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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: WAND on Thursday 18 January 24 13:42 GMT (UK)
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Hi l am trying to find the right uniform for my grandad James Ernest Jones who served in The Kings Royal Rifle Corps as rifleman from 07 February 1917 until 31st March 1920, In France and Italy
He was in the 6th Battalion/13th Battalion/22nd Battalion Royal Horse Royal Field Artillery. There are not photos of him in uniform.
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Have you not googled? Wikipedia has pictures including on in 1918. You can find more if you google.
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He would have worn the 1908 pattern uniform & webbing.
There was no dress uniform except for NCO's & Officers during WW1.
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Thanks for the help :)
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Soldiers in the Regular Army, (by which I mean, excluding those men who joined up or were conscripted for the duration of hostilities) were issued with a number of different types of uniform, mainly described using numbers. So No1 Dress is the most formal and would be worn on parade for ceremonial occasions. The next level, No 2 Undress, is for slightly less formal occasions, but was not designed for combat. There are then several categories of dress which relate to warmer climates which we need not go into here. And then there were the various orders of khaki service dress for combat and workwear within barracks, which others have already mentioned. The service dress that the KRRC wore during the First World War was pretty much identical to that worn by all other soldiers in a general infantry role. I assume you are not asking about that uniform.
So concentrating on No.1 and 2 Dress, the KRRC wore substantially the same uniform as other regiments in the Rifle Brigade, that is to say a black shako cap, rifle green jacket and trousers, (with black frogging on the No1 jacket) and a black stripe on the trouser leg, and black buttons. What distinguished the KRRC from other members of the Rifle Brigade, was the crimson collar and cuffs (facings) of the KRRC, and their Maltese Cross cap badge. You can see an example of the uniform dating from 1910 here (https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/377950593733529055/). As far as I am aware this was unchanged ten years later. There is some artistic licence in that painting which implies there was a difference in colour between the tunic and the trousers. Army dress regulations from the time specify that they should both be rifle green.
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Thank you for the help :)
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Quite a lot more information on the history of the Regiment and its uniforms here: https://archive.org/details/regimentalchroni00walluoft/page/n93/mode/2up?view=theater
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As your man joined or was conscripted in 1917 he wouldn't have had the no. 1 or 2 dress uniform.