Quote:
Originally Posted by grumpy
Of course there is no obligatory positioning, and we do not see the right flank of the group. I thought he had to be the bugle major.
The identification of the well-fed fellow with First Class frogging and four chevrons as a sergeant musketry instructor is a new one to me.
The unit was identified as Regular, but VF Permanent staff might be a possibility. The apparent absence of crossed rifles would be appropriate if the man had not the necessary certificate.
|
I don’t think that they are absent at all, it’s just that the quality of the photo makes them more difficult to see. There was no other appointment in the 60th and RB that wore the 4 stripes, in that particular way, at that particular time, than the sergeant instructor. It was a tradition of rifle regiments, regular and auxiliary. The latter continued, whereas regulars came more in line with the rest of the line in the period after 1869.
NB. A really important point is that the sergeant instructors 4-bar stripes were single width, whereas sergeants and colour sergeants 3-bars were double width.
The shako insignia is classic 60th/RB in style and there are far too many medals on display for it to be a VF unit I think.