Unknown concert party

[high wood]

This photograph was taken by F Holmes, photographer of Mere in Wiltshire. The officer appears to be a Lieutenant in a territorial battalion of the HLI.

[Kate Wills]

Without looking into notes, the chap sitting in the bottom right-hand corner looks very much like Leslie Frye, who served with the 2nd London Scottish (2/14th Londons). They trained at Sandhills Camp before venturing abroad with 60th Division.

Would that be a runner, given the officer's uniform, and location?

PS I might get more inspiration later, assuming I am allowed into the driving seat of the main pc.

[high wood]

The 2nd London Scottish (2/14th Londons) were definitely at Sutton Veny in June 1916. Not sure about the officer though as he is not in London Scottish uniform.

[Moonraker]

Enter the pedant (me): "Sandhills Camp" is actually "Sand Hill Camp" near Longbridge Deverill, south of Warminster. My notes suggest that the 2/14th was there from April 24 to 29, 1916, having been at Sutton Veny Camp, south east of Warminster from January 21 to April 24. It seems unlikely that the battalion would have moved to Sand Hill for less than a week and in view of High Wood's statement that it was there in June I suspect that I made a wrong assumption or transcription of notes. So confirmation/correction would be welcome. (I've just noticed that the Forum list of infantry regiments suggests that the 2/14th was at Sutton Veny in January 1916 and moved to Cork on April 28 before returning to Sutton Veny on May 14 and then landing at Le Havre on June 22.)

Soldiers and histories sometimes refer to being "at Longbridge Deverill" (a title long enough to suggest why "Sand Hill" was chosen as the camp name). F Holmes seems to have got around Wiltshire a bit more than the average postcard publisher, as I have cards published by him from several locations - and they're usually more interesting than those of some his rivals. Of these, E G Reynolds and Vowles favoured Sutton Veny, with Vowles and R Wilkinson featuring Sand Hill.

Moonraker

[Kate Wills]

This postcard is stamped F. HOLMES, PHOTOS, MERE, WILTS, and would appear to be a companion piece for your card, High Wood.

Could we swap high res images please?

[centurion]

It looks as if we had the dreaded Black and White Minstrels as some of those guys appear "blacked up". Not a PC issue in those days.

[high wood]

Kate,

I am chuffed with your absolutely perfect match; I can even recognise individuals as there are some very distinctive chins amongst the concert party.

A few follow up questions:

Do you know the names of the individual members of the concert party?

Did they have a collective name?

Were the individual members of the concert party kept out of the fighting and if not how many survived the Great War?

If you pm me your email address I will be happy to forward you a high resolution copy.

Many thanks,

Simon.

[Moonraker]

Kate's card supports my view that Holmes' cards are usually more interesting than those of some his rivals.

Moonraker

[Kate Wills]

Kate,

Do you know the names of the individual members of the concert party?

The only one I have at present is Leslie S. Frye, who became a familiar theatre and broadcast entertainer using his middle (and mother's maiden name) Leslie Sarony. He was in a double act called The Two Leslies, and devised all sorts of inventive lyrics and comic songs, such as Why Do they Build Walls around the Graveyard?

Did they have a collective name?

Probably, but I haven't discovered it so far. Some parties were simply known as the battalion concert party. The 85th Field Ambulance RAMC, who were one of the legendary parties on the Salonika front who gave pantomimes every Christmas, never did give themselves a collective name. However, most groups did. My database has everything from the AAAs to the Zummer Zets.

Were the individual members of the concert party kept out of the fighting and if not how many survived the Great War?

It depends on the importance of the concert party. The lesser lights, who just did this as a pastime, had to do everything in their spare time and may have been given the odd dispensation so the show could go on. The Brigade, Divisional, Corps and Army party members were usually given duties at HQ, for instance running the divisional baths, office jobs, runners, guarding prisoners etc etc, then creating their shows after duty. Many concert party artistes (from all levels of importance) died in action, and indeed some refused to join or asked to return to their units because they had enlisted to become fighting soldiers. One such was George Knight Young of the 10th Royal Fusiliers, a professional baritone who was 'requested' to join the newly-created 37th division troupe The Barn Owls. He asked to re-join his unit (not least because he had applied for a commission) and felt his place was in the front line. He died, aged 21, on 4 May 1916 and is buried in Berles-au-Bois Churchyard Extension.

