Postcards

[morrisc8]

Postcard came from France

[FROGSMILE]

3 minutes ago, morrisc8 said:

Postcard came from France

Super photo, RWF on right and QO(RWK) on left I think.

[GWF1967]

2 Drummers of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers sporting two different styles of regimental swagger stick. 

[GWF1967]

Royal Welsh Fusilier with his wife and child.  Photograph by Anderson of Welshpool. 

[FROGSMILE]

7 minutes ago, GWF1967 said:

2 Drummers of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers sporting two different styles of regimental swagger stick. 

Another super photo.  The type of cane on the right is called a ‘whangee’, and was popular in the tropics, from whence they were supplied.  They were cheap, hard wearing and light in weight.

Edited 23 August by FROGSMILE

[gunnerwalker]

Hi, would anyone be able to identify this cap badge? There seems to be no mention of it in the reference book I own.

[Andrew Upton]

3 hours ago, gunnerwalker said:

Hi, would anyone be able to identify this cap badge? There seems to be no mention of it in the reference book I own.

 

Church Lads Brigade:

https://www.sallybosleysbadgeshop.com/shop.php?code=59246

https://www.sallybosleysbadgeshop.com/shop.php?code=58453

 

[gunnerwalker]

5 hours ago, Andrew Upton said:

 

Church Lads Brigade:

https://www.sallybosleysbadgeshop.com/shop.php?code=59246

https://www.sallybosleysbadgeshop.com/shop.php?code=58453

 

Many thanks Andrew

[FROGSMILE]

9 hours ago, gunnerwalker said:

Hi, would anyone be able to identify this cap badge? There seems to be no mention of it in the reference book I own.

He wears the arm badges of an Armourer Staff Sergeant, which seems to reflect the enthusiasm at the time for small bore (.22 calibre) shooting teams encouraged within the Church Lads Brigade (and similar institutions) as part of their muscular Christianity activities.  From around 1910 they started to wear khaki service dress but before that their more traditional uniform of pillbox cap and dark blue with a white canvas haversack worn diagonally.  The arms were generally supplied by the War Office and commonly Martini Enfields.

Edited 24 August by FROGSMILE

[TomWW1]

21 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

Hello Tom, well done with identifying the cap badge.  You’re obviously genuinely interested in WW1 and have been a member of the forum for a little while now, which is great.  Hopefully you’re learning things as you go along.  With that in mind, how do you think the “identity” of a man, i.e. his name and origin, can be deduced from a photograph such as that which you have posted?

Hello Frog, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but honestly I’m not 100% sure how you could go about identifying this man as there is nothing on the back not even a studio name which suggests to me that this was taken by a family member meaning this family must have been fairly middle class to have been able to afford a camera at such time. 

[FROGSMILE]

6 minutes ago, TomWW1 said:

Hello Frog, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but honestly I’m not 100% sure how you could go about identifying this man as there is nothing on the back not even a studio name which suggests to me that this was taken by a family member meaning this family must have been fairly middle class to have been able to afford a camera at such time. 

Yes Tom its asking an impossible task on that sort of photo unless you yourself are able to give at least some hint of nominal information that can be expanded upon.

Edited 24 August by FROGSMILE

[TomWW1]

2 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

Yes Tom its asking an impossible task on that sort of photo unless you yourself are able to give at least some hint of nominal information that can be expanded upon.

Can you post some photos of OBLI here so I can look at them in detail? I have a decent amount of family who served with them during ww1

[FROGSMILE]

Just now, TomWW1 said:

Can you post some photos of OBLI here so I can look at them in detail? I have a decent amount of family who served with them during ww1

You can search for them within the forum yourself Tom, or I can recommend the Bing Image search facility within the wider internet. 

[tankengine888]

52 minutes ago, TomWW1 said:

Can you post some photos of OBLI here so I can look at them in detail? I have a decent amount of family who served with them during ww1

50 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

You can search for them within the forum yourself Tom, or I can recommend the Bing Image search facility within the wider internet. 

There also is the IWM and its collection if that has not been mentioned yet.

[FROGSMILE]

12 minutes ago, tankengine888 said:

There also is the IWM and its collection if that has not been mentioned yet.

It will be good for Tom if you can help him to learn how to do such research, as there’s lots that he can learn from you.

Edited 24 August by FROGSMILE

[caladonia]

20 hours ago, gunnerwalker said:

1294 Pte. Walter William Leigh. 1/1st West Somerset Yeomanry. 

Born in 1896. Lived at Harwoods Farm near Aller, Somerset. Enlisted in September 1914.

Served at Gallipoli - they sailed from Liverpool aboard the Olympic and entered theatre on the 23rd September 1915. Landed at Suvla Bay on the 9th October as a dismounted unit. After the evacuation in December 1915 they moved to Egypt, where in 1917 the unit became the 12th Somerset Light Infantry, and then served in France from May 1918.

Hello there

An excellant photo of a WS Yeomanry trooper, I've just noticed his helmet seems to have the patch of the 12 Som LI, a black square with a yellow diagonal stripe, see here https://www.paoyeomanry.org.uk/DHY74thDiv.htm

Although compare to other photo I've seem , https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/976352,

the coulours seem a bit pale, could it be a WS Yeom, patch befoe convertion?

William

[gunnerwalker]

4 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

He wears the arm badges of an Armourer Staff Sergeant, which seems to reflect the enthusiasm at the time for small bore (.22 calibre) shooting teams encouraged within the Church Lads Brigade (and similar institutions) as part of their muscular Christianity activities.  From around 1910 they started to wear khaki service dress but before that their more traditional uniform of pillbox cap and dark blue with a white canvas haversack worn diagonally.  The arms were generally supplied by the War Office and commonly Martini Enfields.

