"Royal Artillery field uniforms 2nd Anglo Afghan war?" Topic

I don't seem to have any reference material. Could someone tell me whether blue or are khaki uniforms are accurate?

I would go dark blue jackets and khaki trousers. Certainly that is what they wore in the Gordon Relief expedition.

Khaki helmet, frock and trousers. Khaki puttees for foot, blue puttees for horse artillery. Horse artillery had gold shoulder cords for sergeants, red for lower ranks.

Cheers gentlemen. Greatly appreciated!

There's a photo on p.11 of Osprey Men-at-Arms 72 (North-West Frontier 1837-1947) of "G battery 3rd Royal Artillery 1879-80", part of the Kurram Field Force under General Bobs. Everyone is definitely in khaki from top to bottom, though no-one is wearing puttees in the picture.

However, the same book has a colour plate of an Officer of the RHA who is wearing khaki jacket and blue trousers, as well as a private of the 10th Hussars with khaki jacket, blue trousers and puttees. The notes for the latter say that that was campaign dress for 2nd Afghan.

My notes are from Osprey Men-At-Arms 198 The British Army on Campaign 1816-1902 (3): 1856-1881. Plate G/3 BSM Royal Horse Artillery, 1880. I guess you choose your Osprey and you takes your choice.

The two colour plate ones in Men-at-Arms 72 are both dated 1879, for what it's worth.

Given that one of those is cavalry and the other is an officer, I don't think there's much of a mismatch anyway. The reference to "campaign dress for the Second Afghan War" was in the notes for the Hussar, so may just be referring to that regiment, or to the cavalry.

This 2014 thread may be informative; as usual Mad Guru nails it:

theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=352208

Probably the key point is that this was the war during which the army moved from home service red-and-blue to overseas khaki. Earlier actions would be more likely to see less khaki, while later ones would have more. We're also talking a fairly long period – 1878 through to 1881, so time of year and weather played a part (the woollen serge home service issue was far warmer than the cotton drill khaki).

My impression from my reading is that home service trousers were more prevalent than khaki trousers in the army during this time, in this place, and that home service uniform was worn particularly in cold weather, sometimes under the khaki uniform. So really, you can't go far wrong no matter what you choose.

Lots of great replies with valuable info above!

Here's a LINK to a prior TMP thread on the same subject with some period reference photos and pics of figures:

TMP link

EDIT: WHOOPS -- Mrinku beat me to it, sorry for the redundant reply!!!

Rereading The British Army on Campaign 1816-1902 (3): 1856-1881, I was reminded that the khaki worn during the early part of the 2nd Afghan War was actually the white cotton "hot weather" uniform dyed khaki in the local bazaar. Then I found this on page 39: "Towards the end of the war a means of producing permanently dyed khaki drill was devised in India. Troops in the field received suits of this material, an improvement with important implications for the future."

I have never been able to make up my mind. Below are examples of uniforms that I have used for the 2nd Afghan War. The figure with the blue leggings is what I use for Horse Artillery but sometimes they are used as regular foot artillery.Sorry for the blurry photo.