Lots to ID on this portrait

[Chris_Baker]

This man is seen in a late Great War era photo as a Corporal of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. I'd be grateful for help in spotting what his medals, cap badge and uniform details are. I think I can see a 14/15 Star, a British War Medal ... perhaps a Queen's South Africa Medal ... and then I'm done! Apologies for small pic. Larger one will not be available.

I should perhaps add that he died in 1926.

[Steven Broomfield]

Well, he's a sergeant of some sort to start with.

He has a trade (?) badge on his left cuff, and the cap badge might be KSLI - difficult to say because of the angle and light. '14 or '14-'15 Star and is that a LSGC medal to the right of it?

And he has a small child on his knee, in case no-one's sure what it is.

[SFayers]

Medals look to me like:

Top row: QSA (with a plethora of bars!), KSA (usual 2 bars), 14 or 14/15 Star, BWM

Bottom row: post-1917 LSGC and VM

cheers

Steve

[Philip Wilson]

Steve - I concur at high resolution - QSA, KSA, 14-15 Star? BWM,

Row 2 LSGC and VM.

Philip

[max7474]

Not KSLI cap badge. Can you enlarge it?

[wizard2250]

Inverting the colors shows a bit more of the bands on the ribbons as well as the strange-looking cuff badge. Afraid it doesn't help with the cap badge, though someone else more experienced may find a clue.

shawn

[keithfazzani]

The child is wearing a medal

[truthergw]

He is quite obviously a concert party ventriloquist and the dummy was given a medal for losing a leg.

[Guest]

Cap badge Post Office Rifles, or Royal Hampshire Regiment?

Mike

[Muerrisch]

not Royal!

[SteveE]

not Royal!

or Hampshire IMHO. Badge has the appearance of a Sphinx over a Castle within a wreath so for what it's worth I'd go with either Dorsetshire or Essex Regiment.

Based on the shape of the scroll at the bottom I'd go with the Essex Regiment as the more likely.

Regards

Steve

[Nigel Marshall]

Dark buttons..... Mike could have it with Post Office Rifles. And is that a crown over his sergeant's chevrons?

Cheers,

Nigel

[Steven Broomfield]

Does he have a name? That might cut down some possibilities.

[wesleycrabb]

Hello all,

Cap badge looks like RAF/RFC to me.

Maybe he is a recruiting Sergent?

Wes.

[wainfleet]

This is an odd photo in that he is wearing a jacket with shoulder cords. That and the big collar are typical of the prewar uniform, obsolete well before 1914 and which he would be very unlikely to wear after the war. Which makes me wonder whether, if the medals have been correctly identified, that is definitely an Army uniform. Is there anything else it could be?

[Milner]

What is the name of the photographic studio on the bottom of the photo, might give a further clue to home town.

Phil

[Chris_Baker]

He lived in Enfield, certainly by 1911, and later at Waltham Cross. His name is Edward Clarke (not a great help, really).

[PhilB]

Looks more like 25th London to me but that wouldn`t correspond with his medals.

[SteveE]

Chris

I assume you've probably had to resize the original to post it here, can you crop the original so that we can get a closer look at the badge or does it pixcelate too much?

Steve

[Chris_Baker]

No, the image shown is the only image I have and is unmodified. I understand it is from a very small print.

[Graham Stewart]

I'd go with Steve on this one even though it doesn't enlarge well and say Essex Regt, but one of it's Territorial Battalions hence the protruding lower part of the scroll

[Chris_Baker]

Mmmm. The index suggests that the only Edward Clarke with Essex Regiment TF medal entitlement did not get a Star but did get the MM! Puzzling.

[Graham Stewart]

The jacket he's wearing is the old pattern WO's, based on the officers and of a better quality than the O/R's. Philips ID of the VM, could indicate he'd been a pre-war volunteer and as he's wearing S.A. War medals had possibly even served in South Africa with either an Essex Volunteer Service Company or perhaps some other unit.

[Staffsyeoman]

Just to be totally left field the badge looked to me almost as if it were The Artists Rifles.

[SteveE]

If it is a LSGC Medal then it's a post-1917 issue as it has the white banding down either side. Could be worth asking if anyone's got the LSGC Register (WO102/18) for the Essex Regiment covering 1913-1919 to see if he's listed (it's also available as a digital download for £3.50).

Steve