The Regency Shako

Part 3 of the History of the British Infantry Shako

In August of 1815, while the Army of Occupation camped in the Bois de Boulogne, a new model cap was introduced for the British infantry.  Since 1812, the influence of foreign army’s headdress designs had become immensely obvious.  British cavalry regiments almost universally altered their headgear to the same profile as their French equivalents — despite Wellington’s utter disapproval. The flared leather top shako had also become the dominant fashion for the infantry.  Although many armies used this look, when it was introduced into Great Britain’s army, the style was described as “Prussian.”

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Belgic Shako Featured Image01

The Belgic Shako

Part 2 of the History of the British Infantry Shako

By 1812, the stovepipe shako had become the ugly stepchild.  Britain’s contact with other European armies, both allies and enemies, highlighted the lacklustre visual appeal of the cap.  Other nations had caps festooned with cords and tassels and seemed to dramatize the height of the soldier to greater advantage.  In the final analysis, Britain adopted a cap closely patterned after the Portuguese “barretina” design.  Ironically, at the same time the English were adding cords to their headwear, the French were abolishing them. As usual, no improvement in protection to the head was made by the design change.

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Glengarry Light Infantry shako, visor up and down positions shown

The Stovepipe Shako

Part 1 of the History of the British Infantry Shako

Since the middle of the seventeenth century, soldiers had been wearing broad brimmed felt hats.  The decline of armour as a result of the increased use of firearms had moved headwear into this more practical direction.  For the next one hundred and fifty years the broad brimmed felt hat stayed in use.  Its sides were turned up in various ways, but it retained its essential design.

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Franklins Lost Men

Franklin’s Lost Ships

Production Designer, Locations, Casting

Original Air Date: CBC “Nature of Things” 9-April-2015, 8:00pm EST, Genre: Documentary

Production Company: 90th Parallel Productions Ltd (CAN) / Lion TV (UK), Producer: Andy Gregg, Director: Stuart Elliott

Broadcaster: CBC Nature of Things (CAN); Channel 4 (UK); PBS Nova (US) Continue reading →

Camp-X Barracks Look-alike

Possible Origin of the Term “Camp-X”

Charlie Chaplin's "A Great Dictator" - a possible source for the Double-X agents and Camp-X?There is some speculation as to why Camp-X was named thus, however, I believe this is the most plausible reason.

In Ben Macintyre’s Operation Mincemeat How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory he details: Continue reading →

Green Army Guy?

British Soldier, front view

British Soldier, front view 

British Soldier, 2/3 view

British Soldier, 2/3 view 

British Soldier, rear view

British Soldier, rear view 

Although these photos may look like a “green army guy,” it is actually a wax “master” that Peter has sculpted and will be used to create a mold for a pewter figurine using the lost wax method.

The actual size of the figure is around three inches high (about 7.5 cm).

Click on the pictures to enlarge and view the detail.

Civil War Dioramas, Pamplin Park Museum, VA

Civil War Diorama

Civil War Diorama created for Pamplin Historical Park by Peter Twist & Sheppard Paine

Peter was asked, in conjunction with Shepherd Paine, to create a series of the American Civil War dioramas for the Pamplin Historical Park.  However, the client insisted that all the scenes should be created in sepia tones since they wanted the single army to represent either side in the war. Continue reading →

Canada War Museum, Native Warrior

This sequence of photos shows the authenticity that Peter puts into his exhibits. This could just as easily been a fibreglass casting but would have never achieve the same level of authenticity that Peter does in his artwork.

Below is a short sequence of photos demonstrating the weaving techniques used in creating this “woven” armour. Continue reading →

Commissariat Chapeau, Building a Reproduction

Peter’s access to authentic period artifacts gives him the unique ability to recreate period clothing, as they would have been, right down to the last, hand-made stitch.

Many of the projects that Peter creates for museums start with an original artifact such as the one documented in this article. Peter goes to great lengths to ensure that colours, materials and even hand-made stitch lengths are as close to the original as is possible, based on the original artifact and his extensive knowledge of the period.

The first step in any recreation is the detailed examination of the original. This chapeau was held in the Lundy’s Lane Historical Society’s care. Continue reading →