caulkheader Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 Hi all I recently acquired a set of medals to a R.E.'s dispatch rider, when I collected them there was a large number of photos with them. Quite possibly he took them furtively on his travels, mainly of ruined villages, POW's etc. This one intrigues me, I would dearly like to confirm the casualty to see if he ties in with the photo taker. Any suggestions as to who or even where, would be appreciated. I can tell you he [the 'snapper' was in the Montauban area in July 1916. Thanks in advance [hopefully]. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrenchrat22 Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 2 hours ago, caulkheader said: Hi all I recently acquired a set of medals to a R.E.'s dispatch rider, when I collected them there was a large number of photos with them. Quite possibly he took them furtively on his travels, mainly of ruined villages, POW's etc. This one intrigues me, I would dearly like to confirm the casualty to see if he ties in with the photo taker. Any suggestions as to who or even where, would be appreciated. I can tell you he [the 'snapper' was in the Montauban area in July 1916. Thanks in advance [hopefully]. T Cant see apart from a Captain in the RFC can you post what details you can see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolymoleyRE Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 (edited) Hi T, The actor, Captain Basil Hallam Radford https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/175203/radford,-basil-hallam/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Hallam Regards Andy Edited 27 October , 2017 by HolymoleyRE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 (edited) If he took the photo because it was the grave of someone who was famous pre-war - could it Captain Basil Hallam Radford? https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/175203/radford,-basil-hallam/ JP Edit: HoleymoleyRE beat me to it by a minute !! Edited 27 October , 2017 by helpjpl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolymoleyRE Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 1 minute ago, helpjpl said: If he took the photo because it was the grave of someone who was famous pre-war - could it Captain Basil Hallam Radford? https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/175203/radford,-basil-hallam/ JP I believe it is JP, I can make out most of Radford, the H of the middle name and something Xxsil. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 (edited) 42 minutes ago, HolymoleyRE said: Hi T, Captain Basil Hallam Radford https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/175203/radford,-basil-hallam/ He is number one on my list as well. I think the three identical crosses in the background are Crossthwaite, Riley and Stephens. Wrong direction There is a picture here that is so tantalisingly close to Radford's grave, if we have it right. Phil Edited 27 October , 2017 by Phil Evans Reorientation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolymoleyRE Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 The detail of his death off the RAF Archive. http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/pages/raf_vault.php?&RAF-titel=radford &RAF-initials=b.h&van=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 27 October , 2017 Share Posted 27 October , 2017 His obituary in Flight Global: https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1916/1916 - 0753.PDF JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulkheader Posted 27 October , 2017 Author Share Posted 27 October , 2017 (edited) Thanks chaps. I would have laid money that the first initial was 'H'. But it all seems to make sense. There are a good many photos in the album, the snapper was a dispatch rider ( and MM winner), looks like he kept an unauthorised VPK tucked away. Some interesting shots of columns of POW's and battlefield devastation. T ps another 'must visit' for the next trip then. Edited 27 October , 2017 by caulkheader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david murdoch Posted 28 October , 2017 Share Posted 28 October , 2017 Basil Hallam Radford was very well known at the time and popular with the troops. His death was widely reported in the newspapers of the day. Noted in one it states he was killed when his balloon broke loose, and he died due to his parachute failed to open. He is mentioned in some previous threads regarding Knuts - he was the original "Knut with a K" ! Photo of his CWGC headstone is in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8055Bell Posted 1 December , 2017 Share Posted 1 December , 2017 On 27/10/2017 at 22:27, caulkheader said: Thanks chaps. I would have laid money that the first initial was 'H'. But it all seems to make sense. There are a good many photos in the album, the snapper was a dispatch rider ( and MM winner), looks like he kept an unauthorised VPK tucked away. Some interesting shots of columns of POW's and battlefield devastation. T ps another 'must visit' for the next trip then. Hi Caulkheader, If you have photos of the Montauban battlefield, I'd love to see them. We have various shots of the devastation in the villade, but no much of the approaches. The battlefield cemeteries are particularly interesting. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraG Posted 14 March , 2018 Share Posted 14 March , 2018 Also worth a look - Charterhouse's Roll of Honour site....... http://charterhousewarmemorial.org.uk/RollofHonour.aspx?RecID=519&TableName=ta_factfile Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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