Many thanks. Had heard mention of them before but not seen a cap badge.

[FROGSMILE]

11 minutes ago, caladonia said:

Hello there

An excellant photo of a WS Yeomanry trooper, I've just noticed his helmet seems to have the patch of the 12 Som LI, a black square with a yellow diagonal stripe, see here https://www.paoyeomanry.org.uk/DHY74thDiv.htm

Although compare to other photo I've seem , https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/976352,

the coulours seem a bit pale, could it be a WS Yeom, patch befoe convertion?

William

That’s another excellent spot by you Caladonia, I didn’t spy that Wolseley helmet there under the table.  The 2-years plus service indicated by his GCB might nudge him into the period when the unit became SLI.  Could the shoulder title have a conjoined bugle, I can’t see it well enough?  What can others see?  gunner walker?

2 minutes ago, gunnerwalker said:

Many thanks. Had heard mention of them before but not seen a cap badge.

It’s a photo that’s been posted in the forum before because I distinctly remember the Armourer aspect, but I cannot recall by whom.

[gunnerwalker]

13 minutes ago, caladonia said:

Hello there

An excellant photo of a WS Yeomanry trooper, I've just noticed his helmet seems to have the patch of the 12 Som LI, a black square with a yellow diagonal stripe, see here https://www.paoyeomanry.org.uk/DHY74thDiv.htm

Although compare to other photo I've seem , https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/976352,

the coulours seem a bit pale, could it be a WS Yeom, patch befoe convertion?

William

Good spot William, I’d missed the helmet on the chair entirely! The area which should be black does look a little pale, but understandable if he’s spent a year or two in the desert.

Just now, FROGSMILE said:

That’s another excellent spot by you Caladonia, I didn’t spy that Wolseley helmet there under the table.  The 2-years plus service indicated by his GCB might nudge him into the period when the unit became SLI.  Could the shoulder title have a conjoined bugle, I can’t see it well enough?  What can others see?  gunner walker?

I don’t think it’s a standard SLI shoulder title with bugle. I think it’s more likely WSY (‘W.Somerset’ along the bottom with ‘Y’ above). Possibly the picture is taken around the amalgamation of the two units so there’s a bit of both, and, as you previously said, they would be inclined to keep as much of their former unit heritage as possible.

[FROGSMILE]

14 minutes ago, gunnerwalker said:

Good spot William, I’d missed the helmet on the chair entirely! The area which should be black does look a little pale, but understandable if he’s spent a year or two in the desert.

I don’t think it’s a standard SLI shoulder title with bugle. I think it’s more likely WSY (‘W.Somerset’ along the bottom with ‘Y’ above). Possibly the picture is taken around the amalgamation of the two units so there’s a bit of both, and, as you previously said, they would be inclined to keep as much of their former unit heritage as possible.

Yes I think it probably is the Yeomanry title.  I did consider the Boer War era WSY pattern, but the letters were taller and the title looks longer to me than just 3-letters, so hence the longer title that I suggested and posted.  I can see a hint of it but just not the detail.

Edited 24 August by FROGSMILE

[caladonia]

Thank you both for your replies

My spotting skills arn't that good as I had looked at the photo at least a half dozen times before I noticed the helmet on the chair!

Could a date for the photo be guessed at by the number of service stripes being worn? As he enlisted in Sep 1914 and they became 12 Som LI in Jan 1917?

I was aslo thinking that the stripe in the flash was edged by a darker colour, so perhaps were in W Som yeomanry colours? Blue/red/yellow.

William

Interestingly he is still wearing his puttees cavalry fashion ie tied at the ankle!

 

Edited 24 August by caladonia
forgot info

[FROGSMILE]

8 minutes ago, caladonia said:

Thank you both for your replies

My spotting skills arn't that good as I had looked at the photo at least a half dozen times before I noticed the helmet on the chair!

Could a date for the photo be guessed at by the number of service stripes being worn? As he enlisted in Sep 1914 and they became 12 Som LI in Jan 1917?

I was aslo thinking that the stripe in the flash was edged by a darker colour, so perhaps were in W Som yeomanry colours? Blue/red/yellow.

William

 

The GCB was only permitted for TF (i.e. auxiliary) soldiers, including Yeomanry in 1916, after the MSA of that year led to terms and conditions of all soldiers, but especially voluntary ones, being reviewed.  It was then backdated.  It indicates that at the time of the photo being taken he had already completed 2-years full-time service without any disciplinary infringement.

Edited 24 August by FROGSMILE

[Petroc]

Bill Phillips (surname spelling possibly wrong!) of the North Devon Hussars with wife Lily (wearing an RNDH brooch), Barnstaple, Devon

[FROGSMILE]

10 minutes ago, Petroc said:

Bill Phillips (surname spelling possibly wrong!) of the North Devon Hussars with wife Lily (wearing an RNDH brooch), Barnstaple, Devon

What an evocative image of an dedicated auxiliary soldier and his wife.  It’s a good example of how the Yeomanry and cavalry in general often wore collar badges with service dress regardless of the regulations against.  The RNDH appears to have worn a plain Imperial (Tudor) crown as collar badge, a type which when collar badges were first introduced to the regular Army in the 1870s, was laid down as the badge to be worn by all those corps that did not already have ‘special insignia’ agreed with Horse Guards previously. 

Edited 24 August by FROGSMILE

[Petroc]

Thanks for the information regarding collar badges, Mr F; I have (somewhere) a dark metal crown on a black felt background  (two loops to rear for pin) that family stories had always identified as  'Devon Yeomanry badge' but our lot were never in the RD1Y area so must have been NDH...?