infantry
of the line
For a larger image and the ordering codes please click on the photo. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader then please click the logo above for a download.
Alternatively contact us either by the Enquiry or Contact page and we can send you original copies through the post.
Numbers shown are for our standard boxed sets. All figures can be supplied in any quantity to enable the collector to create a particular parade formation.
INFANTRY OF THE LINE named from the early days of the Army when foes fought each other in a line. The two branches of the Army were known as either Regiments of Horse or Regiments of Foot eventually being numbered from the date of inception onto the Establishment. The Infantry Regiments were raised as war necessitated and were usually known by their Colonel's name being disbanded at the cessation of hostilities. As the requirement for a larger Standing Army grew more Regiments were kept on the Establishment. Unlike the Scottish Regiments the remainder of the British Infantry all wore the same uniform of red jacket and blue trousers only distinguished by the facing colours of the collar and cuffs and the shape of the headdress or plume attached to it. During the fighting the black gunpowder used for the Brown Bess musket of the line and the guns of the Artillery produced a thick smoke. A full Regiment of 1,000 men had a frontage of about 800 feet and in the smoke and din of the battle the Colours were the rallying point for the men. If the colours were lost it had a disastrous effect as the cohesion would not exist to enable the soldiers to identify their own Colour, and, to prove that all was well the Colours were trooped every evening, laid up in the Officer's mess and trooped again in the morning. Various forms of ceremonial dress are shown in our range of Infantry and all the Regiments of the Army have worn the side hat, forage cap, beret and Blue No1 Dress in different eras. In 1881 the Regular Infantry of the British Army consisted of 109 Regiments of Foot and the Rifle Brigade. The Cardwell reforms saw an amalgamation of many Regiments combining two single Battalion Regiments to form one two Battalion Regiment under a new territorial title and designated recruiting area with a simplification of facings.
The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)(4th Foot) raised in 1680, the distinctions of a Royal Regiment can be seen in the blue of the facings and the Regimental Colour, the Royal colours of blue, yellow and red in the bugle cords and the wide red body of the blue forage or No1 dress cap. The Colours depicted were presented at Calcutta on 30th December 1905. In 1959 they amalgamated with the Border Regiment [34th & 55th Foot] to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment.
The Lancashire Fusiliers (20th Foot) raised in 1688, the uniform shown is the Raccoon or Sealskin Fusilier cap with a primrose yellow plume on the left, scarlet jacket with white facings. Bugle cords of all Light Infantry and all non Royal Regiments to be green. The Colours depicted were presented at Dublin on 1st August 1859 when the regimental facings were yellow. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers [later the 7th Foot], raised in 1685 and the Royal Scots Fusiliers were the only Regiments which had literally been Fusiliers, armed exclusively with the new Fusil, a superior and handier type of flintlock musket. This was a special issue, when other Regiments were still using matchlocks, as the original purpose of the Fusiliers was to provide escorts for the Artillery, the fuse of the matchlock emitted sparks which sometimes blew up the gunner's powder barrels. The other Fusilier Regiments were Northumberland, Royal Welch, Royal Inniskilling, Royal Irish, Royal Munster & Royal Dublin and were, at various dates, granted the title and the head dress as a special distinction, without involving any change from the function of a normal Infantry Regiment. The Lancashire Fusiliers amalgamated with three other Fusilier Regiments in 1969 to form the present Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
The South Wales Borderers [24th Foot] raised in 1689, the Regiment has one of the most remarkable histories in the British Army, having twice been almost annihilated, at Chillianwallah in 1849 where 23 Officers and 527 men were killed or wounded and in 1879 at Isandhlwana where the losses in killed alone reached the appalling figure of 21 Officers and 590 men. A silver wreath of Immortelles is borne on the staff of the Queen's Colour to commemorate the devoted gallantry of Lieutenants Melville and Coghill in attempting to save the Colours from the hands of the Zulus and as a tribute to the gallant defence of Rorke's Drift. The Colours depicted were presented at Gibraltar in 1880 to replace the ones lost at Isandhlwana. It was the fashion for Bandsmen, Drummers & Buglers of Line Regiments when wearing the Home Service Pattern Helmet to have the chin scales looped up, the remainder of the Regiment wearing the scales under the chin when on parade. The Regimental march is 'Men of Harlech'. In 1968 the SWB amalgamated with the Welch Regiment to form the Royal Regiment of Wales.
The East Surrey Regiment [31st & 70th Foot] with white facings, here wearing the Field Service [side] Hat. The Colours of the 1st Battalion were presented at Aldershot on 26th May 1903 and have the red St George's Cross on the facing colour [ you couldn't have a white flag], but the Colours of the 2nd Battalion were unusual as they were black with a red St George Cross, the facing colour of the old 70th Foot and were presented at Aldershot in 1867. Amalgamated in 1959 with the Queen's [Royal West Surrey Regiment] to form the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment and in 1966 amalgamated to become The 1st Bn, Queen's Regiment; in 1992 amalgamation with the Royal Hampshire Regiment resulted in The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
The Royal Berkshire Regiment [49th & 66th Foot] here wearing the No1 Dress ceremonial uniform devised for the 1937 Coronation with the Forage Cap. Apart from the red cap band these could be any regiment or Corps of the period. The Colours depicted were presented at Windsor in 1956. In 1959 they amalgamated with the Wiltshire Regiment to form the Duke of Edinburgh's Regiment; in 1992 a further amalgamation with the Gloucestershire Regiment resulted in the longest Regimental name, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
The King's Royal Rifle Corps (60th Foot). In 1797 the 5th Battalion of the 60th Foot were raised as an experimental unit armed with the Baker Rifle. The existing musket was inaccurate so, for effect, it had to be fired in volleys at close quarters. The new rifle was a more accurate weapon so aimed shots could be fired at individuals and, to take advantage of this, the riflemen wore a green uniform to gain some degree of camouflage and they went ahead of the Line. They were used as shock troops and marched at a faster rate than the rest of the Army. Rifle Regiments NEVER had colours, amalgamation in 1968 with the Ox & Bucks LI and The Rifle Brigade resulted in the Royal Greenjackets.
The Parachute Regiment proud wearers of the unique 'red beret', being the most recent of the Infantry Regiments, the Band is shown here in No1 Dress Blues and the universal beret. Apart from the colour differences this could be any Regiment of the period. The Colour Party and men [not shown] wear the No2 Dress and carry the FN Rifle.
