DATING A PHOTOGRAPH.....

[Malcolm]

Sobil
I wondered if the soldier on the left was an officer as well. He has a leather cap band but I don't know if that's significant. I looked for evidence for pips on his shoulders but couldn't see them. That's not to say that they aren't there though. If it's important to you I could use some better software to analyse this detail.
I could be wrong but as an officer he should be wearing a Sam Browne. That's a leather belt around the waist connected to a diagonal strap that went over the shoulder and down the back to reconnect with the belt at the rear. On the other hand he may not be a British soldier at all in which case all the assumptions about uniform origins could be wrong.
You’re right, there are no grandchildren yet, how can you tell, and who told you about my daughter’s outrageous fashion sense? But, what can one expect, she’s an art student ! As for your conclusion about exterior walls and pubs, I deny it. It’s perceptive of you but how can you suggest such a thing? Anyway, the aggregate detail suggests a Brewery to me, not a pub.
MM

[Sobil]

Cheers Malcolm,

I may be able to get a better scan in the next couple of weeks (my mothers first great grandchild is due Saturday so somewhere in all the visiting I am sure I can get a family member to do a better job!).

I've written to the photographers. They seem to have been working far and wide at the time so I asked how likely it was the photograph was only taken in Burton. (There are many of their photos listed in auctions etc. so Burton may be a dud lead.)

I also had the thought that if an officer was present it was not too far from barracks so I found the address of a Staffordshire military buff and have written to ask him if any US troops were based there in WW1 or after. There can't have been that many US barracks in the UK if all the fighting was on the Continent.

I learnt young that the best thing about children is handing them back to their parents. I just feed them lots of sickly stuff, give them very loud toys and return them with a smile on my face!

So your daughter is an art student and the "Eighties are back".... is she scaring you with pinstripes and shoulder pads? If you have a few beers and check out some grouting maybe it won't seem so bad

Sobil

[joette]

Hi- no he might not have been too young to make it to the Boer Campaign. My Grandfather was of similiar age and decided that the Army was better than down the Pit. He served in the Boer Campaign, then in the South African Police which so sickened him that he returned to Midlothian & went "down Pit".He off course was a Reservist- not sure if being a canny Scot this gave him a financial return or if it was obligatory
Despite being in a reserved occupation by late 1914 he is France & Flanders where he remained until 1917 when he had his leg amputated & a large part of skull removed which left him with a lifelong sinus which had to be cleaned & repacked every day.Not forgetting the Malaria which would flare up every now & then (he served in what is now Sierra Leonne)
Oh & the whiff of gas which contributed to his death- Asthma & Pneumonia.
Strong stuff they were made off & his elder brother was killed too.I am extremely proud of these men, this lost generation.

[Sobil]

Thanks Joette,

Do you have any photos of the uniforms from the Boer War. This one looks like the American Enlisted on the above website but could it be some African Army?

Sobil

[Malcolm]

Hello Sobil
You seem to have concluded that your man is wearing an American Uniform. I forgot to mention that I took a look at your photograph using picture editing software that I use from time to time. I noticed that he is wearing a single and inverted chevron on his upper and lower right arm. Then I looked again at your original and saw that they can just be seen.
Pinstripes and shoulder pads Sobil? I wish that were the extent of it. Pins and stripes fad is nearer the mark. She’s coming home in a fortnight for her twenty first birthday party. I’m looking for somewhere to hide. A small Scottish island with limited communications has some appeal.

[joette]

Hi Sobil,
Sadly no photos of his African adventures- we do have photos of him with his two brothers in the trenches WW1. My younger brother is thankfully blessed with an almost photographic memory of things that interest him.My Father who died when Jim was 9 passed on the African tales to him & my Granny provided the rest. There are no details on his Army discharge papers which make fascinating reading. He was not the most conforming of soldiers & was fond of telling his superiors to go jump.He was demoted twice as Sergeant for the former but liked by his men!!
He was an educated,literary-loving,religiously tolerant man who would not allow any religious/racial bias in his household.He also helped with the housework even hanging out washing & walked the floor with his one leg when my Dad was ill or teething.My Maternal Grandfather was of the same ilk & I can remember my Father/M Grandfather fighting over who would push my sisters pram(not a sight often seen in 1960 West Scotland)

[Sobil]

Hi Joette,

He sounds like a wonderful man. I was thinking today how much of our lives we hide be it from humbleness or fear. I'm getting the urge to precis the lives of the living so they can approve and the descendents won't have to work so hard to find things out.... problem is my father would never sound his own trumpet so it might not be possible to find out.

Malcolm,

I won't apologise for pins and stripes. I love them although at my age I should resist. Daughter 21 .... so in the eighties your fashion sense was ?????

You seem to assume that I know what all those sticky, badgy, emblemy, tinny bits and bobs on a uniform mean. I fully support all our troops but haven't a clue when it comes to uniforms. (I'm more into Einstein and Hawking than Richard Gere in uniform). Thanks for your efforts but what does it all mean to a village idiot?

My cousin has just moved to a remote island somewhere in Scotland, population something like 6 and that includes the sheep..... do you require directions?

Sobil

[Davie]

Hi all
First of all, that is a great photie.
I think it is from England, the beer keg and brick wall, the Faither in Law, as stated, in "Brewer's garb".
We have lots of old postcards, mainly from Scotland or the music hall.
My big sister loved the old ones from the wars, and the poems and pathos that went with them.
I have not got a clue about anything military, but from old postcards it looks as if he is in the Lancers and his best man is with some other outfit.
Here is a Kiwi site.

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uni ... z-boer.htm

[Sobil]

Hi Davy,

I thought he was an englishman (actually half scots half welsh) being daft and wearing a trilby with his uniform post WW1. He does look like the NZ Infantry in the photo of the above link.

I think we have established he could have signed up at a younger age than I had realised. There is rumour of an NZ link and the strange uniform covers the Boer/African angle. Malcolm what do you think? For research purposes only could cleavages have plunged at an earlier date....

So now he could be visiting/resting in the UK, getting wed in his dress uniform, and not a barracks in site.... only a beer keg. Or did the Kiwis hunker down in the UK too?

Any advance...... male lead in The Nutcracker????

Sobil

[Davie]

Greetin's
Nothing to do with the original pic but here is another interesting one of "Highlanders" for your thoughts.
The other postkerds are jist tae bring back some memories fur yeese.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dauvit ... .dir=/c4c0
Awrabest
Davie