Quote:
Originally Posted by grumpy
Dear Toby,
Thank you. There was no challenge and no demand. I do hope that the reply gets wider readership, as it is very thorough and useful.
I had hoped to be convinced that the soldier was the musketry sergeant, that his chevrons were narrow compared with the others, and that the blob was crossed rifles. The best argument for him being the musketry sergeant is that we can agree that he is battalion staff, and not the sergeant-major, not the QMS and not the bugle major.
As a former principal scientific officer I was accustomed to weighing incomplete evidence. I agree with your conclusion that he is the musketry sergeant.
I hope that is sufficient.
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Having focused on the Colour Sergeant who was originally in question and the First Class Staff in their frogged tunics, it’s been a useful exercise to visually and methodically compare the dimensions of each and every set of chevrons. Having done so now, it’s apparent to me that they appear, relatively clearly to be all of the single width. This leaps out when one compares with the few double width stripes seen in some of the pictures I posted earlier, especially the scarlet clad group in my last post. Double width chevrons virtually fill the upper arm. Musing on that it seems evidence to me, along with the SM and QMS having their rank on the lower sleeve, that the image almost certainly dated to 1869+, unless the unit concerned was already ahead of the regulations as often occurred. What do you think?