2nd Afghan War - The Great Puttee Debate

[SirRoystonPapworth]

Sorry to raise this one again… I know it re occurs on a semi regular basis..

Ok, so according to the latest theory, one supported by the Perrys and Colonel Snook, the 66th wore blue puttees at Maiwand. Reasoning being that blue ones would be produced to match winter clothes and khaki uniforms were just dyed white clothes so you wouldn’t get khaki puttees.

This sounds reasonable to me.

So, based on this logic, is this also the case for other British regiments, such as the 67th & 17th? And would the RB then have green?


However, in this case why do Indian regiments have khaki puttees and why do the British units in the Sudan who have them, have khaki puttees?

So many questions and so much confusion… 

[guitarheroandy]

Interesting - I thought it was only the officers of the 66th who wore blue puttees, rank & file wearing darker khaki/brown ones. At least that was what my research turned up when I painted a 'Last Eleven' diorama for the cover of Wargames Soldiers & Strategy some 12 years ago. Can't remember where I read it now though... And of course you cite 'recent' research which mine certainly is not, so I'm probably way out of date!

[SirRoystonPapworth]

Thanks anyway Andy,

Ill try and track down the post referencing this, but I think the original was on the Victorian Wars Forum, which I think is long gone…

[TWD]

Discussed here a while ago...
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=100104.0

[SirRoystonPapworth]

Yep, thanks TWD. That was the thread that sent me back down the rabbit hole..

It’s a shame the VW Forum has gone, I did make a note at the time, but the Colonel’s logic implies that no one would have khaki puttees because:

“Forced to gamble a large sum of money one way or the other I would plump for blue, on the grounds that blue trousers existed, whereas khaki ones didn't - they were white items dyed to dirty colours as an expedient.“

[Deedles]

If you struggle to find it in books / internet etc then others will too . Go with what you feel  is right ( or what looks right !). Supply services may not have ever been consistent or reliable etc . Your army your choices

[SirRoystonPapworth]

Deedles, you are right. It’s just I’ve put off painting these chaps for so long, I want to be as accurate as possible and I would hate for someone to come along a week later and say, oh those are wrong…

[carlos marighela]

I would question the assumption that khaki cloth did not exist or was solely the result of dyeing whites.

By the time of the 2nd Afghan War there were plenty of Indian regiments wearing 'drab' uniforms, essentially khaki, and had been doing some for around a decade. These included drab puttees. There are also contemporaneous depictions of non drab attired Indian regiments wearing khaki puttees in field service order. As an example Mollo's The Indian Army  p.119 has a period watercolour of the 10th BNI wearing red tunics with khaki puttees. Similarly the 3rd Punjaub Infantry who were in drab at this time are wearing khaki puttees (p130).

On balance it is likely that what was readily available would be used, such as blue but it's also clear that there was common usage among Indian regiments and thus there must have been a source of material for khaki or drab puttees and it seems to have been preferred even when other options were available, so khaki is just as valid an option IMO.

[olicana]

As Carlos alludes to…

Although not exactly related, this reminds me of the difference between the regulations for issue and actual nature of the issue often confusing the issue. Which is an issue.

One such circumstance is the British infantry changeover from white to grey trousers during the Napoleonic wars. From memory: According to regulations, this officially happened in 1810 but, due to stockpiles of white trousers and contracts for the production of white trousers that were still in the pipeline, grey trousers did not become truly standard issue for most regiments until around 1814.

[SirRoystonPapworth]

Thanks gents, I guess I’ll try to stress less about it.

Blue for the 66th, khaki for the others..