Uniforms Of The 3/60th Rifles

Guest

Recently, my attention was drawn to this regiment and I couldn't help but feel that its uniform was of a more practical colouring (rifle green and black) than the red jackets of the line infantry, especially in the African terrain, with all its greenery. In Elite's book 'The British Forces In Zululand 1879' the 3/60 Rifles uniform was termed 'extremely sombre', but if I had been in Zululand, I'd have been more than happy to wear it compared to the highly-visible red of the infantry. Surely, it would have made more sense in that environment ?

Subject: Uniforms Of The 3 /60th Rifles Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:27 pm

Hi ColinJ.
Would have made much more sense , but as we now Know ' Sense ' wasnt high on the priority lists of the Victorian Era Armies . Suspect

cheers 90th.

Guest

90th, true. Yes, this uniform would have been practical for the greenery in Africa, and as eventually happened in the British army, khaki for desert areas, much like today. You have to wonder why the red tunics stayed so long, as where could they actually be considered as practical camouflage ? - Mars ! (the red planet) Suspect

Guest

good evening

Given the types of deployments of the time,..

The tactics of the time,,.

The black powder used for weapons of the time,,.

And especially the type of opponents in the Colonial wars that can
not be surprised,..

The color of the uniform did not matter, it was just a matter of tradition to have a particular color of uniform in a regiment ...

And above all for the regiment spirit , the "esprit de corps", like all small
differences uniformology for 13 (I do not count the 3 / 60 rifles and 91 st
Foot with uniforms very special) of the 15 infantry battalions who served in
Zululand;...

Note that the british infantry began to wear red uniforms in the
seventeenth century with the new model army at the time because it was
the color the less expensive ...

And later the red color was abandoned because it had become the most
expensive color ...

As for the color of the uniform of the rifles, as it was in bad qualitée, it
turned black, the uniform of some colonial troops, also changed the color
for the same reason, for example those of the Natal mounted police, which
was turning to brown...

Cheers

Pascal

Guest

Pascal, I do know of the 95th Rifles from the Napoleonic era (thanks to the Sharpe series) who wore a greenish uniform, but never really researched them to see if they also operated as line infantry, as in, companies formed into ranks and volley-firing on the battlefield, or were mostly deployed as 'chosen men' operating as sharpshooters in advance of the main body, concealed in cover or deployed as skirmishers.

Subject: Re: Uniforms Of The 3/60th Rifles Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:57 pm

3rd battalion 60th Kings Royal Rifles 1879
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Guest

Hello Colin

As long as the firearms have a low rate of fire and a small range, rifles were sharpshooter /skirmishers is set ...

For their weapons dispute is that of the infantry ...

They lose this advantage when the infantry is equipped with a majority of rifles just before the Crimean War ...

In Zululand, all the infantry in the same gun, only the bayonets of the rifles are different, a sword bayonet of the type used by the NCO of the other unit of infantry, the firepower is the same for everyone and if the rifles retain their green uniforms, it's just a tradition ...

For the rest,the total of the infantry , after the Crimean War, from the revolt of the sepoys , as also entrained by complet battalions to fight in open order, look Isandhlwana and also on the river inyezane the same day ...The infantry is in open order...

But at the time of Bonaparte the dog , the rifles have rifled carbines that fired twice, well beyond the muskets (but half as fast) so they can sometimes fight in open order, ...

However their bayonets are long enough that the gun with the bayonets, their weapons have the same length as a musket with its bayonet , so they could get a square with the red coats in close order ... As in Waterloo ...

At Waterloo, the rifles that defend "sabliere" are piled on each other and not in open order ...

Cheers

Pascal

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