This is a blue cloth helmet of the 59th Regiment named on the inside to P. H. N. Lake. The helmet comes with its original carry tin lined with a newspaper cutting from the Graphic dated November 9th, 1878. From the newspaper date and since the numbered regiment plates were only worn on the home service helmet from 1878-1881, I believe the helmet was made anytime from May to December 1878. After researching him I discovered him to be Lieutenant General Sir Percy Henry Noel Lake. He fought with the 59th as a lieutenant in the 2nd Afghan war and then later with the East Lancashire Regiment as a Captain during the Sudan Campaign. He climbed the ranks, becoming Chief of the Canadian General Staff in 1905, General Officer Commanding 7th Indian Division in India in 1911, and Chief of the General Staff in India in 1912. He fought the Ottomans during ww1 as commander of the Mesopotamian Force. The helmet is in near mint condition with only a few spots on the helmet where the gilt has faded and where the cloth shows damage.
