paulmurphy Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Hi There is a good possibility that my paternal grandfather and grandmother are in the linked photo of armistice day celebrations outside the guildhall in High Street, Winchester on 11/11/18. The full size view is a good quality detailed image. High Street, Winchester The man in question is in uniform, at the bottom of the photo, just right of centre. He is looking to his right with a big smile on his face, arm in arm with a young woman who is wearing a coat with fur collar, and a hat. His uniform includes two stripes on his arm, and a cap. To my untrained eye, the uniform looks an exact match for that worn by my grandfather in a formal portrait photo alongside his wife, which doesnt include the cap. I, and other family, agree that the smiling corporal in the crowd looks like a near exact match of my dad in his younger days. My grandfather is Richard Murphy DCM, 32403, 59th Siege Battery, RGA. There are good reasons to place him in Winchester at the time of the photo, my mother recently found a photo of him and my grandmother, printed on a postcard, and taken by photographer, A. Rapp, 159 High Street, Winchester, sometime around 1916-1918. My searches on the photographer revealed this, among other photos taken by Mr Rapp, his shop was directly opposite the guildhall, this photo was probably taken from one of his upper windows. Google maps reveal the street today much the same as the photo, Mr Rapps photography shop is now a bookies, and his neighbouring shop disappeared to make way for a bus station entrance. Hope you can help confirm the uniform is that of an RGA corporal, and not an American, or other british regiment. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmurphy Posted 26 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Street scene from opposite angle mr Rapp's other photo of the same scene from opposite angle, centered on his shop opposite the guildhall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinBattle Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Nice shots, but I'd suggest you also upload the formal photo so our face recognition experts can try a comparison for you. Also one of grandmother so we have two faces to attempt to match! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmurphy Posted 26 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Kevin hope this link works Richard Murphy DCM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Kevin hope this link works Richard Murphy DCM Looks to me in the FB picture he is a full CPL on the Winchester picture he looks like a LCPL. I think the cropped picture shows him here. Regards Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Street scene from opposite angle mr Rapp's other photo of the same scene from opposite angle, centered on his shop opposite the guildhall In this picture lots of nations and uniforms. A lot of hospital blues. Canadians Diggers and Nz's. Great picture. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmurphy Posted 26 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Looks to me in the FB picture he is a full CPL on the Winchester picture he looks like a LCPL. I think the cropped picture shows him here. Regards Simon yes thats the man Im looking at, looks like two stripes on his sleeve to me, but Im ready to be proven wrong. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmurphy Posted 26 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 September , 2011 In this picture lots of nations and uniforms. A lot of hospital blues. Canadians Diggers and Nz's. Great picture. Simon yes, A. Rapp was clearly an excellent photographer, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardog Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 I see a single stripe, and from that picture it does not look to me to be a RGA gun cap badge. Regards, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmurphy Posted 27 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 27 September , 2011 I see a single stripe, and from that picture it does not look to me to be a RGA gun cap badge. Regards, Paul. Ive been looking for examples of RGA cap badges, only finding RHA, until I looked on ebay today. This cap badge indeed doesnt look like the examples I found there. While smiling man in the photo certainly looks a lot like my dad did in his younger years, he appears not be my grandfather after all. Regardless, the find of the formal portrait photo is a great result, the street celebration photos are interesting too, and will encourage me to look up some libraries and museums in Winchester. thanks for looking regards paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardog Posted 27 September , 2011 Share Posted 27 September , 2011 Sorry, I should have pointed out that The RGA, RHA and RFA all used what became the standard RA gun badge. Regards, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmurphy Posted 27 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 27 September , 2011 Sorry, I should have pointed out that The RGA, RHA and RFA all used what became the standard RA gun badge. Regards, Paul. Paul Im not quite finished on the cap badge yet I have looked at every uniform in the photo, and found just one that has what could be an RGA cap badge. Please let me know your opinion on the cap badge worn by the soldier standing in the street with his back to the wall, below the balcony, between the two central pillars. he is looking to his left (to the right of the photo). His is the only cap badge visible which appears to have those extended banners at the bottom of the badge. Im not going to try and claim him as my grandfather thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pioneecorps Posted 27 September , 2011 Share Posted 27 September , 2011 Hi Paul. Theres no way, you can identify the cap badge, in the photo, its to blurr, a commomn fault when light hits metal . Gerwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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