German Troops in the Shanghai Volunteer Corps

 
     
 


Volunteer of the
German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie
of the SVC c1915
His headdress is the Australian slouch hat. He wears the eight buttoned winter uniform with the crowned H monogram of the Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie just visible on the shoulder straps. He has a British Lee Metford Mk II rifle with British 1903 bandolier pouches. He wears leather gaiters and short boots.
Photo © Rolf Weidlich

  Background of the SVC
The Shanghai Volunteer Corps was an international militia organised under the Shanghai Municipal Council to protect foreign interests in the city. They were first formed in 1853 to defend the international settlements in Shanghai during the uprising of the Small Swords Society and over the following years the strength and composition of the corps varied greatly.

The volunteers came from foreigners (British, American, French, German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Portuguese, Japanese and others from all over the world) living in Shanghai, some of whom were paid regulars while others were unpaid part-time soldiers. Some soldiers were formed into national companies, others into mixed units. In 1910 the German contingent consisted of one regular company ("Prinz Heinrich Kompangie") and one reserve company.

The SVC never saw serious action although it was called to mobilisation on several occasions such as during the Tai-Ping and Boxer Rebellions. When the First World War broke out the SVC again mobilised but at least forty of the German volunteers in Shanghai left to join the 7. Kompagnie of the III. Seebataillon in Tsingtao.

The remaining German volunteers in Shanghai stayed in service until they were disbanded when China declared war on Germany in 1917. The entire Shanghai Volunteer Corps was finally disbanded by the Japanese in 1942.

Uniforms of the SVC
The SVC was largely armed and uniformed from British stocks with Australian style slouch hats, though some nationalities wore their own army uniforms with SVC insignia. Often a mixture of these options was worn.

By the early 20th century the German troops of the SVC wore one of two uniforms- a khaki summer uniform with six buttons and breast pockets and a winter uniform in German style cut, with eight buttons down the front and no pockets. The winter uniform was possibly locally made from British dark khaki cloth.

Insignia of the SVC
The badge of the SVC consisted of an eight-pointed brass Brunswick star with the motto "Shanghai Volunteer Corps" around the flags of various European nations in the centre (see
Paradise for Adventurers). A variation on this badge had simply the letters SVC on a similar star. Both variations have been seen with a scroll underneath bearing the date of the unit's formation "4th April 1854" (see Shanghai Municipal Council).

The Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie wore a crowned H monogram on their shoulder straps for Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm II's younger brother who commanded the German East Asian Squadron c1897-1902.

German NCOs of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps wee distinguished by dark lace bands around the cuff. Officers wore German army style shoulder boards.

 

     

The Illustrations

Figure 1 is based on a photograph of Reinhold Holtz, an Infantryman of the German Company of the SVC taken in around 1899. He wears a mixture of German and British army uniforms with SVC insignia.

His white tropical helmet is British with a brass spike, chain chinstrap and an SVC badge consisting of an eight pointed star (most probably also in brass) with a circular central motif (see Paradise for Adventurers).

His tunic is an 1842/95 Prussian infantry dark blue tunic (as was worn by the regular infantry of all German states except Bavaria and Saxony by this date). It has red collar, cuffs and front and rear piping. The piping around the edge of the Brandenburg style cuff is white. The shoulder straps are also white with an unreadable red monogram.

The trousers are also probably German army issue in blue/black, piped in red, although his leather gaiters appear to be British army issue. His equipment is mostly in white leather and is probably of British origin, except for a single black or brown large central ammunition pouch which could be British or German.

His bayonet knot is German and indicates either the second, third or fourth company of a unit (the exact colour is impossible to tell from the original black and white photograph upon which this illustration is based).

The bayonet is presumably British to fit his British Lee Metford Mk II rifle. In the original photograph upon which this illustration is based the bayonet is in the fixed position.

 
Figure 1
Infantryman
German Company
Shanghai Volunteer Corps
c1899

Figure 2
Infantryman
German Company
Shanghai Volunteer Corps
c1910

Figure 2 is based on a photograph of an Infantryman of the German Company of the SVC taken between 1910 and 1912. He wears an Australian style slouch hat turned up on the left hand side. German Südwester hats had noticeably larger brims and were usually turned up on the right hand side. From 1903 Australian slouch hats were officially turned up on the left. On the turned up side of the hat is a brass SVC badge (consisting of an eight pointed star with the letters "S.V.C." across the centre above a scroll with the date of the SVC's formation- see the description above and Shanghai Municipal Council). Below the SVC badge is a small Imperial German cockade.

The uniform is probably tailored from locally made khaki and appears to be of quite a dark shade. It is cut in German style with eight buttons down the front. There are no pockets, plain cufffs and the stand and fall collar is in tunic colour. The detail of the shoulder straps cannot be made out in the original photograph but would presumably have the crowned H monogram of the Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie. The trousers are in a matching dark khaki shade and are tucked into leather gaiters (of uncertain origin) and short boots.

His equipment consists of a British 1903 Bandolier. His belt buckle is difficult to define in the original photograph aside from the general shape as seen here. His is again armed with a British rifle, in this case the Lee Metford Mk II.

In the original photograph upon which this illustration is based there is a mounted officer wearing a similar uniform but with German army style rank insignia on the shoulder straps (see Officers Rank Insignia Page) and a German army officer's belt (woven silver thread with horizontal stripes of the imperial or state colours- see Belt Buckles Details Page). An NCO in the same photograph wears a single collar button in the style of a Gefreiter (see NCO Rank Insignia Page).

 
 
     
 

Period Photographs

 
 


The German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie of the SVC on Parade with German Sailors
The Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps are on the left, the sailors on the right.

