Postcards

[17107BM]

FROGSMILE.

What a cracking image. It looks to me to be a railway station to the left of the Lads.

Wonder if it's still in use? Make a great then and now.

Thanks for posting.

[Bob Davies]

2 hours ago, 17107BM said:

FROGSMILE.

What a cracking image. It looks to me to be a railway station to the left of the Lads.

Wonder if it's still in use? Make a great then and now.

Thanks for posting.

Yes great pictures thanks for posting them. 'The curse of the curious mind' strikes again @FROGSMILE I just had a look on Google maps and old maps. The buildings in the picture seem to have all gone. The railway is still there and ran as 'Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway' and a business park resides there now. Still a pretty little village and quite an interesting history too. Regards, Bob. link here; https://www.llanfairtowncouncil.co.uk/towntrail.html

[FROGSMILE]

51 minutes ago, Bob Davies said:

Yes great pictures thanks for posting them. 'The curse of the curious mind' strikes again @FROGSMILE I just had a look on Google maps and old maps. The buildings in the picture seem to have all gone. The railway is still there and ran as 'Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway' and a business park resides there now. Still a pretty little village and quite an interesting history too. Regards, Bob. link here; https://www.llanfairtowncouncil.co.uk/towntrail.html

I don’t think that the two photos I posted show Llanfair Caereinion railway station, Bob.  The building in the photo looks more substantial and brick built, rather than corrugated iron clad wood frame.  A main line station at a larger town perhaps.

Edited 31 May , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Bob Davies]

16 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

I don’t think that the two photos I posted show Llanfair Caereinion railway station, Bob.  The building in the photo looks more substantial and brick built, rather than corrugated iron clad wood frame.  A main line station at a larger town perhaps.

I  shall delve deeper! An interesting array of hobnails on show, stirrups and hobnails would not be a good match I feel?

[RedCoat]

I found this truly superb image for sale on a dealers site. I have added the word "dealer" in an attempt to avoid the image being stolen / used (though someone could just copy it off of the dealers website).

The image is of the Bombing Staff at Aberdeen 1917.

[FROGSMILE]

14 hours ago, Bob Davies said:

I  shall delve deeper! An interesting array of hobnails on show, stirrups and hobnails would not be a good match I feel?

Long before the days of rubber soled boots, Bob, so hobnails were omnipresent on most types of footwear.  I can only imagine they seated the stirrups under the arch of the boot.

Edited 1 June , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[GWF1967]

Sapper Abraham Robinson, 196475 - WR/28010, Royal Engineers. From Bradford. 

[GWF1967]

Corporal R. Young, Royal Engineers Signals. 

[FROGSMILE]

18 minutes ago, GWF1967 said:

Corporal R. Young, Royal Engineers Signals. 

Very interesting to see both of his shoulder straps overlaid with the blue and white cloth patch of a Signal Service member.  His leather leggings and riding style breeches suggest that he might have been a dispatch rider.

Edited 1 June , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Bob Davies]

On 31/05/2022 at 01:09, FROGSMILE said:

Great photo, they’re wearing the service dress from after the Boer War.  It was khaki with coloured collar, shoulder straps and trefoil knots formed from the same colour piping on the cuffs.

Found it! Llandrindod Wells Station to the left of picture. The County Court and police station is the big building to the right of center. Waterloo road is the modern road name that the Station and the Court sit either side of. All still there! The men are assembled on a grass area which is just next to a Tesco fore court/filling station. Google maps and the wee yellow man is your friend here Edit here; there is a drill hall marked on a 1948 map which they are looking at. ie the photographer has his back to the drill hall.

Edited 2 June , 2022 by Bob Davies

[17107BM]

Wow.

Post a pic if you can Pal..

[Bob Davies]

6 minutes ago, 17107BM said:

Wow.

Post a pic if you can Pal..

