20th Hussars Regimental Police.

[High Wood]

20th Hussars Regimental Police taken in England around the time of the Great War. The R.P. brassards are clearly visible on the left cuffs of three of the men. Two of the men are wearing cloth shoulder titles.

[Postwarden]

A nice unusual photo. The presence of the embroidered titles allows a fairly narrow date range to be given to the picture.

Embroidered titles in blue on yellow were authorised for the 20th Hussars on 1st October 1901. All these early embroidered titles, worn by all arms, were declared obsolete between November 1907 and May 1908 and replaced by gilding metal titles. So allowing for some laxity in removing them this photo was probably taken no later than 1909.

Information from the Army Clothing Factory records at the National Archives, Kew, classes WO359/12 and 13.

Jon

[High Wood]

Jon,

thank you for your informative reply. Is there anyway of knowing who were in the regimental police of any given regiment from service records? I am guessing that Regimental Policeman was an appointment rather than a rank. Would they be likely to have served in the Military Police at a later date?

Simon

[Alan O]

The epaulettes are not WW1 but the early braided type which supports the pre 1909 date.

They would be cavalry men on appointment as RP and very unlikely to transfer to CMP.

[REMEVMBEA1]

Originally Posted by High Wood

Jon,

thank you for your informative reply. Is there anyway of knowing who were in the regimental police of any given regiment from service records? I am guessing that Regimental Policeman was an appointment rather than a rank. Would they be likely to have served in the Military Police at a later date?

Simon

Regimental police were simply that, regimental, and had no connection with the MPs although of course individuals may have transferred to the MPs.

[High Wood]

So, if I understand correctly, if I looked through the muster rolls for the 20th Hussars between 1901-1907 none of the entries would have Regimental Police marked against an individual's name and there is no hope of identifying the individuals in this photograph.

[REMEVMBEA1]

Originally Posted by High Wood

So, if I understand correctly, if I looked through the muster rolls for the 20th Hussars between 1901-1907 none of the entries would have Regimental Police marked against an individual's name and there is no hope of identifying the individuals in this photograph.

They could be marked as RPs in the muster rolls in the same way any other specialist would.

[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by High Wood

So, if I understand correctly, if I looked through the muster rolls for the 20th Hussars between 1901-1907 none of the entries would have Regimental Police marked against an individual's name and there is no hope of identifying the individuals in this photograph.

These appointments (RPs) were regularly changed to prevent the soldiers from getting above themselves. Even the Provost Sergeant (shown in full dress) would not usually do more than a year other than in exceptional circumstances. A similar appointment that changed regularly was the Officers' Mess sergeant. In most regiments it was usually a requirement for RPs to have at least 2 good conduct badges. Great photo by the way.