WW1 British Other Ranks Battle Insignia Tunic & Helmet Set – Manchester Regiment in General / other

A very nice WW1 British Other Ranks Battle Insignia Tunic and Helmet to the Manchester Regiment. The Tunic is a quintessential 1902 Pattern in classic ginger coloured wool with two pleats to the collar and lined in the typical off white cotton lining of WW1 with open field dressing pocket. To each epaulette are wartime “simple’ Manchester shoulder titles in brass with WW1 economy backplates in steel, and no other holes to the epaulettes. Originally applied to each upper sleeve are rare WW1 Battle Insignia diamonds in green wool with a number ten superimposed in white, indicating the 10th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment within the 42nd East Lancashire Division. Below these are good WW1 Lance Corporal chevrons with wartime economy simplified tapes in ginger. The Tunic has never had the 1918 instituted overseas stripes applied, this enabling display for service prior to 1918 such as the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele etc. Overall condition is very good with service wear and with only about five small moth holes that I can find. There is a little rust bleed onto the tunic from the shoulder title backplates, with a very small amount of colour bleed from the green diamonds onto the attaching thread and the surrounding sleeve giving the serge a slight green tint visible when compared to the rest of the tunic’s pure ginger, just discernible in my images. All buttons are present, and the tunic is a good size for mannequin display. The Helmet is also nice, being a good WW1 MK1 combat Brodie with a lovely Manchester Regiment other ranks badge welded to the front. This is the first version of the MK1 manufactured before May 1917 as there is no rubber protection ring inserted beneath the felt pad at the inside crown of the Helmet. After this date all MK1 Brodies were manufactured with the rubber ring as standard. The Helmet is complete and in good much service worn condition. The paintwork is the original sand mixed combat type introduced for the MK1 in 1916 and this has not been repainted. There is some paint loss and a small dent to the crown from field service. Inside, the felt pad is present, there is the typical moth damage, but this example is better than usually encountered. The lining is complete, however there is some damage to the oilcloth on one side near the chin strap leather, either from wear or rodent nibbling. The chinstrap is complete and flexible but there is the often encountered break in the leather where it passes through the buckle. This has had a well executed strong repair made via a thin piece of leather backing. The inside flange of the Helmet has a WW1 “HS’ marking at the rim for the steel producer Hadfield Steel Ltd of Sheffield. The 10th Manchesters were in Gallipoli in 1915 and moved to the Western Front in March 1917 where they remained until the end of the war. A rare infantry other ranks Battle Insignia tunic with a correspondingly badged combat helmet to the same unit. A difficult thing to achieve