Can somebody please I.D. this WW1 Uniform

[Researcher11]

Cap-badge and shoulder-title are ASC/RASC. Certainly looks like a BWM ribbon above his left breast-pocket, so picture can be dated to 1919 or 1920.

Oh, thank you !

So, that's ASC/RASC meaning "Army Service Corp" What does the RASC mean ?

R11

[headgardener]

So, that's ASC/RASC meaning "Army Service Corp" What does the RASC mean ?

ROYAL Army Service Corps. The ASC became the RASC on 25th November 1918. You'll still see ASC shoulder-titles being worn well into 1919 and probably 1920. The army had better uses for brass than issuing new shoulder-titles to men who were almost certainly going to be demobbed within a year or so.

The medal ribbon also helps us to date the picture, though we can't see whether he has any other ribbons (i.e. a Victory medal). BWM & VM ribbons started to be issued in 1919. I've seen photos of men who were entitled to both yet were only wearing one, so maybe some lengths of ribbon were sent out seperately to the other. What we can surmise is that this man (jack Freeman?) did serve overseas, and he should be recorded on an MIC.

Any other progress with the family research?

[Researcher11]

ROYAL Army Service Corps. The ASC became the RASC on 25th November 1918. You'll still see ASC shoulder-titles being worn well into 1919 and probably 1920. The army had better uses for brass than issuing new shoulder-titles to men who were almost certainly going to be demobbed within a year or so.

The medal ribbon also helps us to date the picture, though we can't see whether he has any other ribbons (i.e. a Victory medal). BWM & VM ribbons started to be issued in 1919. I've seen photos of men who were entitled to both yet were only wearing one, so maybe some lengths of ribbon were sent out seperately to the other. What we can surmise is that this man (jack Freeman?) did serve overseas, and he should be recorded on an MIC.

Any other progress with the family research?

Oh... of course, sorry, it's obvious now! ROYAL ASC.... LOL!

Thanks for this, this helps me so much! So, the date of 1916 on the back of this photo must be wrong, if the BWM & VM ribbons started to be issued in 1919.

In answer to your question... "Any other progress with the family research..."

Well... this is my brick wall & it's the size of China. I'm very grateful for the help that you & the other members have given. If this photo is NOT Isaac aka Jack Freeman, who was born in 1900, (which I'm doubting) He could be one of two other brothers, as there were 11 children altogether to 3 wives (my grandfather was widowed 3 times.)

This young soldier could be either, Elias aka Eli Freeman, who died in 1922 aged 21 of Kidney failure, or Abraham Freeman, who is a complete mystery to the family & VERY important to my research, as Abraham is the only link to my grandmother. Abraham appears for the 1st time as Abraham Freedman on the Liverpool 1911 census. The family name has evolved from Friedman to Freedman & is now Freeman. Abraham is listed as a SON to my grandfather Louis. The family name then, was Freedman & they lived at 49, Pleasant St, Liverpool at the time the 1911 census was taken. Abraham is listed as 13 years old, on the 1911, born in Russia.

All the other children were born in Liverpool, apart from the eldest who was born in Leeds. The 1st 6 children were to my grandfather's 1st wife who died in 1904. We suspect Abraham was actually my grandmother's son (my grandmother was my grandfather's 2nd wife) to her 1st marriage & only a stepson to my grandfather. My grandmother's name was Rebecca nee Cohen & formerly Cohen, so she was married to another unknown Cohen before she married my grandfather about 1905. She had two more sons to my grandfather before she died in 1911 aged 36.

I only know that my grandmother was born in Russia & as Abraham was also born in Russia, very close to the year Elias was born in Liverpool, so Abraham cannot be a child of my grandfather's 1st wife. The only link to my grandmother is Abraham, but he only shows up on the 1911 census, nothing is known about him, either before or after the 1911 census, so he has probably changed his name to Anglicise it & blend in, especially if he was at war in Europe. He might have also changed his name back to Cohen, after his mother died! But, if I can trace Abraham, he might have married & had a family that we know nothing about!

I'm writing a book about my family research, which began 20 years ago in a search for a father who I never knew. I found out that my father was Jewish after my mum died in 1989 & that my parents had had a secret relationship for 25 years ending in my birth in 1953. But, i now know that they kept in touch with each other all their lives up until my father's death in 1984. It's a story as old as time, my mum was Catholic & my father was Jewish. I also now know that he had kept an eye on me from a distance. I found my father's family last year & they have filled in a lot of gaps & my lovely new-found 1st cousin, who is 80, gave me a photo of my dad, it was the 1st time I'd ever seen him.

It's been an eventful year & I went to my 1st Jewish wedding a few weeks ago & we had a lovely family reunion last week. But, I need to find my grandfather's roots to finish my book & it appears that he had no family in the UK other than the family he created. Identifying & finding Abraham will be a big breakthru for me.

Thank you

R11