Non Australian slouch hats. How the world wears it

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Australia did not invent the slouch hat or the turned up brim (leaf).

Troops from other armies all over the world have worn similar hats for hundreds of years.

This is a painting of an Austrian artillery man of 1800.

	The slouch hat was worn a lot during the American Civil War. Many soldiers, even up to General rank, turned up one leaf and wore some sort of feather, cockade or embellishment.
US Army, American Civil War, Officer's slouch hat		Confederate States, American Civil war, Officer's slouch hat


The New Zealanders of WW1 also wore a slouch hat. Their orders required that it be worn 'Brim: horizontal. Crown: dented with a crease running from front to rear. The regimental flash to be sewn on both sides of the puggaree.	This proud Gurkha with his famous kukri knife wears a slouch hat with the brim ironed while wet to make it rigid. Gurka hat s are made with a thicker brim because it is a matter of Unit pride that their brims are always perfectly level.	Cape Town, South Africa. 1901. Private Frederick James Purvis, Cape Town Guards, British Army. Later, after emigrating to Australia he served with C Company, 44th (Riverina) Infantry Regiment training Senior Cadets during WW1. (Donor J. Robinson) AWM

1900 - Mr E.G. Mardon called a meeting in Bristol on 15th March 1900 to raise a new battalion of volunteers. Field-Marshall Lord Roberts, VC was appointed its' Honorary Colonel. Originally the new regiment was to be called The City of Bristol Artillery Volunteers, but the War Office did not want more artillery units. It was agreed to form the 3rd Volunteer Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment. The official date of formation was 24th August 1900.

Lieut-Colonel G.E. McClellan (late 3rd Dragoon Guards) was appointed Commanding Officer. By the end of the year 900 men had enrolled. The Regiment's uniform was khaki with red facings, a red stock, cord breeches, leather leggings and a slouch hat adorned with plumes of feathers! A leather bandolier was also worn. The officers uniform was heavily braided with silver lace.

Drills were held at Bedminster Police Station, Queen's Square, and Kingsdown Baths. A Headquarters building was purchased in November 1900. The crest adopted for the Regiment was: The Arms of the City of Bristol, surmounted by a Sphinx, superscribed "Egypt". The Colt Gun Company loaned a Colt Gun to the Battalion. Awarded 11 battle honours: France & Flanders 1915-17. Ypres 1917. Langemarck 1917. Somme 1916. Albert 1916. Pozieres. Broodseinde. Poelcapelle. Italy 1917-18. Piave. Vittorio-Veneto. Died in WW1: 40 officers and 469 men.

Lt Rodgers 3rd Volunteer Battalion 1900

Colonel W H Mackennon, City (of London) Imperial Volunteers.

The City Imperial Volunteers (CIV) were a separate Regiment raised from London volunteers in December,1899 by the then Lord Mayor of London, Sir Alfred James Newton, and consisted of about 1,700 Officers and men each of whom was made a Freeman of London in a blaze of publicity on enlistment. The Mayor was later made a Baronet.

Colonel W H Mackennon, later to be Major General with GCB, was their CO and is the guy in the picture. He was quite famous in the Boer War. They were a short lived Regiment who left for South Africa in January 1900 and were back in London on October 29th of that year having performed well considering half of them came from the middle classes and were known as the gentlemen soldiers.

City of London Imperial Volunteers 1900.

The CIVs were raised in December 1899 by the Lord Mayor of London and were fully equipped at the expense of the City Corporation. The Regiment which was recruited entirely from men serving in the Volunteer Regiments in the London area comprised two Companies of Mounted Infantry, one Battalion of Infantry and one Battery of Field Artillery. The Regiment embarked for South Africa in January 1900 and entered Pretoria on June 5th 1900. The picture shows a Volunteer of the Infantry Battalion.

Lieutenant William John Berry, the commanding officer of the Napier Guards Rifle Volunteers, enlisted in the Third (NZ) Contingent on 10 February 1900. Berry was a 29 year-old saddler who was married with two children. He sailed from Lyttelton on 17 February 1900 amid scenes of great excitement, but fell ill shortly after his arrival in South Africa, dying of pneumonia in Johannesburg on 10 June 1900.
New Zealand Defence Force Archives

War art was a feature of the South African War, and often featured soldiers in heroic poses, such as this member of the (NZ) Rough Riders who takes aim while in full flight. Such images owed more to artistic licence than the actual events they depicted; the sword the soldier wears was not part of the Rough Riders' kit, however it clearly shows a slouch hat with a turned up brim.

	Salonica, Greece. c. 1918. A British Army Highland battalion marching in the area. The soldiers appear to be wearing Australian Army style slouch hats. (Donor British Official Photograph SAL445)	Salonica, Greece. c. 1918. British Army soldiers having sore feet checked by a medical officer after a long march. Note the Australian style slouch hats. (Donor British Official Photograph SAL452)
	In New Guinea the Aussie slouch hat became so popular that the locals copied the style.	1941-08. A Company of the Burma Rifles leaving the old Fort Mandalay on manoeuvres. Their slouch hats are worn in a similar fashion to those of the AIF Burma.