Castrated Highlanders?

[Jon Suth]

On the plastic soldier review website, I read with interest part of the review of HATs new colonial highlanders:

"A good starting point when dating regular infantry is to look at their belts and equipment. In this set only one man is in full marching order – appropriately enough, the marching figure. He is wearing full 1871 valise type kit with the valise below the waist, which immediately gives us a date to work with, although it took several years for the older kit to be replaced throughout the Empire. Missing is the ball bag, the extra ammunition pouch that was worn under the right ammunition pouch when in full marching order. The rest of the men have a much lighter burden, as you might expect when actually in combat. They all wear a haversack (supported over the right shoulder) and a canteen (supported over the left). Their waistbelts support the standard two ammunition pouches at the front, but they have no braces. At the back there is another large rectangular ammunition pouch which is supported on the waist belt. This is not part of the 1871 kit, and while the ball bag should be worn here when the valise is missing this model is clearly not the ball bag but a rather earlier type of pouch. While such an item appears in many illustrations it is always carried over the shoulder, as had been done since the days of Wellington, so this item is a mistake. Furthermore its place should have been taken by the kidney-shaped mess tin that is missing here. Finally no one has a bayonet scabbard, even though most have a bayonet currently fixed. "

[valleyboy]

[Peewee]

Ouch!
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Anyone fancy a snog?

[Arthur]

And much schoolboy humour ensued...
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'But apart from the roads, the schools, the sewer system and the efficient administration, what have the Romans ever done for us ?'