Helmet badge, 26th Regiment of Madras Infantry, pre-1901

White metal badge with the regimental number, '26', in the centre, within a garter bearing the battle honours, 'Nagpore', 'Kemmendine', 'Ava', and 'Pegu', surmounted by an Imperial Crown, on a rayed, seven-pointed star (the crown makes the 8th point).

The regiment originated with the establishment of the 36th Madras Battalion in 1794. It became the 26th Madras Native Infantry in 1824 and then the 86th Carnatic Infantry in 1903. The unit served in the 3rd Maratha War (1816-1819) and all three Burma Wars.

In the 1922 Indian Army reorganisation the regiment became the 10th Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment, effectively becoming the training battalion for the whole regiment. It was disbanded in 1926 but resurrected as the Training Centre for the 3rd Madras Regiment in 1942 and became the Regimental Centre the following year.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.