LATEST NEW ADDITION TO MY DRAGOON HeLMET COLLECTION FOR 2022 ROYAL BERKS HELMET
 

Hello all,

I just received the newest addition to my dragoon helmet collection and the last for the 2022 year. I am already searching for new additions to my collection for 2023. My Royal Berks Yeomanry Cavalry helmets was just delivered, and I want to share several pictures of it here on the "Forum". It is an example of a trooper's helmet as worn by the Royal Berks Yeomanry between 1884 to approximately 1900 when service caps and slouch hats were taken into use. Thank you for looking and please share your comments!

Regards to all,

David

David Very nice
Regards
Stephen

Stunning looking collection!
Regards,
Leo

Stephen, Thank you so very much!!! Likewise, best regards,

David

Leo,

Thank you so much for your very kind comment and thanks for looking.

Kind regards,

David

The helm is gorgeous, but in my information I can not find that the Berkshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry (Hungerford) was ever granted the addition Royal.

Hello Henk,

Thank you for your very kind remark concerning my Royal Berks Yeomanry Cavalry helmet! You are quite correct in that the regiment was never officially granted the "Royal" sanction. It is known that during the 1840's the regiments' name evolved from the Hungerford Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry to the Royal Berkshire Yeomanry Cavalry. The general consciences are that the title of the regiment "Royal Berks Yeomanry Cavalry" stems from the award of the title Royal Berkshire to the county conferred by King Willian IV. So, the "Royal" in the title refers to a county honor rather than an honor to the regiment and the title on the helmet is correct. I hope that sheds some light on the title.

Regards,

David

Hello Henk,

Some additional information regarding the "Royal Berks Yeomanry Cavalry" title changes prior to the use of the title "Hungerford Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry" At various times from its inception, numerous titles were used some associated with activations and de-activations of formations... "1st Berkshire Cavalry", the "Hungerford Troop", the "Berkshire (Hungerford) Yeomanry Cavalry", the "Berkshire Cavalry", the "First Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry in the County of Berkshire" and the "Eastern Berks Cavalry".

Regards,

David

Interesting mass of titles. This is my main source: The Berkshire Yeomanry (Hungerford)

Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research
Vol. 28, No. 115 (Autumn, 1950), pp. 96-101 (8 pages)

Article titled :THE YEOMANRY IN BERKSHIRE (see photo)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44228574

Also from The Berkshire Yeomanry Museum :


.

Hello Mike,

Thank you for bringing the "Army Historical Research" article to my attention... I actually have a copy of all of volume 28 in bound form... an abundance of useful information as is always the case it seems with the 1930's, 40's and 50' Journal issues. The article authors seem to have been closer to and in some cases contemporary with the actual artifacts they write about than we are today...

Again, thank you!

Regards,

David

I am not British, but I would never have thought that the style of "Royal" could be self given without punishment. :D

Hello Henk,

I am not British either and as such am not well versed on the intricacies of bestowing "Royal" honorariums or patronage and in this case i can say that in the case of the County of Berkshire the "Royal" title was not self-given. The title has something to do with King William IV in the 1830's prior to his death in 1837 allowing the use of "Royal" somewhat unofficially as part of the county title because of the county's close association with the Crown via the town of Windsor and the home of Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth II sometime in 1957 or 58 officially sanctioned the use of the title, the Royal County of Berkshire. So, with regard to the use of "Royal" as part of the Berkshire Yeomanry Cavalry has to do with the title of the county and not that the regiment was a royal regiment. The finer detail of which I am not aware can probably best be addressed by the Royal Berks Yeomanry Museum or by a county historian.

David