Uniform: Please Help Identify

[weightlily]

36 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

That looks to be a photo typical of Canada. If he did go there, and if he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force there, then it’s possible that he might’ve been a soldier in the 50th Gordon Highlanders of Canada.  However the cap badge in your photo looks more British to my eyes.

 

Certainly agree the cap looks more typical of the badge for the British Gordons than the Canadian counterpart.

His son (my great uncle) confirmed he did work on ships, and that he thinks he did change his surname (apparently to make it more British sounding, which tees with my grandmothers account). I'm in contact with a distant relative that independently suggested his father thought he was Canadian - so a working theory is that he was probably of Scottish origin, and moved to Canada at some point as a child - but will need more evidence before I can say anything. 

 

Thank you again for the help!  

[FROGSMILE]

4 minutes ago, weightlily said:

Certainly agree the cap looks more typical of the badge for the British Gordons than the Canadian counterpart.

His son (my great uncle) confirmed he did work on ships, and that he thinks he did change his surname (apparently to make it more British sounding, which tees with my grandmothers account). I'm in contact with a distant relative that independently suggested his father thought he was Canadian - so a working theory is that he was probably of Scottish origin, and moved to Canada at some point as a child - but will need more evidence before I can say anything. 

 

Thank you again for the help!  

Yes I think the rationale you’ve outlined makes sense.  The Canadian national identity was still evolving at that time and there was a much more subtle line between British and Canadian.  Apart from the Francophones there was a strong attitude towards bring ‘British-Canadian’, not least because of the droves of British men that had been arriving to take up farming and associated occupations since 1900.

Edited 20 January , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Ypres1915]

Sorry for the late reply to this. I stumbled upon the post while searching "Hospital Blues". I don't believe the uniform in the original photo is the Gordon's but is rather the 72nd Battalion CEF. The badge to this unit is very similar to the Gordon's badge. The Shoulder title also looks very much like a curved Canada or a curved Seaforth Canada with the battalion number 72 above it. I found two John Stewarts in the 72nd Battalion history who were also wounded and survived the war .... their service numbers are 474156 John Grant and 1015456 John Nelson Stewart. A search of their records shows John Grant having a father named William and John Nelson having a wife during the war named Alice.  Not sure these fit but may help the search along.

History of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion... - Image 393 - Canadiana

Badge found here

The 72nd Battalion — Seaforth Highlanders

Canada Shoulder Title found here

CWM_SupplyLine_CanadaShoulderTitle_EN_FINAL_20140922 (warmuseum.ca)

72nd Battalion Title shown here

 

[FROGSMILE]

2 hours ago, Ypres1915 said:

Sorry for the late reply to this. I stumbled upon the post while searching "Hospital Blues". I don't believe the uniform in the original photo is the Gordon's but is rather the 72nd Battalion CEF. The badge to this unit is very similar to the Gordon's badge. The Shoulder title also looks very much like a curved Canada or a curved Seaforth Canada with the battalion number 72 above it. I found two John Stewarts in the 72nd Battalion history who were also wounded and survived the war .... their service numbers are 474156 John Grant and 1015456 John Nelson Stewart. A search of their records shows John Grant having a father named William and John Nelson having a wife during the war named Alice.  Not sure these fit but may help the search along.

History of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion... - Image 393 - Canadiana

Badge found here

The 72nd Battalion — Seaforth Highlanders

Canada Shoulder Title found here

CWM_SupplyLine_CanadaShoulderTitle_EN_FINAL_20140922 (warmuseum.ca)

72nd Battalion Title shown here

 

You could well be right.  I mentioned the possibility of a Canadian in a nota bene to my initial reply and both SteveE and I noticed the extra aspects to the shoulder title, thinking it might also indicate a soldier in a TF unit.  There’s nothing I can see to rule out a soldier of the CEF.  I did think that the dark shirt with a hospital tie was odd, although that has no bearing as to a British, or Canadian unit and it’s not the first non white shirt that I’ve seen.  It will be useful to the original poster to examine the known family name in relation to Canadian WW1 records. 

Edited 9 August , 2023 by FROGSMILE