TRANSCRIPT

However comfortable they seemed, within a few months there were signs of dissatisfaction among the troops. In 1878, Colonel Macleod reported that the uniforms were made of the 'most miserable material. The lace was little better than tinsel and the workmanship poor'. Within two or three weeks, the seams would show white spots where the material rubbed away and eventually the seam would fail. The lace was worn, did not move with the garments, became unsewn and fell off. The trousers gave way in the knees after its second use! But the uniform did not change.

Narrated by Kris Nygren