Native Regiment uniforms at Maiwand 1880 - help!

[traveller]

Anyone have pictures of the uniforms used at Maiwand by the 1st Bombay Grenadiers and Jacob's Rifles (130th Baluchis). Greatful for any help or comment!

[Mad Guru]

Hi Traveller,

For the 1st Bombay Grenadiers, here's a link to a post I did years ago on my Maiwand Day blog re: converting headgear on slightly later era Perry Sudan Bengal/Bombay Infantry to more accurately look the part:

http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2011/06/full-unit-conversion-2-1st-bombay.html

Here's a pic of the standard bearers from the finished unit:



And here's a nice visual reference for the unit at the time of Maiwand from the Osprey Indian Infantry Regiments 1860-1914 book, wearing service dress rather than khaki field dress:




Re: 30th Bombay Native Infantry (Jacob's Rifles)...

I was never able to find a specific reference re: what the 30th wore on the day of Maiwand, but here are details of their uniform at the time, from W.Y. Carman's "Indian Army Uniforms, Infantry:

Dark Green uniforms with scarlet trousers.
Dark green pugri with green fringe and a red kullah.

Carman says the regt. was made up of Belochis, and he is generally a very accurate source, so that is probably the case, but I have never read it anywhere else.

It's virtually certain that the 30th wore khaki jackets at Maiwand in place of green or scarlet, as was almost always the case in the field at that time, especially in the hot Summer.

For my version of the 30th I was inspired by some photos showing later (c.1900) uniforms of the same unit to give them green puttees, which I don't recall had any basis in fact for the c.1880 uniform.  If you don't accept the premise of the unit being made up of Belochis, then they really should wear turbans more like those I gave my 1st Bombay Grenadiers, with their red kullahs prominently on display.  Here are a couple of pics of the finished unit, for which I used Perry Sudan Sikh Infantry:





For future reference,here's a link to the very useful British Empire website page on Indian Infantry:

http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyuniforms/indianinfantrymenu.htm

...and one to Garen Ewings IMHO indespensible Second Afghan War website's page listing all British and Indian units that served in the Second Afghan War:

http://www.garenewing.co.uk/angloafghanwar/waroffice/regiments.php

***NOTE: Things have changed for the better since 2010 when I built my own Maiwand armies, and Artizan now has Second Afghan War figures whose turbans don't require extensive conversion in order to play the part of 1st Bombay Grenadier headgear!

[traveller]

Mad Guru,

Many thanks for your response and all the interesting references which I will study. I was planning to build forces for a skirmish scenario covering the events before the final stand of the 66th. I assume there must have been a mix of soldiers from the 66th and the native regiments fighting together during the retreat towards the village ruins.

[Mad Guru]

GREAT idea for a project, Traveller!

In that case you might consider focusing on Lt. Henn of the Royal Engineers and his company of Bombay Sappers & Miners, who fought heroically throughout the battle and were present in substantial numbers (they started out as only one company of approx. 70 men) under their commanding officer at the "Last Stand" in the gardens of Khig, where they took almost 100% casualties.

Their appearance is relatively certain: blue lungi with a yellow stripe, worn over a red kullah, khaki uniform with blue puttees.

I used Eureka's Punjabi Pioneer figures, available here:

http://eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=1796

...a few of which come with tools in hand, the rest with a pick or shovel to glue to their bare backs, as pictured here:



It is arguable that at Maiwand, Henn's Company's picks, shovels, and other tools would have been travelling with the baggage, but I prefered to make their appearance more distinctive.  The Eureka figures are nice, but another way to go would be to use Perry or Artizan or whoever's Indian Infantry straight up, or to glue some sourced or scratchbuilt tools to their backs.

[abelp01]

Hi Madguru, love your work on your Maiwand day blog, even made a couple of sangars per your tutorial.
Any chance you would have a source for the 66th flag in1880? I assume they weren't taken into the field, but  I still would like to have a standard bearer in my TSATF platoon. Thanks for your time.

[thequestingvole]

Great stuff MD, I have some HAT Indian infantry that are in need of a lick of paint. I might steal that paint scheme.

