6, 6 shillings), which is about £400 today, so a full uniform from a posh tailor must have cost well over £1000 in today's values. Uniforms could also be bought second hand and shrewd recruits bought and shared a copy of The Lady magazine, where wives of former or deceased officers would place adverts for unwanted uniforms.
Two advertisements for Military tailors from World War One.
Slouch Hat
Australian soldier wearing his slouch hat. Studio portrait 1914 inscribed Sincerely in friendship Joe.
Top - Carlton China model of a slouch hat. Bottom - The wide brimmed slouch hat.
Wiltshaw & Robinson also made a china model of the slouch hat. Since World War One, this felt hat has become a symbol of the Australian fighting soldier or 'digger', as they were also called.
'Slouch' refers to the sloping brim, which was sun and weather protecting. It is said that the right side was turned up, pinned with the hat badge, to allow a rifle to be slung over the shoulder avoiding collision between rifle barrel and the wide brim.
The hat band, called a puggaree, is represented on the model. Initially a thin scarf of muslin, in WW1 it was made of plain khaki cloth. Although commonly believed to be uniquely Australian, similar styles of hat were adopted by many other countries, including New Zealand, United States, India and even Germany.
Left - The two sides of Carlton China model of a slouch hat, printed Anzacs For Ever. Right - Cap badges of two of the Australian and New Zealand forces.
Sometimes the china model is found inscribed Anzacs For Ever. This was a tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) formed in 1915 from troops of the 1st. Australian Imperial Force and the 1st. New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
The Anzacs fought in the Gallipoli Campaign, off the Dardanelles in what is now Turkey. The battles that ensued are said to mark the birth of national consciousness in Australia and New Zealand and the date of the landing, 25 April, is known as "Anzac Day". On that day, thousands of young men stormed beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in New Zealand and Australia.
Left & right - Two Australian recruitment posters showing soldiers wearing their slouch hat. Centre - Cover of printed souvenir programme of the first Anzac Day observance, 1916.
Campaign Hat
Four New Zealand soldiers wearing campaign hats. Putney 1919, by Herbert Huxley Green.
Image purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds.
Top - The Campaign Hat. Bottom - Carlton China Model of a 'Colonial Hat'.
In the way that the slouch hat is synonymous with the Australian soldier, the campaign hat is associated with New Zealand forces. It was also worn by the United States Army, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Scout Movement.
At the beginning of the War, the New Zealand troops wore a uniform very similar to the Australians, even down to the distinctive slouch hat. The Commanding Officer of the Wellington Infantry Battalion decided that it was time to change the shape of the hat worn by his men to make it distinguishable from those worn by the Australians. He therefore instructed his men to put 4 'dents' into the top of the hat and the result was the so-called 'lemon squeezer' shape that is still worn by the New Zealanders today.
Wiltshaw & Robinson's Carlton China model of the hat was called the 'Colonial Hat', which was printed in black on the rim and part enamelled in red. Notice that the model of the hat has three 'dents' instead of four, presumably because the modeller, working from photographs, must have thought this to be the case. The same model has also been found printed Boy Scout's Hat.
Below are some American WW1 recruitment posters and pictures of Canadian and American soldiers on the way to the Front, all showing campaign hats.
WW1 American recruitment posters, showing the use of the campaign or 'lemon squeezer' hat.
Left - 5th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles. Right - WW1 American soldiers arrive in France on June 25, 1917.
Balmoral Bonnet
WW1 Queen's Own Highlander.
Top - Carlton China model of a Balmoral Bonnet. Bottom - WW1 Balmoral Bonnet.
The Balmoral bonnet dates back to the 16th century, taking its name from Balmoral Castle. A khaki Balmoral was introduced in 1915 for wear in the trenches by Scottish infantry serving on the Western Front. It is also named after "Tam o' Shanter", the eponymous hero of the poem by Robert Burns, of 1790, though military aficionados prefer Balmoral bonnet.
Today, several Canadian regiments, including the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada and the Stormont Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders from Cornwall, Ontario, wear the Balmoral. The Carlton China model has an embossed thistle in the place of a 'cap' badge and is complete with the toorie or pom-pom.
Left & Right Recruitment posters for Canadian Highlanders Battalions. Centre - A postcard from 1914. All showing the Balmoral Bonnet.
