Original British Pre-WWI British Army Royal Berkshire Regiment Officer Blue Cloth Dress Spike Helmet – Marked Property of The Aldershot Tattoo Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. Aldershot is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, 31 mi (50 km) southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Aldershot Urban Area, a loose conurbation (which also includes other towns such as Camberley, Farnborough, and Farnham) has a population of 243,344, making it the thirtieth-largest urban area in the UK.

Aldershot is known as the “Home of the British Army”, a connection which led to its rapid growth from a small village to a Victorian town.

The Aldershot Military Tattoo was an annual event dating back to 1894. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Aldershot Command Searchlight Tattoo held at the Rushmoor Arena presented displays from all branches of the services, including performances lit by flame torches. At one time the performances attracted crowds of up to 500,000 people.

The Tattoo was organized to raise money for military charities. By the end of the 1930s the event was raising around £40,000 annually. The Tattoo’s modern format, the Army Show, was canceled in 2010 by the Ministry of Defence due to budget cuts. It was briefly revived the following year and attracted 20,000 visitors. In 2012, it was styled as the Aldershot Garrison Show, a smaller free event held on Armed Forces Day.

The Army Show was replaced in 2013 with a general Military Festival. Events were held across the town, including an art exhibition, live music, sports events and film screenings.

This is a well used but solid condition 1912 dated British Army Officer Blue Cloth Spiked helmet which is complete with it’s spiked finial and scaled chinstrap. The chin strap lugs and spike base ends are all properly adorned with embossed roses. This helmet has gilt brass mounts used on all regular Army helmets.

The front of the helmet has the correct regiment plate for ROYAL BERKSHIRE. Body consists of cork covered with blue wool, trimmed with leather. Liner is calfskin leather and is missing the silk lining. The interior is broad arrow stamped with a 1913 date and has a stamp for being PROPERTY OF THE ALDERSHOT TATTOO. The size sticker is retained very well and is marked as being made by J. COMPTON & SONS, the size is 7 ⅛ and the year of manufacture is 1913.

The helmet is in fantastic condition for its age. Showing signs of honest use, and wear from storage and handling over the last 110+ years, but there are some issues. Overall, this is an excellent example that is perfect for the collector of early 20th Century British Militaria.

The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was created in 1881, as the Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire Regiment), by the amalgamation of the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot and the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot. In 1921, it was renamed the Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s).

The regiment saw active service in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. On 9 June 1959, the Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) was amalgamated with the Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh’s) to form the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) which was again amalgamated, on 27 July 1994, with the Gloucestershire Regiment to create the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. Like its predecessor regiment, however, this was on 1 February 2007, merged with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, the Royal Green Jackets and The Light Infantry to form a new large regiment, The Rifles.