The Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion KOSB wears the recently issued Kilmarnock Bonnet cocked, worn since 1903. It is titled to the right and has the tail feathers of a black grouse tucked behind the badge. The other recent change to the uniform is the Leslie tartan of his trews which the 1st Battalion received on their return to the UK from South Africa in 1903. The only other regiment that wore this style of uniform (apart from the Leslie tartan) was the Royal Scots.
The scarlet dress doublet is officer quality and has gold lace and braid similar to the company officers’ doublets, apart from the shoulder straps which are scarlet instead of gold cord. His collar badges are embroidered and he has an embroidered crown rank badge on his right forearm. His sword is an officer’s broadsword, sometimes called a claymore. The scabbard is attached to a waist-belt; this differs from the officers who carry their swords attached to a shoulder-belt.
Officers wore a crimson sash on the left shoulder but sergeants and Warrant Officers such as the RSM, wore theirs on the right shoulder. The medals are the green and crimson ribboned India Medal 1895-1902 which would have a clasp for TIRAH 1897-98. The 2nd Battalion served in that campaign so he must have changed to the 1st Battalion which fought in the South African War, earning him the other two medals, the Queen’s (Victoria) and King’s Edward VII) South African Medals.
The illustration is by Olaf MacLeod, taken from his book Their Glory Shall Not be Blotted Out: The Last Full Dress Uniform of the British Army (Lutterworth Press 1986)
