SudsoneUK
Full Member
'No one would have believed...'
Posts: 60
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Post by SudsoneUK on Mar 11, 2005 19:11:13 GMT
The soldiers fighting the Martians would almost certainly have been wearing red or blue uniforms... Khaki uniform became regulation for all British regiments serving in India after 1885 and was approved for all foreign service in 1896. It wasn't until 1902 that khaki service dress was worn for ALL occasions, at home and abroad, except those requiring full dress. Hope that clears this up... Some Royal Artillery officers circa 1900 posing in their 'Undress' Uniforms which were dark blue...
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Post by beecus on Mar 20, 2005 18:37:21 GMT
The events of Zulu and Zulu Dawn took place in 1879, so its quite a time difference between WotW and then. ;D
So it is highly likely the uniform would've changed.
Although on a personal note, I also see them wearing this when I read it. ;D
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SudsoneUK
Full Member
'No one would have believed...'
Posts: 60
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Post by SudsoneUK on Mar 24, 2005 2:15:50 GMT
The events of Zulu and Zulu Dawn took place in 1879, so its quite a time difference between WotW and then. ;D So it is highly likely the uniform would've changed. Although on a personal note, I also see them wearing this when I read it. ;D See my post above yours.... those are the facts. They didn't change across the board until 1902, so seeing as War of the Worlds was set just before then, the soldiers would have been in the old Scarlet tunics or Blue (artillery and some cavalry).
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Post by Killraven on Apr 4, 2005 12:59:01 GMT
Surely we don't know when WOTW was exactly set, only that it was in HG Wells' future? I think it quite reasonable that the uniforms could be khaki. The only thing that maybe counts against this is Wells' own description of soldiers by their different roles - sappers, grenadiers etc. If they were all in khaki then he might not have been able to spot the difference (unless of course, he kept his I-Spy book of Military Regiments to hand! ).
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Post by mctoddridesagain on Apr 4, 2005 14:12:56 GMT
Ah, but the uniforms only went khaki because of the Boer War, and that hadn't happened in HG's timeline.
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Post by Charles on Apr 5, 2005 2:41:11 GMT
Great pics, Sudsone; I've seen those before.
Its an interesting question, what would the British military wear in “Worlds?” Most of us like to imagine the more romantic red and blue uniforms fighting the Martians, even though we know “Worlds” is set in an undefined future - post 1900 at the earliest. I remember W.Y. Carmen mentioned in his reprint of "Dress Regulations 1900," that the use of khaki was far more widespread in 1900 than is often appreciated today.
The use of khaki by Pendragon adheres more to what we know British military forces looked like post-1900/2 (and as Wells couldn't have known them as he was writing in 1896-7). Add to that the fact that Wells was employing the military as he did Martian technology - more for effect than accuracy, and we can explain away any confusion.
But some of us will always see red, blue, and dirty round caps...and that's okay, too.
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Post by quaderni on Apr 5, 2005 3:42:14 GMT
On the military topic, the Broadview edn of _The War_ has a good discussion of British military ca. 1900 with nice illustrations as well (Appendix "I", "The Victorian Military"). This includes a heliograph and the 1st Dragoons, plus a picture of the HMS Thunderer (ca. 1896). Good stuff.
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Post by Lensman on Apr 5, 2005 4:37:16 GMT
Surely we don't know when WOTW was exactly set, only that it was in HG Wells' future? Actually the first chapter contains dates and other clues that point to 1901 or 1902 as the date. 1901 if you think the Martians made the interplanetary voyage in just a couple of months, or 1902 if you think it took over a year.
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Post by Mr Death Ray on Apr 16, 2005 0:21:42 GMT
Well.... In the book tripods visited Earth... In the book the soldiers are wearing red and blue........... These don't need to be true for us to enjoy the book do they? Not once in the book does he describe them in khaki.. And another thing, I thought Tim Hines was making a 'word for word' accurate film version....... I don't see no red coats!
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Post by mctoddridesagain on Apr 16, 2005 0:32:34 GMT
Tim Hines is full of... erm, khaki.
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Post by Mr Death Ray on Apr 16, 2005 0:38:31 GMT
LOL, hatred for Hines seems to have risen dramaticly since I was last here. I really wanna see his film though... Come on, it looks OK... If you made that trailer you would be........ Kinda proud..
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