The dress uniform of officers of the Light Company was distinguished by the gilt shoulder wings, worn instead of the fringed epaulettes of battalion company officers. Wings were also worn by Grenadier Company officers but they differed in that the Light Company had a silver stringed bugle at the top of the wing and Grenadiers had a silver bomb badge. The gold bullion fringe to the wings was larger for captains than for subalterns. The tails of the coatee were the same length for the Light Company as for the other officers but had an embroidered stringed bugle badge at the end of each tail.
A white buffalo leather sword-belt was worn on the right shoulder, having a burnished gilt belt-plate with a silver Britannia figure. Officers of the Light Company were distinguished by the addition of a gilt whistle and chain.
The shako worn in the 1830s differed from the 1820s pattern in that there was no silver lace around the top. It was also two inches lower, 6 inches instead of 8. Up until 1835 the front of the shako was adorned with a swan feather plume for battalion companies, eight inches high, but the Light Company officers and men had a green ball tuft. After 1835 the feather was replaced by a white ball tuft. The large badge on the front of the shako was a combination of the badge worn from the mid-1820s and a larger gilt star. There were two versions of this badge, one version having green enamel battle honours which may have been exclusively for Light Company officers.
The officer has white linen trousers which were worn from 1 May to 14 October. For the rest of the year dark trousers were worn, described as Oxford mixture, with a slim red stripe down the outer seam. The background figures are of interest because the men on the right have tall bearskins, evidence that the Grenadier Company of the 9th East Norfolks wore them at this time. There are two mounted figures on the right who may be the commanding officer and Adjutant, and next to them is the regimental band. On the left are mounted staff officers wearing bicorne hats, and ranks of soldiers stand in the distance.
Regimental Details | Uniforms