[JohnSwan]

This photograph was taken by F Holmes, photographer of Mere in Wiltshire. The officer appears to be a Lieutenant in a territorial battalion of the HLI.

Looking at the picture the Lieutenant looks very much like photos I have of L Bowker, (my grandfather was his batman) but I can't be sure!

[GarryD59]

I recently discovered the attached postcard among old family papers, also attributed to F Holmes, Mere, Wilts and I wonder if anyone would be able to shed more light on the location, uniforms etc. There is no message on the back but the woman seated on the right hand side bears a striking resemblance to an as yet unidentified family member who appears in other photographs taken in the 1920s but that's another line of enquiry!

Thanks

Garry

[4thGordons]

Garry

As you are probably aware this is a picture of convalescent soldiers and some of the caregivers. At least five of the men are wearing "Hospital Blues" uniforms (blue serge suite with white shirt and red tie usually often as here with light faced lapels)

There appear to be a mix of units as you would expect.

I would guess the officer is not wounded but rather in charge of the care detachment.

As to location - I would look for convalecent hospitals around Mere. Many large "sately homes" were converted for this purpose so perhaps that would be a place to start (given the large, multiple chimney pots in the back right corner - thise could well be in the grounds of one.)

Chris

[GarryD59]

Hi Chris

Thanks for your reply.

That's what I suspected they were but I am puzzled by the chap with the arched eyebrows, slightly startled expression and his cap askew in the front. When I saw the reference to concert party photographs taken by the same man I wondered if there may have been a connection. As with so many family photographs from that era there are frequently no details and nobody left alive who knows who they were.

Garry

[Moonraker]

At Mere, Grove Buildings, part of the National School, were turned into a Red Cross hospital for casualties from the Front. The first operation was conducted under the light of a cycle lamp. Later it treated tuberculosis patients. A plaque installed at the end of the war listed eighty-two staff and noted that 1,272 sick and wounded soldiers were treated at the hospital between 10 October 1914 and 28 February 1919. The commandant, Mrs M. B. White, was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

Moonraker

[Kate Wills]

Garry,

Sadly, not annotating photos and postcards is the bane of succeeding generations. Mind you, I'm just as guilty, and as time goes by I often ponder what decade soome of my own photos were taken, never mind the year.

Anyway, back to your photo. Most likely this group have been involved in organising some kind of event, probably to raise money for a comforts fund, either for themselves of another good cause. Such fundraising events often included a sports day with entertainment, or a concert. "The chap with the arched eyebrows" has turned his service cap back to front and painted his face in classical clown / comedian style. He looks as though he has converted his walking stick with a spotted hankerchief to take the role of a tramp or ingenue who has packed all his worldly goods into his hanky, like a pantomime character.

The person sitting far left wearing a white dress and mob-cap appears to be a female impersonator.

[GarryD59]

Kate

I now make it a point to catalogue all my digital images with ThumbsPlus and assign keywords (and/or descriptions) immediately after uploading them. I just hope the database and images survive me! A lot of the family photographs I'm sorting through and scanning have fallen out of albums so although there's no details on the back of the prints it may be possible to eventually match some of them back to the appropriate page.

As for the original postcard, I must admit that I hadn't noticed the cross dresser on the left but agree with you about the soldier with the walking stick.

Garry

[GarryD59]

Received this from a friend who also looked at the photograph:

The man in the centre (Sam Brown belt/swagger stick) looks like a Grenadier Guards captain, however I'm not 100% on that. The Sergeant is Royal Artillery, the soldier with the red cross armband looks to be RAMC as are the two lying down. Can't identify the cap badge of the chap on third right."