British and German Sailor 1870-1910 Examples

[ErikB]

I'm looking for some examples of German colonial-era sailors and of English of the same period (1870-1910ish).

I have some of those great Copplestone Casting British sailors and I'd like to paint some British and some German colonial.

Oh - does anyone know why sailor uniforms always seem to have that handkerchief around the neck and making a square on the back and shoulders?

[carlos marighela]

Various theories and myths abound , including that it was to keep, the blouse clean when wearing pigtails. Most likely explanation is that it developed from a simple knotted kerchief around the neck. Over the years layers of mythology surrounding matelot's clobber have grown up, like teh number of creases in their bell bottoms represents the seven seas or that the white stripes boredring the scarf represent the great victories of Nelson. That latter one is quite funny as the Russians apparently have the exact same story about their own version, except of course they are Russian naval victories.  It's all a load of balls actually.

[argsilverson]

I'm looking for some examples of German colonial-era sailors and of English of the same period (1870-1910ish).

I have some of those great Copplestone Casting British sailors and I'd like to paint some British and some German colonial.

Oh - does anyone know why sailor uniforms always seem to have that handkerchief around the neck and making a square on the back and shoulders?

not images at hand now, but the inly visible difference is the hat. the german has a cockade. In general they are the same.
usually british of the time wear blues, even in the tropics, while germans might be also in white, blue or mixed uniform.
Nice german sailors are available from Brigade games in their WW1 in Africa range, also there are from redoubt (-austrians , that might work as germans,too), old glory even at their bag from Boxer rebellion range titled naval artillery crews, and maybe some other I do not remember by heart. Be careful with this bag: it is a random selection and you can find sailors suitable for english, german or french -with their red pom-poms! British sailors might also be found "hidden" in ranges like Sudan Naval brigades. Excellent from photos seem to be The Perry ones, with more diversity in their poses.

A good reference for painting is the Naval brigade packs from Sudan range of the perrys Miniatures.
 http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index2.html
An excellent site with naval uniforms of the Imperial german navy and german colonial uniforms are here:
http://www.sacktrick.com/igu/germancolonialuniforms/german%20navy%20other%20ranks.htm

[ErikB]

Cool.  Thanks for the answers, folks.

A cockade is that little dot of color on a hat, right? 

Brits have their ship name on the black band, Germans have a dot/cockade of national color?  Is this right?

As for that kerchief, kinda makes sense in the days before electric clippers.  Easier to have and wash one or two kerchiefs than the whole uniform shirt.

Another question - I've seen minis painted with mixed white and blue paths and jacket for units I would expect to be in one color.  Could this be as simple as guys many miles from home wearing the piece of uniform that are available?  Say, a white shirt and blue pants are all that are not worn out at the moment?

[Plynkes]

Yes, a cockade is the circular symbol of two or more colours, a similar kind of thing as you see on the planes of some air forces.

The Germans have the cockade in Imperial colours (black/white/red) on their hat and also a ship name, just like the Brits.


I'm not sure of the reason, but you do sometimes see a mix of white (summer) and blue (winter) uniforms in groups of sailors on the same photo, and very occasionally such a mix on a single sailor. I suppose it would come down to how fussy the officers on a particular ship were about how uniform they wanted their men to be.

[Ming]

According to the memoirs of Cpt Schlieper of SMS Hansa, the German Naval contingent in the Seymour Expedition fought in their blue winter clothing as it had 'not been feasible' to unload their whites in time. Apparently though, they did wear sun helmets. I'm not a purist, mix & match I say.

[ErikB]

Mix and match, good.  Thanks, guys.

Strange - on a ship their idea of dirty seems to be very different from being in the field.  I can't imagine a soldier with that kerchief covering the upper back on account of dandruff or whatnot coming off the scalp.

Another question - why did the British navy (and others) seem to have longer hair than land forces?  As I recall, they shaved our heads in the Army partially for psychological reasons and partially on account of lice, fleas and other yucky things that would infest one's scalp. 

It would seem to me that this would be of at least equal importance on a ship as those enclosed spaces could really encourage an infestation.

[timg]

Another reason apparently for the silk scarf was that it is descended from when the crew wore neck scarves to tie around their ears to try to protect their hearing during a battle, another example of somethign practical becoming an item of uniform over the years.

[carlos marighela]

Mix and match, good.  Thanks, guys.

Strange - on a ship their idea of dirty seems to be very different from being in the field.  I can't imagine a soldier with that kerchief covering the upper back on account of dandruff or whatnot coming off the scalp.

Another question - why did the British navy (and others) seem to have longer hair than land forces?  As I recall, they shaved our heads in the Army partially for psychological reasons and partially on account of lice, fleas and other yucky things that would infest one's scalp. 

It would seem to me that this would be of at least equal importance on a ship as those enclosed spaces could really encourage an infestation.

Dandruff is one thing, it can be brushed off. The tar that was traditionally used to coat and hold the pigtail is quite another, hence the kerchief. And of course sailors being sailors, always have a range of appropriate hair care products.

[ErikB]

They used tar on their hair?  Please explain. 

I'm imagining someone putting that stinky tar/asphalt that we use for streets in their hair.  That can't be the same thing.

[former user]

here some pictures from a book
officer and enlisted men respectively