Quote:
Originally Posted by Jelly Terror
Just wondering if it could be late-1916 around the transitional period from VTC to VF?
At that time the War Office announced that officers and other ranks were now to wear the same badges of rank as those worn by the Regular Army, though all ranks were to wear the Royal Arms as their cap badge.
It’s an interesting subject.
JT
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I’m positive that you’ve hit the nail on the head JT. It’s a transitional photo during that period after the Volunteer Force was resurrected (it wasn’t off the statute book) to replace the VTC so that they could be equipped and funded by the War Office. Initially the GS (Royal Arms) badge began to be worn, but once formed into Volunteer Battalions, or in some cases Volunteer Regiments (of several battalions) they mainly began to wear either, discrete badges of their own, or insignia associated with their local regiment plus special shoulder titles making clear their volunteer status. The armistice intervened before every single element of the reorganisation was in place and some units disbanded before ever achieving completely coherent uniformity. As mentioned the machine gun is a Hotchkiss that would originally have been procured for the regular cavalry.