Understanding the line from Gunga Din

Question

So, in Kipling's Gunga Din, there's a piece in the second stanza:

The uniform ’e wore
Was nothin’ much before,
An’ rather less than ’arf o’ that be’ind,
For a piece o’ twisty rag
An’ a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment ’e could find.

Can anyone help me understand line 3?

An’ rather less than ’arf o’ that be’ind.

It might me something obvious to a native, but I don't get what ’arf is supposed to be.

Answer 1

An’ rather less than ’arf o’ that be’ind.

Is an abbreviated version of

And rather less than half of that behind.

In other words, the uniform was thin at the front and even more scanty in the rear.