The red coat is older than anything else in this scene. Charles II founded the Royal Hospital at Chelsea in 1682 as an almshouse for soldiers broken by age and war — the letters patent ask for the relief of men "old, lame, or infirm in ye service of the crowne" — and Wren built it in imitation of Les Invalides. The bargain has never changed since: an In-Pensioner hands back his army pension and receives board, lodging, clothing and medical care until he dies. He also receives two uniforms. Blue for every day, scarlet for parade. The old man is in his Scarlets, which tells you what he thinks is happening here.

Now look at the boy's head. A soft service cap, not a steel helmet — which puts him in 1914 or early 1915, because the British Army did not issue the Brodie until the winter of 1915. He is in full marching order, the SMLE with bayonet fixed riding up over his shoulder, and he is going. The old man has hold of his hand and has put his other hand on the boy's arm, and the whole composition is the distance between two armies. In a diorama, march him away with the infantry waving their caps and the column in full kit. Kitchener is the reason he is standing there at all.

W. Britain model 23059. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Two-figure set on a single sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.