I will see what I can come up with. Here is a link about the drill hall with some pictures of that. The drill hall was where that low roofed white building to the right is now. Link here; http://www.drillhalls.org/TownLlandrindodWells.htm

[Bob Davies]

This is the best angle I can get from google maps. @17107BM I am in another country so we need someone local to the area to take a more exact picture. Best wishes from Bob.

[17107BM]

Thank you. Bob.

Good work on this. Love this Thread. And Thanks to all that contribute ,

[GWF1967]

27 minutes ago, Bob Davies said:

This is the best angle I can get from google maps. @17107BM I am in another country so we need someone local to the area to take a more exact picture. Best wishes from Bob.

D Squadron were at Llandrindod Wells.  I walked along that road a couple of months ago; Antique shop to Tesco cashpoint and back again. 

[Bob Davies]

14 minutes ago, 17107BM said:

Thank you. Bob.

Good work on this. Love this Thread. And Thanks to all that contribute ,

My pleasure, I enjoy finding out where these pictures were taken, it is good to remember these men, one and all.

 

4 minutes ago, GWF1967 said:

D Squadron were at Llandrindod Wells.  I walked along that road a couple of months ago; Antique shop to Tesco cashpoint and back again. 

I was going to edit that in somewhere but you beat me to it.   I looked on the LLTrail for the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry and looked at every railway station/ place listed on there. Also other places, the architecture is quite amazing, I thought I had found it in Plymouth but no! Then I thought, the words  'A squadron' may not mean 'A' squadron but one of them, so off I went again and came up trumps. I bet it is quite an interesting place to visit, I never been there myself.

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, Bob Davies said:

Found it! Llandrindod Wells Station to the left of picture. The County Court and police station is the big building to the right of center. Waterloo road is the modern road name that the Station and the Court sit either side of. All still there! The men are assembled on a grass area which is just next to a Tesco fore court/filling station. Google maps and the wee yellow man is your friend here Edit here; there is a drill hall marked on a 1948 map which they are looking at. ie the photographer has his back to the drill hall.

Well done Bob, that’s an excellent bit of sleuthing.  Especially given that you did it from across the seas!  The wonders of the internet eh…

[Bob Davies]

9 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

Well done Bob, that’s an excellent bit of sleuthing.  Especially given that you did it from across the seas!  The wonders of the internet eh…

Thanks FROGSMILE, yes it is quite a tool. I learnt how to take a screen shot from the Google maps doing it, so well happy with myself and saw some beautiful places along the way, from Llandudno Junction to Plymouth, from Llanfair Caereinion to Whittington Staffs and all in between

[GWF1967]

38 minutes ago, Bob Davies said:

I bet it is quite an interesting place to visit, I never been there myself.

It was once a smart Victorian Spa town, now a little rubbed at the edges. It still retains many of it's period buildings ( now split into bedsits), the main shopping street is virtually untouched. The town hosts a Victorian festival annually.

[GWF1967]

"J.F. Mackenzie? - Main Detail Camp,  Dar es Salaam,  Dec 1918" 

Cap badge id, corrections and observations welcome. 

 

[FROGSMILE]

On 02/06/2022 at 22:54, GWF1967 said:

"J.F. Mackenzie? - Main Detail Camp,  Dar es Salaam,  Dec 1918" 

Cap badge id, corrections and observations welcome. 

 

I think the cap badge looks like Royal Engineers, albeit indistinct.

[Bob Davies]

1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

I think the cap badge looks like Royal Engineers, albeit indistinct.

