Hi Broadaxe
,
thanks for the great images and info.
It seems that during the Victorian era there were only 4 lancer regiments ...
The 5th Royal Irish
The 12th (Prince of Wales's Royal )
The 17th
The 21st
All saw action in Africa ....and most of these units saw action in India.
As most of the armoury markings etc are quite rubbed ...I will have to try and decipher those that are legible. I do not think the T.P is a badly struck I.P (India Pattern) however, if this is the case...I have read that consignments of British manufactured lances were sent to India for the use of the British Units, that seem to have been later marked I.P . (The 'standard' Indian Pattern butt has a larger ball/doughnut that is different to the British )
The male bamboo shaft was also considered superior to the Ash shafts ....and Ash was only used with the 1868 pattern if there was a shortage of suitable bamboo.
So its out with the magnifying glass.....
Regards David