Original Item. Only One Available. This is an excellent original British Royal Welsh Fusiliers full-dress bearskin cap, War Department accepted in 1913, immediately before the First World War. Constructed from black fur over a stout internal wicker frame, the cap retains its regimental flaming-grenade badge, white feather plume, linked brass chinscales, leather liner, and clearly stamped War Department date. The interior is also marked size 7 ½, making this a particularly complete surviving example of pre-WWI Royal Welsh Fusiliers ceremonial headgear.

The front carries the distinctive Royal Welsh Fusiliers flaming-grenade badge. Within the grenade is the traditional Prince of Wales’s feathers, coronet, and motto ICH DIEN, meaning “I Serve.” The Prince of Wales device had been associated with the regiment long before the First World War and formed an established part of Royal Welsh Fusiliers insignia. Contemporary and later regimental material confirms the use of the flaming grenade together with the Prince of Wales’s feathers and motto.

Mounted on the right side is the regiment’s characteristic white feather plume or hackle. The white plume is a recognized Royal Welsh Fusiliers distinction and was worn with the regiment’s full-dress fur cap. Modern Royal Welsh ceremonial regulations continue the same tradition, specifying a white feather plume on the right-hand side of the bearskin.

The busby is complete with the linked chain scales chinstrap, though the leather backing has mostly detached away from the chinscales. It also has a white hackle mounted on the right side. The body of the busby remains in good overall condition. The size 7 ½ is inscribed on the interior crown.

The interior crown is stamped:

W (BROAD ARROW) D
1913

This denotes acceptance by the War Department in 1913. The lining shows moderate cracking but it is still solid with the original tie string though it has torn away from some of the tongues.

The 1913 date is especially significant. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers still maintained full dress immediately before the First World War, including the distinctive fur cap and white plume. Full dress was effectively displaced by service dress after the outbreak of war in 1914, making a clearly War Department-dated 1913 example a useful surviving piece from the final prewar period of elaborate British infantry dress. The regiment’s full dress at this time included a black fur fusilier cap with a white plume, while officers used a taller bearskin form.

This example is particularly notable for its clear 1913 War Department stamp, Royal Welsh Fusiliers flaming-grenade badge with Prince of Wales’s insignia, white right-side plume, surviving chinscales and liner, and large size 7 ½ marking. Together these features make it a strong and substantially complete example of Royal Welsh Fusiliers full-dress headgear from immediately before the First World War.