Great find!
The Drum Major of the KOSB was one of the few to retain the blue and diced kilmarnock bonnet after the majority of Scottish regiments returned to wearing the glengarry in the late 1950s, early 1960s. The KOSB DM wore the bonnet right up until amalgamation in 2006 and with the new SCOTS cap badge! (See the photo from Alamy below)
The “Kilmarnock” Bonnet was introduced as the full-dress head-dress of the Royal Scots and Kings Own Scottish Borders in 1903-1904. (See image below) Prior to the end of the Second World War, the British military began to consider changes to the post-war No. 1 Dress uniform. The 1947 Dress Regulations specified the Balmoral bonnet for the Highland regiments and the Kilmarnock for the Lowland regiments. Some sources also refer to the style worn by the Lowland regiments as the Lowland bonnet. "Kilmarnock", named after the area where the majority of the bonnets were made, is the term I hear most associated with this Scottish regimental headgear.
The bonnet was worn in No. 1 Dress from 1947 until the adoption of the Lowland or Highland Brigade cap badges in 1958, at which time the glengarry replaced the bonnet in No. 1 Dress and the bonnet generally went out of use. (Below is an image of my KOSB bonnet dated 1952.) However, some regiments continued to wear the bonnet into the early 1960s and beyond. For a brief time, some units wore the bonnet with the Highland or Lowland Brigade cap badges. The Black Watch Regiment continued to officially wear their plain blue balmoral bonnet until amalgamation into the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Also, as already discussed, the Drum Majors of the KOSB appear to have continued to wear the Kilmarnock bonnet. The Drum Corps of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards presently wear a very distinctive Athol Bonnet, but that is something to address another time.
The use of Imperial measurements means this bonnet may have been worn by a DM, or Other Ranks member of the KOSB.
Again, congratulations on finding the bonnet!
Last edited by Reid10; 18-06-22 at 09:54 PM.
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17-06-22, 04:46 PM
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