[Toby Purcell]

1881.07.01 2nd Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment
* 1881 India: Bengal
* 1885 Sitapur
* 1888 Burma
* 1890.03 England: Colchester

At first glance it does seem odd and had the photo been related to the earlier fighting in 1885, I’d have agreed that the caps were wrong, but this is 1888 and although it wasn’t until the early 1890s that the so-called Austrian style field service cap became widespread for officers (and late 1890s for the men) there is other photographic evidence that the cap had already begun its popularity. Here below is a photo of some officers from 1st Rifle Brigade taken in 1888 in Burma. The date has apparently been ratified because three of the officers depicted had died within three years of that date. Caps made in khaki drill endured a long time in India because they were made up locally as a cheap and simple design constructed from omnipresent khaki drill cloth supplied by the Indian Army government clothing factories. They continued in use for decades after they ceased being worn on the home establishment and are still popular in India today.