| Place | Oceania: Australia, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | REL/18950 |
| Collection type | Heraldry |
| Object type | Uniform |
| Physical description | Bullion thread, Cotton, Gilded brass, Gold bullion braid, Gold bullion lace, Leather, Silk, Superfine wool, Wool |
| Maker |
J B Milion & Co and buttons by Lincoln Stuart and Co. Melbourne, Hicks Atkinson Melbourne, and Moubr J. B. Milion & Co. |
| Place made | Australia, Australia: Victoria, Melbourne |
| Date made | c 1886-1893 |
| Conflict |
Australian Colonial Forces, 1854-1900 |
Officer's full dress tunic : Victorian Commissariat and Transport Corps
Description
Dark blue superfine tunic with white stand collar and pointed cuffs. Upper edge of collar decorated with gold staff officer pattern lace and lower edge with round gold cord. Twisted round gold cord shoulder straps in artillery pattern, each with an embroidered bullion and silk thread star for the rank of lieutenant and a single small Victorian Military Forces button. Shallow pointed white cuffs decorated with round gold cord Austrian knots traced with gold Russia braid. Nine gilt Victorian Military Forces buttons of the 1880-1893 period made by 'MOUBRAY ROWAN & HICKS MELBOURNE' at the front and two buttons of the 1893-1901 period at the back; one made by 'LINCOLN STUART & CO. MELBOURNE' and the other by 'HICKS ATKINSON & SONS MELBOURNE'. Skirts straight at front and edged with white wool piping that extends around lower edge and up each of the two closed back vents. Body of tunic lined with heavily padded and quilted brown silk and cotton mixture and skirt with fine black wool and cotton mixture. Two wide strips of maroon dyed leather stitched to inside waist fronts; buckle attachments to free ends missing. Collar lined with black wool and cotton mixture with neck tab of the same fabric. Neck fastened with two brass hooks and eyes. At the back neck is an embroidered maker's label 'BY APPOINTMENT' over a lion and unicorn crest and the maker's name below. Sleeves lined with brown silk and cotton mixture.
History / Summary
In Victoria in 1886 a separate Commissariat staff was set up at Commandant's Headquarters to deal with supply for the colony's military forces, which was called the Ordnance Commissariat and Transport Corps. Before this date supply was controlled by the artillery. Ordnance duties were removed in 1889 and the title of the corps was amended to Victorian Commissariat and Transport Corps. The title of Army Service Corps was then adopted in 1895. Members of the corps were selected from such trades as clerks, grocers, drivers, cooks and storeman and were organised into small self-contained detachments to supply the military's needs. In 1901 with Commonwealth reorganisation, the corps was redesignated the Australian Army Service Corps.