I disagree. There is absolutely no evidence, zero, nil, that soldiers resorted to what would in effect be a dressing up box in photographic studios. I’ve lost count, for example, of the number of people that account for a British soldier during WW1 holding a swagger stick, by asserting that he has obtained it as a prop from the photographic studio concerned, when in fact it was routinely laid down in regimental and battalion standing orders that regimental canes were to be carried when walking out. It is utter nonsense, which is why you never see such things referred to or suggested by principal British uniform historians, such as Lawson, Carman, Edwards, Barthorp, and Westlake.
Last edited by Toby Purcell; 21-03-20 at 05:56 PM.
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