Uniform Identification please

[harlem]

Hi

I have just received 2 photos of an ancestor and would like to confirm it is who I am told it is hopefully by identifying something on the picture.

The ancestor in question born 1879 was according to his medal card a member of the 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and arrived in the theatre of war France 18-12-14. I am curious about the head ware as I always associated these caps with the 2nd world war.

Any observations on the photo and confirmation it is the Northumberland Fusiliers would be appreciated .

I had difficulty attaching the other photo on the same message but shall try again separately.

Cheers

John

2nd photo

[FROGSMILE]

On 13/11/2012 at 11:24, JohnSp. said:

Hi

I have just received 2 photos of an ancestor and would like to confirm it is who I am told it is hopefully by identifying something on the picture.

The ancestor in question born 1879 was according to his medal card a member of the 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and arrived in the theatre of war France 18-12-14. I am curious about the head ware as I always associated these caps with the 2nd world war.

Any observations on the photo and confirmation it is the Northumberland Fusiliers would be appreciated .

I had difficulty attaching the other photo on the same message but shall try again separately.

Cheers

John

2nd photo

The uniforms are as I would expect for the period 1902-03. The first photo shows a working or in Army parlance 'fatigue party' and so wearing (apart from one) the unbleached canvas uniform that was issued for dirty work. Two men have the jacket from the1902 pattern service dress uniform, which was khaki drab in colour. The majority have the field service cap as head dress, which was made of dark blue serge and issued between 1894 and 1902 when it was gradually phased out. Initially most regiments wore a collar badge in the FSC but after 1897-98, the larger cap badges were designed and issued. One of the men in a SD jacket has the slouch hat (with brim turned up on one side), which was worn experimentally in the latter part of the 2nd Boer War and then authorised for all foreign service from 1902. So many of these were available after the demobilisation from South Africa that regular and volunteer units also wore them as field head dress at home.

The second photo shows a Northumberland Fusilier (based on your provenance) in a dark blue serge frock of the final pattern that began to be issued around 1899 and was worn in barracks as a smart undress uniform. It had pleated patch chest pockets, but no lower pockets in the skirt and was usually fitted with collar badges, in this case, the correct universal grenade, which was initially worn by all fusilier regiments, the Grenadier Guards, and artillery and engineer units, both in Britain and the Colonies.** Shoulder titles were also often worn and comprised the same grenade above block letters NF.

**later on many (but not all) of these adopted their own special collar badges.  A few retained the universal grenade.

Edited 29 September , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[harlem]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. My problem was in trying to decide which ancestor this man might be. The other possibility was an ancestor born 1878 who served in the Army Ordnance Corps in South Africa between 1901 and 1903. He joined up with the Connaught Rangers in 1915 and died in 1917 a member of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.From the photos would you discount this ancestor

Thanks

John

[FROGSMILE]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. My problem was in trying to decide which ancestor this man might be. The other possibility was an ancestor born 1878 who served in the Army Ordnance Corps in South Africa between 1901 and 1903. He joined up with the Connaught Rangers in 1915 and died in 1917 a member of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.From the photos would you discount this ancestor

Thanks

John

John the first photo could be any one of a number of regiments as no insignia is clearly visible and the uniforms are generic. The front left hand man at the end of the row appears to show a cap badge and if you have the original photo then a powerful magnifier should enable an ID.

The second photo is likely to be a fusilier, but the date could be anything up to the early 1920s, and even artillery wore a uniform and collar badge of that same, generic type up until then.