Stephen White Posted 9 March , 2004 Share Posted 9 March , 2004 The attatched photograph was found inside "The Soldiers Small Book" (service book i think) for a Charles Wells,19043,South Staffordhire Regiment. Do either of the two men look like they could be from the South Staffs (going by their uniforms).Or does the lack of caps with badges mean an Id is not possible. It may seem a silly question to some,but i am still amazed at what members of the forum are able to tell from just looking at something. Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 9 March , 2004 Share Posted 9 March , 2004 Steven Can't ID them, I'm afraid - but I am curious. Any more info from the Small Book - age, next of kin? I wonder who they are. The chap standing looks quite a bit older older. Father & son ? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted 9 March , 2004 Author Share Posted 9 March , 2004 Steven Can't ID them, I'm afraid - but I am curious. Any more info from the Small Book - age, next of kin? I wonder who they are. The chap standing looks quite a bit older older. Father & son ? John John The information in the Small Book is;-Charles Wells,Enlisted Birmingham,In the County of Warwick,On the 26.05.15,At the age of 21 years 4 months,For the South Staffordshire Regiment,For the duration of the war. Born in the Parish of Birmingham,In the County of Warwick,Trade or Calling Hawker,Last permanent Residence 7/5 Bradford Street.Interestingly under next of kin now living the only entry is in the 4th box "other relations" and it says "Nellie Martin,Mistress" the address given is 7/5 Bradford Street.How usual was it to list a mistress as next of kin,and doesn't "mistress" imply that he was married ??. Going by the age alone i would have suspected that this could have been the younger of the two,but isn't the younger one showing medal ribbons on his tunic ?? and what's the cord round the shoulder of the man who is standing ??. As i said the photo was inside the cover of the "small book" in the little pocket in the back,just very curious. STEVEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 9 March , 2004 Share Posted 9 March , 2004 Hi, We might have more success if you could provide a blow up at the best resolution of the shoulder of the standing gentleman. This might just let us distinguish the shoulder title. The area above the left pocket of the seated gentleman would also be of interest. Rgds, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted 10 March , 2004 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2004 Hi, We might have more success if you could provide a blow up at the best resolution of the shoulder of the standing gentleman. This might just let us distinguish the shoulder title. The area above the left pocket of the seated gentleman would also be of interest. Rgds, Alex. I've messed around for over an hour,re-scanned,set the resolution as high as i can,zoomed in etc.I've only a HP 1210 scanner and the software to go with it isn't that hot.The following are the best i can get,still don't think we will be able to tell a lot though !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted 10 March , 2004 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2004 Hi, We might have more success if you could provide a blow up at the best resolution of the shoulder of the standing gentleman. This might just let us distinguish the shoulder title. The area above the left pocket of the seated gentleman would also be of interest. Rgds, Alex. Image number two !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted 10 March , 2004 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2004 Hi, We might have more success if you could provide a blow up at the best resolution of the shoulder of the standing gentleman. This might just let us distinguish the shoulder title. The area above the left pocket of the seated gentleman would also be of interest. Rgds, Alex. Image number three,one of the tunic buttons.VERY fuzzy,best i could get,don't think we could tell anything from this. Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 10 March , 2004 Share Posted 10 March , 2004 Steven, Seeing as you've gone to all the effort now it's my time to put my neck on the line. I don't believe that the standing gentleman was a member of the South Staffs at the time the photo was taken. I can't quite make out his shoulder title due to the angle, but it appears to consist of only two letters. What do other eyes see? An example of a two letter shoulder title would be RE for Royal Engineers. I can't really make out the medal ribbons. My eyes have began to deceive me - I thought maybe I saw a BWM, maybe an IGSM and even an MM! Alas I can't reconcile the length of the ribbon bar with these awards. B & W photographs are notorious for distorting certain colurs, especially medal ribbons. However, if we can determine what awards Charles Wells was entitled to we can determine whatether this is indeed him. Once we know the awards it may be a tad easier identifying the medal ribbons. I have a hunch that it doesn't show WW1 medal ribbons as I don't detect overseas service stripes, so I would date the photo as being before 1918. What we need is someone with eagle eyes. Rgds, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted 11 March , 2004 Share Posted 11 March , 2004 Alex, my eyes are probably playing tricks but can you make out a knot with a crown above it on the close up of the button? Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 11 March , 2004 Share Posted 11 March , 2004 Max, I thought I could detect a crown surmounting something, but my eyes may be playing tricks. If it is a staffs knot then it would make sense. Good eagle eyes! What do you make of the medal ribbons? If they are a 15 Star trio and something else (an IGSM 1908?) then shouldn't he have four overseas service chevrons? Rgds, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted 11 March , 2004 Author Share Posted 11 March , 2004 Alex & Max Could the the two letters on the shoulder of the man standing be RA,Royal Artillery ??.A relative of Charles Wells if he is indeed one of those in the photo served with the RA in WW2.This photo and the Small Book came from a suitcase,that was in the loft of "this relative".What does the cord round the shoulder signify ?? is it anything special or purely decoration ??. I will have another play around with the photo's later,but i've got to get some sleep first.It was a VERY busy night shift last night. Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now