Other Ranks 1888 Pattern (Mark I) Valise Equipment braces and straps : 1st Battalion, Tasmanian Infantry Regiment

Pair of buff leather 1888 Pattern Valise Equipment braces and strap (as described in List of Changes 5696 29 June 1888 but shorter in length). The main strap of each brace measures 32 inches in length, widening from 1 inch at each end to 2 1/2 inches over the shoulder, and is made from two pieces of joined leather. (In the List of Changes the length is noted as being 57 1/2 inches). The back square end of the main strap is secured with four rivets to a pointed billet 8 1/2 inches in length with 8 holes for adjustment. At the shoulder a brass rectangular loop is secured under a lozenge-shaped leather tab which is attached to the main strap with six tinned copper rivets and washers. This brass loop takes the supporting straps of the valise when worn. The front end of the main strap is folded over one half of a double-barred brass buckle and is secured with three rivets. On the other half of the double-barred buckle a strap is folded and secured with three rivets. This strap measures 13 inches in length and has 12 holes for adjustment. The two straps are held together at the centre back by a buff leather keeper which is secured with two rivets. The right brace has the following marks stamped on the reverse side: '388' and '?.A.C.'. The left brace brace has '317' stamped and '52? 22?' handwritten on the reverse.

This set of braces and straps is associated with the dress uniform of a soldier of the 1st Battalion of the Tasmanian Infantry Regiment. In 1897 the Tasmanian infantry was reorganised so that the two Rifle Regiments, the Tasmanian Rifle Regiment from the south and the Launceston Rifle Regiment from the north, plus the Auxiliary Force, joined to form one regiment of three battalions. They were collectively titled the Tasmanian Infantry Regiment. The 1st Battalion was located in Hobart with detachments in the southern and western parts of Tasmania. The 1888 Pattern Valise Equipment was also known as the Slade-Wallace equipment, after its two designers, Colonel Slade and Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Wallace. The complete equipment consisted of a waist belt, two ammunition pouches, a pair of braces with movable buckles and a keeper, two greatcoat straps, a mess-tin strap, and a valise to carry clothing, cutlery and other personal equipment. This pattern was issued to British and colonial forces but was replaced with 1903 Bandolier equipment after its performance was criticised in the Boer War. The 1888 Pattern equipment was in service at most for 15 years though some parts such as waist belts, were retained for ceremonial purposes. The straps on this example of 1888 Pattern braces are too short to be rolled around a greatcoat and would have buckled directly to the waistbelt instead, without any excess strap.