ctb Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 Can anyone please identify this uniform, the subject is my great great uncle, who was killed in action somewhere in the Somme on 22nd Feb 1918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeesown Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 Hi,do you have a name for your man? may be Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders collar badge? T Mciver.? Gary Edit way way off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctb Posted 2 October , 2010 Author Share Posted 2 October , 2010 I do, His name is John Balls. Here is another photo of the same man but showing his full uniform, hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeesown Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 This must be him? Name: BALLS, JOHN Initials: J Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) Unit Text: 2nd Bn. Age: 19 Date of Death: 22/02/1918 Service No: 60196 Additional information: Son of James and Ruth Balls, of West Row, Mildenhall, Suffolk. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 42 to 47 and 162. Memorial: TYNE COT MEMORIAL If this is your man he has 22 pages of service records on Ancestry. all the best Gary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 Post 4 cannot be right: age at death far too young for the photo. Definites: he is a bandsman wearing the old band badge, which had a long overlap in period 1900 to 1914 with the new one. I cannot distinguish which crown is at top of badge, this might help if QVC! he is wearing the pre-1902 dress tunic with white piping at base of collar he is British Line Infantry He is not in India or a hot colony ....... where frock was worn, not tunic. Now for the doubts: I think the collar is a different colour from tunic and this, taken with the white piping, suggests a Royal regiment. However, I cannot see the cuffs properly, but think they are jam-pot pre-1902 [ie straight round band at lower arm] but there is no piping, which is strange. A close-up of cuffs might help Draw Frogsmile and Graham Stewart attention to this thread .... I am sure they can contribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 I think you'll find he's Royal Irish Fusiliers. It's a double collar badge of a seperate coronet/crown and a flaming grenade. The glengarry was worn universally throughout the army during this period, and not exclusively by Scots units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeesown Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 As you can see from my 1st post I have said I was way off with the A&SH Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 2 October , 2010 Share Posted 2 October , 2010 I think you'll find he's Royal Irish Fusiliers. It's a double collar badge of a seperate coronet/crown and a flaming grenade. The glengarry was worn universally throughout the army during this period, and not exclusiv wely by Scots units. oI concur old friend. RIF with distinct 2-part collar badge of grenade and coronet (the latter to reflect the favour of (the then) Princess Victoria). He is also wearing the large grenade badge on his glengarry, as worn (with variations) by all fusilier regts, initially with the regimental number at centre and later a distinct 'device', which for the RIF was a Napoleonic eagle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 4 October , 2010 Share Posted 4 October , 2010 and are we on pre-1902 please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 4 October , 2010 Share Posted 4 October , 2010 and are we on pre-1902 please? I think that the jam pot cuffs and glengarry indicate pre-1902, yes David. As a bandsman he may well have been killed bearing a stretcher or in an aid post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen1914 Posted 3 November , 2012 Share Posted 3 November , 2012 OMG! Just read this thread and realized that the picture is of my great great great uncle, John Balls just like you said i have checked all the infomation and it all matches. I have been trying to find a picture of him for so so long. Ellen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Serendipity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen1914 Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 What a pleasent suprise. We are going to see his name on the Tyne Cot Memorial next year. This is the infomation i have about him:- Rank: Private Service No. 60169 2nd West Yorshires Born: West Row Enlisted: Newmarket Died 22/Feb/1918 K.I.A Belgium Age 19 Tyne Cot Memorial Belgim Panel 42 to 47 and 162 Son of James and Ruth Balls of West Row Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 What a pleasent suprise. We are going to see his name on the Tyne Cot Memorial next year. This is the infomation i have about him:- Rank: Private Service No. 60169 2nd West Yorshires Born: West Row Enlisted: Newmarket Died 22/Feb/1918 K.I.A Belgium Age 19 Tyne Cot Memorial Belgim Panel 42 to 47 and 162 Son of James and Ruth Balls of West Row Ellen read the thread again. The details may well be of your relative, but the photo cannot be going by his age and uniform. The young man shown is a bandsman (i.e. a musician), as indicated by his shoulder wings and the special proficiency badge on his right upper arm. He is also wearing the insignia of the Royal Irish Fusiliers and not the West Yorks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen1914 Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 We can not find alot on his war records but we now that before the war that he was a bandsman, we have the same picture of him on our ancestery page but we were not sure if it was of him. Ellen read the thread again. The details may well be of your relative, but the photo cannot be going by his age and uniform. The young man shown is a bandsman (i.e. a musician), as indicated by his shoulder wings and the special proficiency badge on his right upper arm. He is also wearing the insignia of the Royal Irish Fusiliers and not the West Yorks. My mum thought the same thing about the age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 5 November , 2012 Share Posted 5 November , 2012 We can not find alot on his war records but we now that before the war that he was a bandsman, we have the same picture of him on our ancestery page but we were not sure if it was of him. My mum thought the same thing about the age. Perhaps he transferred between regiments, but you need more information to corroborate it is actually him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen1914 Posted 5 November , 2012 Share Posted 5 November , 2012 Yes, it has been very difficult trying to find a picture of him because there seems thats there is always something wrong or something doesnt fit in all the pictures that we find of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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