These two pieces belong to Private P. Tudor, who served in the 11th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) during the Great War. They consist of the headdress and its corresponding miniature version. The official version was manufactured using the stamping technique, while the miniature version was made using the die-casting method. Both share a similar appearance, featuring a laurel wreath surrounded by a Maltese cross with a crown on top.
The official version of the cross features a circular shield at its center, bearing the inscription “Rifle Brigade” along with a horn motif. Each of the four arms of the cross is adorned with a lion representing the royal family of England. The arms also bear inscriptions of various battles the unit participated in, ranging from the Crimean War to the recent Second Boer War. At the top and bottom ends of the cross, there are plaques with the words “Waterloo” and “Peninsula” respectively.
On both sides of the laurel wreath, there are seven scrolls depicting the locations of battles in the Peninsula War. In contrast, the miniature version is limited in size and omits the inscriptions on the cross arms and scrolls. However, it adds a ribbon-like decoration below the laurel wreath with the abbreviation “R.B.A” for the Royal British Army. Both versions also have fastening clips at the reverse of the laurel wreath for attachment.
The formation of the Prince Consort’s Rifle Brigade can be traced back to the experimental units equipped with the new Baker rifle in the year AD 1800. In July AD 1915, to address the shortage of forces since the outbreak of Great War, the 11th Battalion was added in response to the call from the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener. The main force consisted of volunteers from the “New Army,” who underwent training and were deployed to the Saint-Omer region in northwestern France.
In AD 1916, they were also involved in the largest-scale battle on the Western Front, the Battle of the Somme. The 11th Battalion remained in France until the end of the war in AD 1918 and completed the demobilization process in May AD 1919.
