Officer's shoulder belt pouch : 4th New South Wales Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Black patent leather shoulder belt pouch worn by officers of the 4th Regiment, New South Wales Volunteer Infantry. The pouch is made from five pieces of leather: front flap and back, two side gussets, lower gusset and face of pouch. On the front of the flap is nickel-plated brass badge of the NSW Volunteer Infantry Regiment, comprising a bugle horn surmounted by a Queen Victoria pattern crown, and the white metal numeral '4' at its centre. The badge is attached to the flap by a split pin and two threaded posts. The pouch flap has no holes and does not fit over a stud, instead the billet is threaded under a narrow leather tab sewn on the back of the pouch. A steel oval-shaped plate with a fixed ring is affixed on each side of the pouch. Two rings, one small and one larger, and not made from steel, are linked to the plate ring to take the ends of the shoulder belt. The pouch is held rigid by a cardboard pouch inserted inside it. The face of the pouch has an incised (tooled) decorative line running around its edges and diagonally.

This regiment was originally established as The Newcastle Volunteer Artillery and Infantry Corps in 1855, renamed The Newcastle Volunteer Rifles in 1860 and the 4th Regiment NSW Volunteer Infantry in 1884. In 1893 it was one of four partially-paid regiments in the colony comprised of 10 companies, each guided by a small permanent staff.