I just spent the last few hours doing some research on The East African campaign as I knew very little about it.  25th Royal Fusiliers left there for England  end of May 1917. There is a lot to read and take in. However I thought to look on the CWGC for a cemetery, Dar es Salaam Upanga road cemetery is situated there in Tanzania.  234 War dead lie there. The last death was 15th Dec 1918. Another Edit here as I made a @ock up ;-) The last burial is 19th July 1921 Royal Dublin Fusiliers. In the list there are many Royal Engineers, quite a few signalers,  ASC,  RAMC and predominately Commonwealth soldiers. I would hazard a guess that the RE were there till the very last along with RAMC and ASC also a few Royal Navy.  A blog type thing here is quite interesting, a Mackenzie is mentioned

and I believe an Engineer on the ship they are on. "More Scotties and still more! The second Engineer is a cousin of the Mackenzies in dear old St Andrews and the Raits in Leuchars, "   Telegraphists are also mentioned at Dar es Salaam and a photograph of them.  Link here;https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/blog/margaret-duncans-diary-26-27-march-1918/   RE was my first guess FROGSMILE, the scroll is just visible. Is the pictured soldier an Officer guarding or about to rob the Ideal Milk in the case under the stool/bed? Edit; Sometimes inverting the colours on the picture reveals more.

Edited 4 June , 2022 by Bob Davies

[FROGSMILE]

33 minutes ago, Bob Davies said:

I just spent the last few hours doing some research on The East African campaign as I knew very little about it.  25th Royal Fusiliers left there for England  end of May 1917. There is a lot to read and take in. However I thought to look on the CWGC for a cemetery, Dar es Salaam Upanga road cemetery is situated there in Tanzania.  234 War dead lie there. The last death was 15th Dec 1918. In the list there are many Royal Engineers, quite a few signalers,  ASC,  RAMC and predominately Commonwealth soldiers. I would hazard a guess that the RE were there till the very last along with RAMC and ASC also a few Royal Navy.  A blog type thing here is quite interesting, a Mackenzie is mentioned

and I believe an Engineer on the ship they are on. "More Scotties and still more! The second Engineer is a cousin of the Mackenzies in dear old St Andrews and the Raits in Leuchars, "   Telegraphists are also mentioned at Dar es Salaam and a photograph of them.  Link here;https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/blog/margaret-duncans-diary-26-27-march-1918/   RE was my first guess FROGSMILE, the scroll is just visible. Is the pictured soldier an Officer guarding or about to rob the Ideal Milk in the case under the stool/bed?

Very interesting Bob, I’m familiar with the campaign but haven’t read about it for some years now.  I’m sure from his appearance that he’s not an officer, although his dress is a reflection of the more pragmatic attitude to campaigning in hot climates that were a feature of that campaign, in which the 25th RF played a leading part.  The cap badges from the graveyard  that you mention relate to the combat service support, and I think that links in with the photo’s annotation too.  The term ‘Details’ usually relates to the support services (cooks, bottle washers, et al) and so “Main Details” suggests to me the tent lines where they were located in the main encampment.

Edited 4 June , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Bob Davies]

12 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

Very interesting Bob, I’m familiar with the campaign but haven’t read about it for some years now.  I’m sure from his appearance that he’s not an officer, although his dress is a reflection of the more pragmatic attitude to campaigning in hot climates that were a feature of that campaign, in which the 25th RF played a leading part.  The cap badges from the graveyard  that you mention relate to the combat service support, and I think that links in with the photo’s annotation too.  The term ‘Details’ usually relates to the support services (cooks, bottle washers, et al) and so “Main Details” suggests to me the tent lines where they were located in the main encampment.

Here is a link to the list on the CWGC; https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/search-results/?CemeteryExact=true&Cemetery=DAR+ES+SALAAM+(UPANGA+ROAD)+CEMETERY&Size=100&Page=3&Sort=dateofdeath Confirming what you say there is a soldier from the 68th Field Bakery RASC who died on 3rd March 1919. (see Edit on my last post regarding dates) The later burials are mainly of older soldiers 30 plus and up into their 50s where the age is mentioned.

[Bob Davies]

On 01/06/2022 at 23:01, GWF1967 said:

Corporal R. Young, Royal Engineers Signals. 

It is interesting that this RE soldier is wearing very similar gaiters to those worn by Mackenzie at Dar es Salaam. Is it an article of dress particular to RE  signals or just coincidence?