Photo © Rolf Weidlich


The German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie of the SVC on Parade
In this close up of the previous photograph we can see that the company are wearing the khaki summer uniform with pockets and six buttons down the front of the tunic. They wear the Australian slouch hat pinned up on the left hand side. The other ranks carry  British British Lee Metford Mk II rifles with British 1903 bandolier pouches. Note that they stand at Present Arms in the manner of the Prussian army. The musician on the left with a Prussian infantry drum and German style swallows nest insignia on his shoulders. It looks like he also has an unidentified star insignia on his right cuff. The officer in the centre of the photograph has a German officers belt and shoulder straps displaying his rank.
Photo © Rolf Weidlich


The German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie of the SVC on Parade
They wear the pocketed khaki summer uniforms with Australian slouch hats. The soldiers all carry British British Lee Metford Mk II rifles with British 1903 bandolier pouches.
 Photo © Mark Skurka see For Sale Page


Volunteers from the German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie of the SVC, possibly at Tsingtao 1914
This photograph is captioned as showing the defenders of Tsingtao in 1914. These may then be some of the volunteers who made it to the besieged city from Shanghai. They wear peaked field caps with German cockades above the SVC badge. Their uniforms are the eight buttoned winter uniforms with the crowned H monogram of the Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie visible on the shoulder straps. They carry British British Lee Metford Mk II rifles with British 1903 bandolier pouches. See SVC at Tsingtao Photo for close up details of this photo.
Photo from the Library of Congress Collection


German, Austro-Hungarian and Portuguese Soldiers of the SVC, 1916
Soldiers of all three nationalities are seen alongside each other along with cadets in the foreground and civilians to the right. The photograph is dated 1916, the tensions between the nations do not show despite the fact that
war was declared between Germany and Portugal on March 9th of that year.
Photo © Rolf Weidlich


German, Austro-Hungarian and Portuguese Soldiers of the SVC, 1916
All the soldiers wear the same peaked field caps with the SVC badge, though the man on the far left has removed the wire holding the crown in a stiff position from his cap. Judging from the shades of uniform thy may all have been locally made from the same British dark khaki cloth in different cuts for each nation. Soldiers of all three nationalities can be seen to wear the same belt and buckle with British 1903 bandolier pouches.

The two German soldiers on the left and centre background can be identified by their eight buttoned tunics and small imperial cockades above the SVC insignia on the front of their field caps. The German on the far left has a different style of ammunition or accessory pouch on his belt. It does not appear to be German in origin.

The three Austro-Hungarian soldiers in the centre foreground wear similar uniforms without the German cockade on their caps and with tunics in the Austrian style, concealed fronts and three pointed scalloped pocket flaps over concealed pockets. They have Austrian collar patches, with the centre figure having the single rank star of a Gefreiter. The other two have a single five pointed star on the right cuff- the significance of the this insignia is unknown (though it might be the same as that shown on the photo of the German musician on parade above)  The gaiters of the Austrians are noticeably shorter than the Germans and of the lighter shade. They may be the same type as used by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in China

The two soldiers from the Portuguese company are on the far right. They wear similar peaked caps to the Germans and Austrians, their tunics are of a similar shade and probably cut from the same cloth but their breast pockets are pleated patch pockets with three pointed flaps. The figure in the foreground has two upward pointing NCO rank chevrons, both wear puttees with their ankle boots.

In the left foreground is a young Cadet. with a floppy slouch hat. His tunic has collar patches with what may be Litzen or rank bars.
Photo © Rolf Weidlich


The German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie of the SVC on parade c1915-16
Their uniforms are the eight buttoned winter uniforms. The soldiers on the left wear peaked field caps with German cockades above the SVC badge, while those on the right wear the Australian slouch hat. They carry British British Lee Metford Mk II rifles with British 1903 bandolier pouches.

The caption is roughly translated as "The discharge of the commander of the international volunteer corps, Colonel Bray from the German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie, recalled to the front in the year 1916." There seems to be some confusion as to when Lieut-Col RN Bray was called away from Shanghai for active service with his home unit. The Straits Times of Singapore commented on 5th April 1915 "the German and Austrian companies specially paraded to say goodbye to Col. Bray: and considering for what reason he is called home, the good feeling and sportsmanship which prompted this parade will specially be remarked and must have appealed deeply to the Commandant."
Photo © Rolf Weidlich


Volunteer of the German Prinz Heinrich Kompagnie
of the SVC c1915
He wears the eight buttoned winter tunic and peaked field cap with a small German cockade. He has a British Lee Metford Mk II rifle with British 1903 bandolier pouches.

Photo © Rolf Weidlich

  Special Thanks on this page is due to Rolf Weidlich, Karsten Herzogenrath ("Leutwein") for sharing photographs of this unusual unit at the Pickelhaubes Forum and to "Reservist 1", "Peter H", "Tony and Kaiser", "Wyliecoyote", "Liongules" and "Robert" for their thoughts and advice on the subject. Thanks also to Hans-Joachim Schmidt of the excellent Tsingtau Info website for his help on this topic.

Recommended External Links-
Discussion of the Germans in the SVC on the Pickelhaubes Forum

Biography of Maximillian Hey (an Austrian who served in the SVC) on the Austro-Hungarian Army website

Uniforms of the World

Tales of Old China

Paradise for Adventurers

Shanghai Municipal Council

Wikipedia page on the SVC

The Diary of Paul Beushausen who mentions the SVC at Tsingtao on the Tsingtau Info website

The Story of Wilhelm Meller an SVC soldier who served at Tsingtao

An article on Lee Metford Rifles on Military Rifles

An article on British 1903 Bandoliers at Karkee Web

Straits Times Newspaper Article on Col Bray's Departure

 
     


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