asluiter Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Hi, this is my first post, so I would appreciate any assistance. I am trying to identify which unit(s) my grandfather served with in WW1. His name was William Edward Sluiter, and his war medals indicate he served with the 1/8 Essex. Having said that I can't seem to identify the cap badge in the attached photo. Can anyone assist? There is no record of him in the online National Archives. I have some later photos, which I will re-scan at higher resolution, as these shows a very different badge. Many Thanks Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asluiter Posted 23 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Later photo - c1920. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunchy Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 The first cap badge is the Royal Irish Fusiliers. The second one is obscure but it could be the Essex Regiment but that is only going by the shape of the collar badges - the county badge -being a shield with three seaxes and there is an slight indication of them in the photo. At first sight it looked to be a Light Infantry badge and possibly The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry but the collar badges don't match either the earlier or later patterns for the DCLI - so as a guess I'd say Essex Regiment for the second photo. can you provide a larger shot? Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunchy Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Here are photos of the badges discussed above: Essex Regiment cap and collars Royal Irish Fusiliers Cap badge Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry cap badge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 In the later photo, is he a Territorial? The shoulder title, such as you can see, looks very 'long' for a stratightforward infantry county title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asluiter Posted 23 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Thanks for the quick reply. I believe he served in Ireland, so the fusiliers badge fits. Here are some "enhanced" scans of the best photo I have. Not sure it helps too much, but I appreciate any feedback. The collar pins certainly match the Essex RGT, but am not sure the cap badge matches. Any thoughts on the upper skills badge? The crossed rifles is obviously a marksman/skills-at-arms badge, but I can't make out the wreath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExREME Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 It may be a trick of the light but there appears to be too much "voiding" in the second cap badge to be Essex Regiment. Alsoo the collar badges are not unlike the Army Ordnance Corps three cannons. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunchy Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Mmmmmm. The plot thickens. The cap is neither The Essex Regiment, the Army Ordnance Corps nor The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (The AOC became Royal in 1918). The closest the cap badge comes to is this one but it is The North Somerset Yeomanry and I don't know what their collar badges looked like. Over to one of our British colleagues. Cheers Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 The cap badge looks rather like that of the North Somerset Yeomanry; too much space and too many points to be the Army Service Corps, but that throws up the issue of the collars, which do look rather Essex-like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Oops, I was typing, then got interrupted, as Chris sent. So call it a supporting vote for the NSY. The SAA badges are a marksman (natch) with the crossed rifles. I think that the wreath badge is 'LG' for Lewis Gunner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 They do appear to be Essex Regt Collar Dogs & oddly NSY Cap Badge... Curioser & Curioser??? Have you tried just entering his Number{from his Medals} on the NA site,with an unusual surname there is a likelyhood it was mis~transcribed when the Index Cards were put online?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 NSY might account for my suggestion the shoulder title is a TF/TA one....there would be a 'Y', I assume, at the top of the title? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asluiter Posted 23 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 23 January , 2008 Thanks for the detail. Yes I have tried all sorts of variations on the NA site including RGT number. I have just had another look based on the information provided here, and nothing matches his RGT number with the Irish Fusiliers, the NSY or Essex. His RGT # was 61050 1/8 Essex on both the British War Medal and Victory Medal. As you say the plot thickens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 23 January , 2008 Share Posted 23 January , 2008 NSY might account for my suggestion the shoulder title is a TF/TA one....there would be a 'Y', I assume, at the top of the title? Steven, I agree that the shoulder titles look distinctly like TF in shape and the cap badge NSY, which as you imply fits the bill. Can anyone advise what the NSY collar badges were like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asluiter Posted 23 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 23 January , 2008 I have one other photo (undated) which I have included. It would appear that in this earlier photo, when he was still a corporal, he and his squad were indeed wearing Essex RGT badges. I must admit I assumed that the cap badge in the group shot was the same as the individual photo above. It becomes obvious that this is not likely. So it would seem that he started with the Irish Fusiliers, moved to the Essex RGT, then finished up after the war in the NSY, yet with some attachment to the Essex via the collar pins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 24 January , 2008 Share Posted 24 January , 2008 I have one other photo (undated) which I have included. It would appear that in this earlier photo, when he was still a corporal, he and his squad were indeed wearing Essex RGT badges. I must admit I assumed that the cap badge in the group shot was the same as the individual photo above. It becomes obvious that this is not likely. So it would seem that he started with the Irish Fusiliers, moved to the Essex RGT, then finished up after the war in the NSY, yet with some attachment to the Essex via the collar pins? Soldiers often 'dressed up' their tunics for studio portraits and used all sorts of methods to do so (they still do!). In the NSY shot he has done his best to look the part with riding breeches (as opposed to trousers) a posh lanyard (unusually to a lower pocket),medal ribbons, qualifications badges, whitened chevrons(?) and irregular collar badges (not in any case generally worn by ORs on SD until after the war). With that in mind I think this is just a post war bit of artistic licence on his part to look his best for 'the folks back home' (perhaps a girlfriend). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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