brianoleary82 Posted 19 November , 2011 Share Posted 19 November , 2011 Hi folks, I found an old photograph in my family things and I am hoping to try and ID the man in it from our relatives - if he even is one of our relatives! I am sort of presuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the man is in a British Army uniform from WW1. There is a harp badge on the collar, so I am guessing it is some sort of an Irish regiment, but I can't make out the regiment initials on his shoulders. Many thanks in advance for your help!! Apologies for not giving the whole picture, had to shave it down to get it under 100kb, as you can see it came out quite big!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Hi folks, I found an old photograph in my family things and I am hoping to try and ID the man in it from our relatives - if he even is one of our relatives! I am sort of presuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the man is in a British Army uniform from WW1. There is a harp badge on the collar, so I am guessing it is some sort of an Irish regiment, but I can't make out the regiment initials on his shoulders. Many thanks in advance for your help!! Apologies for not giving the whole picture, had to shave it down to get it under 100kb, as you can see it came out quite big!! Can you post the whole image, even if it is a smaller than original. Other features of the uniform will help with the ID. The buttons for example appear to be ball shaped and that alone is significant as a start point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Seems Canadian to me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob B Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Three letter shoulder title ending in C? and that collar dog has a crown on what looks like an Army Ordnace Corps badge. I can't for the sake of me see a harp in there! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Doyle Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 If the collar badges do indeed suggest Royal Army Ordnance Corps, then it dates from 1922 onwards (the Army Ordnance Corps had different badges). A whole picture will help for sure. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Seems Canadian to me!! Yes, I did think that what we have seen so far looks Canadian but hopefully the rest of the image will help clarify matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianoleary82 Posted 20 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Maybe I am just reading into the badge what I want to with the harp! I thought I can see one under the "arch" bit, but maybe I am totally wrong! Here's the picture, finally figured out how to make it smaller.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Maybe I am just reading into the badge what I want to with the harp! I thought I can see one under the "arch" bit, but maybe I am totally wrong! Here's the picture, finally figured out how to make it smaller.. The jacket has similarities with British 1902 pattern SD but the style of collar (even if tailored) does not look quite right and the ball buttons with the collar badge are not, together, immediately recognisable. The shoulder title looks as if it might be RMC which usually refers to a Royal Military College, but again the precise letters are not clear. Can you do a close up of the collar badge and shoulder title, separately, and from the original image? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianoleary82 Posted 20 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Thanks for all the help so far everyone! I'll get a close up so from the original photo with the best resolution I can, but it will take a few days unfortunatley. But I'll try and do it as best and quickly as I can! I couldn't see it immediately, but I am beginning to see how the badge might be a Royal Army Ordnance Corps badge. I'll see what I can do with the photo anyway, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 Thanks for all the help so far everyone! I'll get a close up so from the original photo with the best resolution I can, but it will take a few days unfortunatley. But I'll try and do it as best and quickly as I can! I couldn't see it immediately, but I am beginning to see how the badge might be a Royal Army Ordnance Corps badge. I'll see what I can do with the photo anyway, thanks! It is not a RAOC badge. It should be possible to make a definitive ID once you post the close ups in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 20 November , 2011 Share Posted 20 November , 2011 And this is the variant adopted in 1918. In both cases a smaller version was used as the collar badge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianoleary82 Posted 21 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2011 Got my uncle who has the photo at the moment to rescan and email me the image, it is a slight improvement anyway. I think my scanner is better, so might try and get to him during the week and make a better scan if I can.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw63 Posted 21 November , 2011 Share Posted 21 November , 2011 If you tilt your head to the left and look at the shoulder title it definitely says RAOC. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 21 November , 2011 Share Posted 21 November , 2011 If you tilt your head to the left and look at the shoulder title it definitely says RAOC. Agreed, and with a bit of straightening out in Paint...: http://postimage.org/image/f8j1b8rph/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Posted 21 November , 2011 Share Posted 21 November , 2011 H.A.C. Honourable Artillery Company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianoleary82 Posted 21 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2011 Thanks a million everyone for all your input and help with this! I really appreciate the time you've given to help me identify this soldier. I think at this stage it looks increasingly likely that the soldier is from the RAOC, especially after Andrew's picture. I've also come up with a few which seem to back this up: Hopefully the medal index cards will turn up a familiar name now! Will let you know if anything crops up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 21 November , 2011 Share Posted 21 November , 2011 I think he has a glass right eye and if this was as a result of war action then he should have wound stripes recorded somewhere. It is interesting that what appeared to be ball buttons as used by RHA and Hussars could under different light and resolution be highly polished brass GS or regimental buttons of standard shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianoleary82 Posted 21 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2011 I've had a good look at the medal card index and took a good look around for anybody with surnames on my mother's side, and the only one which turned up was Private or Lance Corpral John O'Leary. My great-grandfather (who fought in the Somme with the Royal Irish Rifles) had a younger brother John O'Leary born in 1885, which I reckon is probably as good a guess as we are likely to come up with given the available information. Frogsmile mentioned that the RAOC badge inscribed in a circle came in in 1918, so that would make my John O'Leary 33 or thereabouts in the photo if it is him, which looks roughly right. Checked with my relatives and nobody can tell me anything about John, only that he died before the 1940s anyway. There were three medal cards turned up: 1 Private John O'Leary Somerset Light Infantry, 42341 RAOC, 045618 (Victory and British medal) 2 Private John O'Leary RAOC, 014608 (Victory and British medal) 3 Lance Corporal John O'Leary Royal Munster Fusiliers, 3419 986 AE (GG) Coy, 579117 [? - RE perhaps??] Labour Corps, - Royal Fusiliers, G/104393 RAOC, S9980 (Victory, British and 1914 Star medals) Needless to say, luck has it that there are no service/pension records for any of the three! I think it unlikely that the first man would be our boy, given the Somerset connection (or lack of rather) - so it could be either 2 or 3 if the guess is correct: Munster was certainly the right area, but O'Leary is a common Munster name anyway. Next time I'm in England might see if I can follow up the three in the medal lists in the hope some little fact can tease out the identity that bit further. Thanks once again, I think that even though we're not at all sure as to the identity, this is as good a result as could have been hoped for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianoleary82 Posted 21 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2011 I wasn't sure whether the eye was a wound or from birth. Unfortunately the photo stops short of the lower sleeves and the wound stripes! Just for the record I'll post the hi-res photo I got today in case it is of interest for anybody interested in uniforms, etc. I don't know if the second button down is war damage or just a trick of the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 21 November , 2011 Share Posted 21 November , 2011 I wasn't sure whether the eye was a wound or from birth. Unfortunately the photo stops short of the lower sleeves and the wound stripes! Just for the record I'll post the hi-res photo I got today in case it is of interest for anybody interested in uniforms, etc. I don't know if the second button down is war damage or just a trick of the light. One interesting point is that medal ribbons were generally issued over the period 1918-1919 starting with the 1914 and 1914-15 Star. Actual medals took as long as 1922 to be issued and sometimes later. He is not wearing any ribbons at all and yet the photo must be after 1918 given the titles and collar badge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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