2VB RWF officer dress portrait

[JerryBB]

A nice sharp image of an officer with the RWF badge in his fur cap and regimental buckle with the plain grenade collars worn by 2VB RWF

[cbuehler]

A fine portrait and a fine uniform to a Major. I would guess late 1890s. The tunic still has the extra decoration on the cuffs and collar for field grades, which was eliminated for the simpler company grade braiding for all officers at some time prior to WW1. Also, he is still wearing the shoulder sash, which was replaced by a waist sash; again not sure just when this change took place. I did not know that the VB wore plain grenades at that time.

CB

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by cbuehler

A fine portrait and a fine uniform to a Major. I would guess late 1890s. The tunic still has the extra decoration on the cuffs and collar for field grades,


I did not know that the VB wore plain grenades at that time.

CB

I have a 2vb rwf officers tunic and it has the more elaborate cuffs of the pre 1902 tunic but it has the tail from the post 1902 tunic, I guess VB's did their own thing

[cbuehler]

That tunic is the normal type of post 1902 as worn by all officers. Note that the Major in the photo has double rows on the cuffs and curl braid on the collar, which was done away with later to the pattern of your tunic.

CB

[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by cbuehler

A fine portrait and a fine uniform to a Major. I would guess late 1890s. The tunic still has the extra decoration on the cuffs and collar for field grades, which was eliminated for the simpler company grade braiding for all officers at some time prior to WW1. Also, he is still wearing the shoulder sash, which was replaced by a waist sash; again not sure just when this change took place. I did not know that the VB wore plain grenades at that time.

CB

1902 was the year of the big changes to officers tunic decoration and the type of sash that they wore, although it would’ve taken a little time for all units to comply and those individual officers within a certain proximity to retirement were excluded (grandfather’s rights as it was later often termed). As regards the collar grenades, it’s often overlooked that all battalions of the RWF, regular and volunteer, took great pride in wearing plain bullion grenades on their full dress tunic and frock coat. It was only on mess dress that the bullion with superimposed dragon type was used (metal for undress frocks and SD, none at all for blue patrols). The RWF were also the last line regiment to discard plain white worsted grenades** for their other ranks, despite being regulated to do so from 1881, and the last regiment too, to wear the old universal gilding metal grenade collar badge, which remained in use until amalgamation in 1996.

**originally (before 1881) standard for all fusilier regiments along with Grenadiers.