British Victorian Era, Colonial Pattern Helmet, KRRC, Lord Tewkesbury
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $495.00

Original era manufacture. British Colonial pattern pith helmet worn without a puggaree, and displaying on the front of the helmet, a white metal badge of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. This badge, with a Victorian crown at the top, shows the numerous battle awards for this famous regiment, the last being the Egypt Campaign 1882-1884 and the battle honor Tel El-Kebir.Stour, white canvas covered cork helmet, with an intact leather sweatband and a rather tattered silk upper lining. A maker or retailers name is stamped in the crown which appears to be Oater & Co. Pall Mall London. Overall the helmet is sound, no dents or crushing, just scuffing to the surface from careless handling; just needs a light cleaning. While typing up the description this morning, I carefully folded down the sweatband to see if an owners name might appear. A paper label was found with the following written; 296 Lord Tewkesbury, 2nd Rifles.Doing a quick check on Ancestry, revealed an award of the Afghan Medal 1878-80 with clasps for Ahmed Khel and Kandahar. Additional listings appear in the book, Annals of the King's Royal Rifle Corps 1872-1913, on pages xix (2nd Lt. 1878), xxii (Captain 1888), page 151 when being sent to the 1st Boer War in 1881, page 158 when sent to Gibraltar in 1890, and page 396 index. Certainly a helmet worthy of further research