"British uniforms in the Northwest Frontier." Topic

Hi,
Did the British wear the same red uniforms in Afghanistan as they did in South Africa fighting Zulu's? Thanks….

Which war?

I'd assume 1879,so 2nd,right?

No.

I found this thread had some very helpful info, I was just reading this yesterday regarding British uniforms in Sudan, NWF, AZW.
TMP link

Mikey,can you give a little more information about what you're looking for? NWF covers a lot of years,with a number of changes in uniforms and equipment.

Do you have figures you want to paint,or are you looking for the right figures? What scale? Do you already have Zulu War figs,and want to kmow if you can use them for NWF? Frankly,in that situation, I'd paint some Pathans first, and go ahead and use my Redcoats while I painted the "real" Brits--gaming before "correctness"!

Sorry for the vagueness. I basically want to do Pathans ambushing British, etc… My guess is first Afghan war.

Mikey, I think the Pathans were ambushing the British, with some interruptions, from 1839 until almost the present. The classic period IMO, is between 1879 and 1900. In 1879 (the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War) only a few British units wore their scarlet tunics, notably the 59th Regiment, but most wore khaki drill. But you know, it's your game, your toys, and your rules. If you want your British to wear scarlet, then I say: Go for it.

Sometimes. Khaki was generally issued from about 1880 as summer dress but home service trousers were worn for some years afterward, as were rifle green uniforms for those units, and through at least the 2nd Afghan war the scarlet serge frocks or tunics were carried for cold weather wear, and might be worn with a khaki jacket over it or not. After about 1885 red generally disappears on campaign.

My "Shenanigans in Baluchistan" is set during the Pathan revolt of 1897. Brits and Indian troops were all in khaki by then, though I dressed up the cavalry with their full-dress turbans instead of field khaki (helps me tell the units apart).

Most Pathans wear dirty white, though some wear dark blue or black (depends on tribe/location). You can use green turbans for leaders, as any Muslim wearing a green turban has completed the hajj and would be a leader in his village.

This is the second time I saw the header and thought to myself you were talking about northwest Canada…

I read that the 59th never actually wore red in battle. By the time they were in action, they were in khaki.

I'm late to the party, but just to reiterate much of what's already been said above:

If you do the First Afghan War of 1839-1842, just about all British and Anglo-Indian forces will be wearing red -- or blue -- uniforms.

On the other hand, if you do the "classic" 1878-1880 Second Afghan War era, then very few British and Indian troops will be wearing Home Service dress of red or blue rather than khaki, though there are many notable exceptions.

The 1878-1880 Afghan War is part of what is known as the "transitional" or "mixed" era of Victorian British uniforms and equipment, and a great many British and Indian units wore a mixture of both older colorful Home Service uniform items and khaki uniform items made or at least dyed khaki at the local/regimental level.

By the time the war ended in 1880, the British army in India had officially adopted khaki uniforms for use in the field, and had begun to manufacture and disturbute them to all their forces in India, including those on service in Afghanistan at the time. However it took years before the new khaki uniforms reached all the troops throughout the sub-continent.

Here's a link to another TMP thread from a couple years ago focused on British uniforms for the Second Afghan War in particular. It may be of some use, particularly if it turns out you are thinking of gaming the NWF in the 1870s-1880s…

TMP link

PS Re: the 59th and their home service dress red and blue uniforms… while it's true that they are reported to have switched to khaki by the time of their participation in the battle of Ahmed Khel in April 1880, there are contemporary sketches by an officer of the regt. showing them in "action" near Kandahar, wearing red tunics and blue trousers, earlier in the war. It's also notable that these sketches were NOT made in the Winter, at which time many British regiments wore their warmer home service or dress uniforms, often underneath their khaki ones, for greater protection against the extreme cold.

Also, the 59th Foot, though probably the British Regt. best known for wearing red coats during the Second Afghan War, were not the only ones to do so.

Here's a pic I love showing the 51st Foot after the first battle of the war, Ali Masjid (Nov. 21st, 1878) showing them in Home Service dress red tunics and blue trousers, with khaki puttees and poshteens. Though the officer at the bottom of the photo is in khaki, he's the only one:

I've seen photos from this campaign showing the 72nd and 92nd Highlanders wearing both khaki and scarlet serge in the same pictures, so an obviously variable situation; perhaps different orders of dress depending on assignment or current duty, as well as the time of year?