The 1st Battalion the Norfolk Regiment left Ireland in April 1882 and were stationed at Colchester where this photo was taken. They were there until July 1884. This photo shows the band in their recently issued dress tunics. Up until 1881 the regiment wore red tunics with yellow facings but after that date the English non-royal infantry regiments were ordered to conform to a standard red tunic with white facings. The cuffs were changed from pointed to round. The dress tunics are here worn with undress glengarry caps.
The band sergeant sits in the centre, wearing an officer-style peaked forage cap. His tunic is laced with gold, including the shoulder wings showing that he is a staff sergeant. He has three gold lace chevrons with an embroidered band badge on his right arm only, and a musketry proficiency badge on his left forearm. Another sergeant stands on the left of the picture, Both sergeants have a crimson sash on their right shoulder but the standing sergeant is of lower status, having no gold lace on his tunic. Neither sergeant has a white shoulder-belt on the left shoulder.
The large bass drum was only used by the band, not the corps of drums. The man who carried it was called a time-beater, and lies next to the drums wearing a white apron. The man lying on the other side is not a band member, he is from the corps of drums as can be seen by his tunic which has drummers’ lace down the front and back of his sleeves. The shoulder wings also have this lace as well as a red and white fringed edge. The drum carriage on his right shoulder is for the side drum placed in front of the bass drum.
Regimental Details | Band and Drummers