[Mad Guru]

Thanks very much for the compliments abelp01 and questiongvole!

Re: 66th Regt. standards... back in 2010 during the lead-up to my 130th Anniversary Maiwand game I did a lot of research on regimental flags for the 66th and also for the 1st and 30th Bombay Native Inf., and then had them made to my specifications by Rick O'Brien, aka: the Flag Dude.

As many are aware, Rick does incredible work.  Unfortunately he was injured in a motorcycle accident a while ago and it put most of his hobby-related work on hold.  He is now getting back into the swing of things though, and I'm happy to report I was recently able to contact him by phone and place a small order for a pair of flags I need for my c.1840 "Bala Hissar or Bust!" What-If game.  I know he is backed up with old orders and I'm not sure if he is even able to receive new emails at the moment, but he told me he'd be replying to old emails and making room for new ones this coming week, after attending the HMGS Cold Wars convention in Lancaster, Pennsylvania this weekend.

The point of my rambling above is that I think you should be able to order any of those sets of regimental colours -- 66th (Berkshires), 1st Bombay Grenadiers (which like those of the better-known 66th are specifically mentioned in at least one contemporary record as being lost when the Anglo-Indian fighting line was broken at Maiwand), and 30th Bombay/Jacob's Rifles (which I've never seen mention of being carried at the battle but included in my version of the unit nonetheless) -- from Rick, IF you are able to reach him.  I would suggest attempting a phone-call, though I realize that could be a bit of a challenge from the UK or Europe.  But hopefully by the end of this coming week he will be replying to orders via email as well.  No garauntee of course, and I know some aspiring customers have been frustrated by long wait times for his products, for which I sympathize, but I myself have only had positive experiences doing business with him.

Here's a link to his site.  His phone # is listed on the CONTACT page:

http://www.flagdude.com

[abelp01]

Thanks for your response M G, I was hoping to find an image of it online and print it out to a visual proportion and then glue it onto a metal foil background and be done with it.
I've spent quite a bit of time searching for it, but to no avail! I was you or someone who might read this might be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks again!

[traveller]

Mad Guru,

Thanks for the advice on the engineers. That might be an interesting addition. Looking for these pointed Kullahs, are there any loose heads available out there? (I lack the skills to imitate the Mad Gurus conversions )

[Mad Guru]

You have a couple of easy choices...

1)  just buy the relatively new Artizan Designs Punjabi Infantry, as seen here, for use as 1st Bombay Grenadiers:



Perhaps their kullahs are a bit high for Bombay Infantry, but I'm not even sure if that's the case, and if you want to reduce them a bit, it's pretty easy to use a file or some sandpaper.

2) buy a few packs of the Woodbine Designs WWI Indian "Hindu" head sprues, which are sadly no longer on view on the approrpiate page of the Gripping Beast website, but here's a link if you want to give them a try:

http://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/IND17_Head_Sprues--product--4060.html

It's 5 x Hindu or Sikh heads for about 1GBP, and then I suppose you would swap them onto Perry Sudan Bombay/Bengal Inf. bodies.  I don't know how well they would match up, but might be worth a try.  I remember discovering the Hindu heads when they were still visible online but after I had already converted my 20+ Bombay Grenadiers, and feeling a bit bummed out over having not known about them earlier.

 

[traveller]

Thanks for the links!

I have already the Foundry Sikhs:

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/darkest-africa/british/

in my leadpile so I Think I will take a look at the Woodbine heads 

[Mad Guru]

If you will be using Foundry Sikhs as basis for your conversions, you Could consider using heads from the Foundry Guides, which of course were made by the same sculptor, are the exact same size/scale, and look the part with kullahs in their turbans.  Of course a matching set of figures to decapitate will cost much more than a set of spare heads, but they might be a better fit.

[traveller]

If you will be using Foundry Sikhs as basis for your conversions, you Could consider using heads from the Foundry Guides, which of course were made by the same sculptor, are the exact same size/scale, and look the part with kullahs in their turbans.  Of course a matching set of figures to decapitate will cost much more than a set of spare heads, but they might be a better fit.

Good point! I actually have some guides as well but my heart cries if I have to put them under the knife