![]() ![]() The original crossbelts were later changed to the brown Sam Browne type currently worn. For winter a Canadian military fur wedge cap or busby was worn.īlack riding boots were later changed to the modern brown style called "Strathcona Boots" or informally as "high browns" (See link to Lord Strathcona's Horse). Sam Steele is often credited with introducing the Stetson-type hat, and when he left the force to command Lord Strathcona's Horse and took the regiment to South Africa he also adopted the Stetson for this unit. This was not particularly practical as headdress in the Canadian west, and members wore a Stetson type hat on patrol and around camp. The primary official summer headdress at the time was the white British foreign service helmet, also known as a pith helmet. Although the NWMP contingent at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee wore the Stetson, it was an unofficial item of dress. The wide, flat-brimmed Stetson hat was not adopted officially until about 1904. Dark blue with yellow-gold strapping is another British cavalry tradition. cavalry units along the border and it is suggested that this was the initial source for the breeches however, blue breeches were considered early on, although with a white strap. ![]() Members of the NWMP were known to exchange kit with U.S. Later dark blue breeches with yellow-gold strapping (stripes) were adopted. Currently, RCMP personnel under the rank of inspector wear blue "gorget" patches on the collar, while officers from inspector to commissioner have solid blue collars, along with blue pointed-sleeve cuffs. The blue shoulder epaulets were added in the 1920s, long after King Edward VII granted the Force "Royal" status for its service in the Second Boer War, replacing gold-trimmed scarlet straps from the earlier uniforms. This style was used both to emphasize the British nature of the force and to differentiate it from the blue American military uniforms. The NWMP was originally kitted out from militia stores, resulting initially in several different styles of tunic, although the style later became standardized. The Red Serge tunic that identified initially the NWMP, and later the RNWMP and RCMP, is of the standard British military pattern. Horses are still used for such ceremonial operations as escorting the Governor General's open landau to the Opening of Parliament. On normal duties, the RCMP uses standard police methods, equipment, and uniforms. Review Order is worn by the mounted troop performing the Musical Ride, an equestrian drill in which mounted members demonstrate their riding skills and handling of the cavalry lance. As Smithsonian Magazine notes, the alcohol trade at the time was a complex mass of legal, quasi-legal, and totally lawless production, transport, and smuggling - and the Mounties were in charge of sorting out the legit businesspeople from the criminals.The RCMP are famous for their distinctive Red Serge, referred to as "Review Order" (of dress uniform), consisting of: high collared scarlet tunic, midnight blue breeches with yellow leg strip, Sam Browne belt with white sidearm lanyard, oxblood riding boots (possibly with spurs), brown felt campaign hat (wide, flat brimmed) with the characteristic "Montana crease", and brown gloves (with brown leather gauntlets for riders). In 1924, at the height of Prohibition in the United States, more than two thirds of the whiskey found in the US was brought over from Canada. After Canada acquired what was known as Rupert's Land, a massive tract formerly controlled by the Hudson's Bay Trading Company, more settlers moved into what had previously been an area sporadically populated by white fur traders and native communities, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia. Peaceful coexistence was replaced by a series of increasingly tense and bloody conflicts, often spurred by bootleggers operating within First Nations borders and exploiting the locals, as The British Empire recounts. One of the North-West Mounted Police's initial duties was to track down and stop the whiskey trade in the region.Īccording to Glass with a Twist, the Mounties' anti-alcohol duties only intensified when US Prohibition sent both average drinkers and bootleggers north of the border to manufacture, sell, transport, and drink up whatever they could. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |