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Metcalfe Military History
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Welcome to my website dedicated to military history, with a focus on the British Army around the late Victorian to Great War period.
I respectfully ask that any information used from this site is referenced accordingly.
Site Launched 1st July 2020
Latest Posts
Late Victorian Infantry Tunic of a Gloucestershire Regiment Petty Criminal
I was fortunate enough to stumble across this late Victorian infantry tunic whilst browsing online late one evening. Whilst I originally had no intention of purchasing it from the antique dealer who had listed it for sale, I was intrigued by the stamping inside, which led to a quick check for who the original ownerContinue reading “Late Victorian Infantry Tunic of a Gloucestershire Regiment Petty Criminal”
Wound Stripes
A common question when looking at WW1 British photographs is “what is that stripe/bar on the lower left arm?” These vertical bars are known as Wound Stripes, and were awarded to those wounded during the Great War. The Wound Stripes were first approved under Army Order 249 of 1916, published on the 6th July 1916.Continue reading “Wound Stripes”
The Curious Case of Private Trigg
“Between 7 and 7:30a.m. the sentries saw through their periscopes a man, dressed in British uniform, carrying a rifle, and wearing his equipment less pack, in front of our wire moving towards the German lines along the extreme western edge of the craters.” Report Written by Brigadier General C J Deverell, commanding 20th Infantry BrigadeContinue reading “The Curious Case of Private Trigg”