The 10th Hussars
embarked on board the troopship Jumna on the 10th of january 1873.
They went through the Suez Canal (that had been opened a mere 4
years before) to disembark in Bombay.
They then
reached Muttra where the regiment stayed until 1878. The 10th
Hussars was then despatched to Afghanistan to serve in the Second
Afghan War.
In 1879 they
came back to India - and shifted to Lucknow in Bengal in 1881.
In 6th of February 1884 they boarded again the Jumna in Bombay - and are
said to have expressed considerable enthusiasm at boarding the
very same ship. Their ship was diverted following the events in
Egypt and the 10th disembarked at Suakim.
It is quite interesting to see olives instead of
ball buttons as was usual for the ORs ; legend has it that in the
course of a battle, the 10th Hussars, depleted of ammunition, melt
their buttons to cast new balls. They would afterwards have been
entitled to wear different buttons to recall the fact.
Charles being styled a member of the band, it is
quite likely that his pillbox hat displays a specific pattern. With
respect to the details hereunder, it should be noted that Muttra
is in today's Uttar Pradesh, just North West of Agra and more than
1200km from the Negal Bay. In the days of the British Raj though,
the area was part of the "Bengal Presidency", one of the
three presidencies in India.
As a last note, no
Charles Wibrow appears on the Afghan War medal roll (thanks to
Garen Ewing for checking that).
The 1881 census
returns one Charles Wibrow, 23, born in Birmingham, who is
recorded as a soldier in the Royal Engineers (with for address
"Corps Of Royal Engineers" South Camp Aldershot).
Is that the same person before or after his time with the 10th
Hussars ?
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