Hi to everyone ,
Once in a while I have a grin from cheek to cheek even when I was taking the lock off my wallet and this happened at last years Telford Show when I saw this release from Hawk Miniatures.
What am I talking about .....of course its the Skinners Horse bust of a officer in mess dress that John Fitzsimmons announced on PF recently .
As always lets have some information on the Regiment itself :
Colonel James Skinner was born to Scottish father and Rajput princess in 1778. His mixed blood could not get him a commission in the Honourable East India Company’s service but his outright martial skills and generosity for his men of ‘Hindoostan’ paved the way for Captain Skinner’s Corps of Irregular Cavalry, famous for it’s yellow uniforms (unique in the world and earning them the nickname the “Yellow Boys”) to be formed on February 23, 1803.
James Skinner first fought under General De Boigne, the powerful commander of the forces of Maharajah Scindia, until the British army under Lord Lake defeated the Marathas led by General Perron. Eight hundred men on horses offered their services on one condition - they wished to be led by James Skinner, who was made a captain in the HEIC army.
Skinner’s Horse served with great distinction for many years and in 1826 James Skinner was to be made a Companion of the Bath until it was realised that he was not of high enough rank (at this time he was a major). This led to his promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, although he held the rank of Brigadier locally.
As a result of his birth and of a career spent partly with the Marathas and partly with the British, Skinner moved between two worlds. His childhood memories of an Indian mother as well as his early years of fighting in central India, tied him to the Indian world. His domestic habits were more Indian than British; and he had a large family by, it is said, 14 wives.
He spoke the lcal dialect fluently and to the end of his life wrote Persian more easily that English. He knew the name and village of origin of all his soldiers, inviting men of all ranks to his feasts.
After an illustrious military career James Skinner died in December 1841 at the age of 63. He was buried at Hansi with full military honours, his funeral cortege consisting of a long line of his beloved “Yellow Boys”.
The regiment continued after Skinner’s death and in 1861 was renamed the 1st Bengal Cavalry as part of the post-Mutiny civil and military changes.
Latterly it was re-classified as:
At the beginning of World War II the regiment was still mounted, but was quickly converted to act as a mechanised reconnaissance regiment and was attached to the 5th Indian Division. The regiment fought in East Africa, North Africa and Italy and was awarded battle honours for Agordat, Keren, Amba-Alagi, Abyssinia, Senio Flood Bank and Italy.
The regiment was maintained by India upon independence and, like many British cavalry regiments became a tank regiment. Today the regiment still exists in the Indian army, fiercely proud of its long and glorious history.
Obviously the Regiment is very dashing and colourful to recreate , there is a reenactment group that relive the Regiment and very splendid they look as well www.skinnershorse.co.uk
with the actual Regiment proudly wearing the yellow at ceremonial events
Books abound on both Col Skinner himself and the Regiment all emphasising the sheer beauty of the Regiment and its history and uniforms these are a couple you should have in the library .
The Regiment has been depicted in many forms including Toy Soldiers and of course who can forget the Airfix releases in 54mm and 1/12th scale.......
........now its in my favourite form depicted as a bust in a wonderfully military mess dress.
Continued in next post:
Nap
Once in a while I have a grin from cheek to cheek even when I was taking the lock off my wallet and this happened at last years Telford Show when I saw this release from Hawk Miniatures.
What am I talking about .....of course its the Skinners Horse bust of a officer in mess dress that John Fitzsimmons announced on PF recently .
Colonel James Skinner was born to Scottish father and Rajput princess in 1778. His mixed blood could not get him a commission in the Honourable East India Company’s service but his outright martial skills and generosity for his men of ‘Hindoostan’ paved the way for Captain Skinner’s Corps of Irregular Cavalry, famous for it’s yellow uniforms (unique in the world and earning them the nickname the “Yellow Boys”) to be formed on February 23, 1803.
James Skinner first fought under General De Boigne, the powerful commander of the forces of Maharajah Scindia, until the British army under Lord Lake defeated the Marathas led by General Perron. Eight hundred men on horses offered their services on one condition - they wished to be led by James Skinner, who was made a captain in the HEIC army.
Skinner’s Horse served with great distinction for many years and in 1826 James Skinner was to be made a Companion of the Bath until it was realised that he was not of high enough rank (at this time he was a major). This led to his promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, although he held the rank of Brigadier locally.
As a result of his birth and of a career spent partly with the Marathas and partly with the British, Skinner moved between two worlds. His childhood memories of an Indian mother as well as his early years of fighting in central India, tied him to the Indian world. His domestic habits were more Indian than British; and he had a large family by, it is said, 14 wives.
He spoke the lcal dialect fluently and to the end of his life wrote Persian more easily that English. He knew the name and village of origin of all his soldiers, inviting men of all ranks to his feasts.
After an illustrious military career James Skinner died in December 1841 at the age of 63. He was buried at Hansi with full military honours, his funeral cortege consisting of a long line of his beloved “Yellow Boys”.
The regiment continued after Skinner’s death and in 1861 was renamed the 1st Bengal Cavalry as part of the post-Mutiny civil and military changes.
Latterly it was re-classified as:
- the 1st Bengal Lancers in 1896
- 1st (The Duke of York’s Own) Regiment of Bengal Lancers in 1899
- 1st (Duke of York’s Own) Bengal Lancers (Skinner’s Horse) in 1901
- 1st Duke of York’s Own Lancers (Skinner’s Horse) in 1903
- 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse in 1921.
At the beginning of World War II the regiment was still mounted, but was quickly converted to act as a mechanised reconnaissance regiment and was attached to the 5th Indian Division. The regiment fought in East Africa, North Africa and Italy and was awarded battle honours for Agordat, Keren, Amba-Alagi, Abyssinia, Senio Flood Bank and Italy.
The regiment was maintained by India upon independence and, like many British cavalry regiments became a tank regiment. Today the regiment still exists in the Indian army, fiercely proud of its long and glorious history.
Obviously the Regiment is very dashing and colourful to recreate , there is a reenactment group that relive the Regiment and very splendid they look as well www.skinnershorse.co.uk
Books abound on both Col Skinner himself and the Regiment all emphasising the sheer beauty of the Regiment and its history and uniforms these are a couple you should have in the library .
The Regiment has been depicted in many forms including Toy Soldiers and of course who can forget the Airfix releases in 54mm and 1/12th scale.......
........now its in my favourite form depicted as a bust in a wonderfully military mess dress.
Continued in next post:
Nap
