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Photo for restoration and identification of uniform please

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  • Photo for restoration and identification of uniform please

    This was taken in about 1917 - my Dad is one of the little boys at the front. Could someone please remove the creases and generally clean it up? Also, does anyone know what the uniform is of the man on the extreme left (my great uncle)?
    Joy

  • #2
    well for a start he is a sergeant and he was in a unit/regiment that used horses as he has spurs on and his trousers are the type used by horsemen in the army. The thing that is throwing me is the use of a collar and tie with the uniform as this was usually only for officer's rather than NCO's and OR's.


    don

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    • #3
      erm, just checking, the chap would have been in a british regiment?

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      • #4
        Yes, he would have been in a British regiment. Can anyone recommend where I might try to find any military records for him? I've checked the Medal Rolls for WWI and there are at least two possibilities: Royal Horse Artillery (as it's been very helpfully pointed out that he was a horseman), and the Yorkshire Regiment. He was born in Yorkshire in 1894.
        Joy

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        • #5


          Quick tidy.

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          • #6
            I would suggest the Great War Forum to start with. The fact that he is wearing shirt and tie is very interesting, but the poor soul does rather seem to have a thousand yard stare. And also the uniform belt is very loose to one side and not too military. There is a story there without a doubt.

            ps... Are they long service chevrons on his right arm?
            Last edited by Just Barbara; 28-06-09, 22:18.

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            • #7
              Does the uniform seem"Lightweight"? it does to the one my father wore in the WW1

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              • #8
                Also if it's 1917 why are the other two men not in uniform?....strange....

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                • #9
                  Thanks very much for the restoration, and for all the helpful comments so far. First of all, I can't be positive that it was 1917 - I'm going on the age of my uncle, the little boy on the right. He was born in 1914, and I put his age at about 3, although he could be 4 I guess. The man on the immediate right of the one in uniform is my Grandad. He wasn't in the army, but served in the LDV. I don't know if the other chap served in the army - he was a railway signalman.
                  Joy

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                  • #10
                    In WW1 the LDV was very like WW2s Homeguard, men who were too old or too young to fight, men who worked on the railways were in a reserved occupation....

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                    • #11
                      The photo definently cannot be as early as 1917. The overseas service chevrons he was wearing were only introduced late in December 1917. The 'old sweats' of the BEF who had been fighting since August 1914 got a special red chevron for their 1914 service, and then they and everyone else got blue chevrons for each succesive year of overseas service. The man in the photo doesn't appear to have the 1914 red one, but does have four blue chevrons, the earliest this could then denote is 1915,16,17,18. They were also given for the two years after the war in 1919/1920 for the men who formed part of the Occupation force in the Rhineland or fought in NW Russia assisting the 'White Armies' against the Bolshevik government, so possible, though less likely, his service could even run a bit later.

                      Qualifying service for chevrons ceased on 1 May 1920, and the actual wearing of them on uniforms was discontinued in 1922, so the very earliest photo could be is 1918, very latest 1922. Like everyone else I am confused as to why he has Sergeants stripes but is wearing the collar and tie of an officer. What is the rank given for the men on the Medal Cards you have as possibles for him, any of them offer a clue?
                      Last edited by Richard; 29-06-09, 17:08.

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                      • #12
                        Thanks Richard, that's really helpful about the chevrons, and makes me think the photo probably dates from 1918. I've had another look at the Medal Rolls records, and although there are many for 'Albert E. Lewis', there are 3 which might be him: Royal Horse Artillery A.S.C. Rank Dvr (Driver?), enlisted 10 June 1915; Yorkshire Regiment, Rank Cpl; and Yorks and Lancs 1/4th, Rank Sgt, enlisted 3 Sep 1914. There are quite a few more for the Royal Engineers, but I'm working on the basis that he was a horseman so haven't singled out any from there.
                        Joy

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                        • #13
                          I think you can rule out the Driver and the Corporal, he is above that rank, at least a sergeant from his stripes.

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