19th Royal Hussars

19th Royal Hussars, another Sudan era unit, figure by Perry, painted for me by Leuthen Studios. Note the corduroy breeches and greyish tunics with which the 19th were equipped.

Trumpeter, 19th Hussars

Trumpeter, 19th Hussars

Officer, 19th Hussars

10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Hussars

10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Hussars, Perry Miniatures painted for me by Leuthen Studios. This unit is dressed in the Indian Service uniforms they also wore in the Sudan.

Officer, 10th Hussars

Trumpeter, 10th Hussars

Trooper, 10th Hussars

Royal Artillery, Second Afghan War

Royal Artillery 6-horse team

I needed to give my British troops some more fire-power. I have used the Foundry colonial artillery limber and crew and Empress Miniature's excellent 7lb and 9lb guns and gunners from their Zulu War range.

This set must surely have been inspired by Richard Caton Woodville's famous painting, "Saving the Guns at the Battle of Maiwand".

Gunners riding limber

Gunners aiming 9lb Field Gun

Gunners aiming 9lb Field Gun

7lb field Gun

The officer is from Perry Miniatures Sudan War range.

Mounted officer, Royal Artillery

Army Medical Service circa 1880

The Army Medical Service was formed in 1873. It was not particularly successful or popular and in 1898 it was reformed again to become the Royal Army Medical Corps.

I wanted to use the Perry Sudan War medics set for both the Sudan War and Indian/NW Frontier service. The uniforms depicted in the following images are fairly accurate for the Sudan.

In India and Afghanistan they may have worn khaki. However I'm assuming at the time of the Second Afghan War they were probably still wearing Home Service uniforms with the addition of the ubiquitous Foreign Service helmet.

Thanks to Jeff Lower who helped me with the red trim and arm badges.

Imperial Infantry, Second Afghan War 1878-80

Imperial Infantry, Second Afghan War 1878-80

I have been intrigued by an illustration entitled "Route Marching 2nd Battalion Queen's 1879 Peshawa, India". This shows British infantry in the transitional khaki tunic with home service blue trousers with red stripe and covered foreign service helmet. The 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Battalion The Queen’s (Second) Royal, Regiment of Foot, were both in Afghanistan at this time and the illustration could be of either regiment, despite the title, and they were ultimately amalgamated. With these illustrations in mind, I asked Carl Robson to swap the Perry Sudan War infantry head with covered helmet, with the Pontoonier Miniatures British Infantry body. This was from expert advise I received from Ethan "Mad Guru" Reiff to create the "definitive" British infantry from the Second Afghan War. Ethan encourage me to commission the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot of Maiwand fame. I wasn't sure how this experiment would turn out, so in deference to the memory of the 66th, I asked Carl to paint the Queen's instead. I am very pleased with the result. The swap enables the figure to carry the correct equipment for this war and to have an appropriate helmet.  The pouches were black leather, not the white shown below, but this gives an idea of how the equipment looked.

Colonial Collection

Here are a couple of photos of the Imperial forces in their display cabinet.

Imperial Cavalry

Sikh platoons

Punjab Frontier Force: No1 Kohat Mountain Battery

The Mountain Batteries that fought on the NW Frontier are themselves very colorful units. I have chosen the No.1 Kohat Mountain Battery based at Abbotabad under the command of Captain A C Fergusson, RA.

The next image is of an actual battery in action. It comes from the Victorian Wars Forum where it was kindly posted by Alex. Thank you Alex for this priceless old photo.

Peshawar Mountain Battery in Action, Kuram Valley, N. W.Frontier India

For my battery, I used the Wargames Foundry Sikh Mountain Battery. The steel gun is a 2.5 inch RML (rifled muzzle loader), also called a 7 pounder for the shell it fired.

Sikh gunners of No.1 Kohat Mountain Battery

No.1 Kohat Mountain Battery served with Lord Roberts at Peiwar Kotal and saw heavy action at Kabul during the Second Afghan War of 1878-80.

Sikh Mountain Battery gunner

Queen's Own Corps of Guides, Punjab Frontier Force: Cavalry

For the Mounted troops of the Queen's Guides, I used Perry Sudan Campaign figures, substituting swords for lances for the troopers. The Guides officer's silk pugree is more elaborate than most Imperial officers.

Queen's Own Corps of Guides, Punjab Frontier Force: Cavalry

Lieutenant Walter Hamilton, Queen's Own Corps of Guides

Lieutenant Walter Hamilton, Queen's Own Corps of Guides

Lieutenant Walter Hamilton, Queen's Own Corps of Guides

Jemadar Jewand Singh

Sowar

Sowar

Sowars