Gunner Bailey Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 I had a thread in Soldiers (now moved to Chit Chat) showing pictures of a group of British and French officers, asking if they could be identified (mission impossible?). However after I had scanned the photo I noticed that only one of the British officers had a medal ribbon, the ribbon appears to be dark and of a single colour. The only medal that sprang to mind was the VC. The photo is attached. I have scanned it at 600 dpi but bear in mind the head is only 7mm deep on the original postcard sized photo. It has been Photoshopped to improve brightness and contrast. The officer is deeply suntanned, which does not help. His badges look like those of a fusilier and the collar badges have a white metal embellishment which I thought might have been Inniskillin Fusiliers. Anyway, please have a look. Your opinion about the ribbon and the badges would be appreciated. A name would be great. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verrico2009 Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 If you're thinking Inniskilling Fusiliers, the WW1 VC awards were:- Eric Bell (http://en.wikipedia...._Frankland_Bell) James Duffy (http://en.wikipedia....James_Duffy_(VC)) - note the "very exposed position in Palestine", though probably doesn't mean the sun! James Emerson (http://en.wikipedia...._Samuel_Emerson) Norman Harvey (http://en.wikipedia....i/Norman_Harvey) Gerald O'Sullivan (http://en.wikipedia....rt_O%27Sullivan) Ernest Seaman (http://en.wikipedia....i/Ernest_Seaman) James Somers (http://en.wikipedia....ki/James_Somers) Wiki List Can't see any others but there are of course other Fusiliers. Shame there's no photo of Duffy. Edit - of course some of them had already died but my lunch break is up so I'll have to leave that process of elmination to someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 Shame there's no photo of Duffy. There's a photograph here http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7745723 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 It could be the angle, but it looks too narrow for a VC and I would therefore postulate a DSO instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 12 July , 2011 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2011 There's a photograph here http://www.findagrav...gr&GRid=7745723 There is certainly a strong similarity. He was a private in 1917 but was he promoted afterwards? The other British Officers in the phots have no medal so I've assumed it was an 'in war' photo. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TParker96 Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 Hi, Photo of the man from find a grave.com Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 12 July , 2011 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2011 The two together? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrieduncan Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 Wasn't there a miniature VC emblem worn on the ribbon of the Victoria Cross when it was worn as a bar only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner50 Posted 12 July , 2011 Share Posted 12 July , 2011 There's no emblem on the ribbon which would denote a VC. The ribbon is narrow though and it could be as mentioned, a DSO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 13 July , 2011 Share Posted 13 July , 2011 On 13/07/2011 at 09:12, Gunner50 said: There's no emblem on the ribbon which would denote a VC. The ribbon is narrow though and it could be as mentioned, a DSO. I'm sure it's been mentioned elsewhere before that the emblem was only introduced in 1916 or so (going from memory, might be off), so depending on date no emblem could still be correct for a VC ribband. Although the ribband does look narrow the angle/foreshortening effect could be making this look worse than it is. Also, the way a DSO ribband is typically rendered by orthochromatic film in period photos makes the dark blue edges exceptionally bright in comparison to how dark the red is rendered, so I don't believe the ribband in the photo is the DSO. Edited - found it, post 69 shows both points: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 13 July , 2011 Share Posted 13 July , 2011 I'm sticking with the DSO. The VC emblem was instituted after the institution of the single crimson ribbon in 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 13 July , 2011 Author Share Posted 13 July , 2011 I'm sticking with the DSO. The VC emblem was instituted after the institution of the single crimson ribbon in 1918. I can't see any trace of the side colours in the photo .If it's not a VC is there any single colour alternative? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yelob Posted 18 August , 2011 Share Posted 18 August , 2011 Don't know if this helps at all List of Medal Ribbons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now