roughdiamond Posted 11 July , 2013 Share Posted 11 July , 2013 Hi folks Posted these on the Soldiers forum http://1914-1918.inv...topic=193813= and to summarise the post, he's the Uncle of my Wifes friend, Born 06/02/1894 in Bellshill, his name is John Orr. I confirmed with a magnifying glass to the original he's RSF and narrowed it down to 2 x possible MIC's listed in that post, but one of the things in my mind was the photo to me doesn't look to be WW1 vintage and I'm looking for opinions from those with a good knowledge. My main problem is the very shiney boots and lack of puttee's, opposing that is there are no Medal ribbons, if it was post War I'd find it strange when he'd have been 20 in 1914 and hadn't served which my Wifes friend is sure he did. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest exuser1 Posted 11 July , 2013 Share Posted 11 July , 2013 One thing I would say is the hair style does seem post Great War? almost 1930s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon92 Posted 12 July , 2013 Share Posted 12 July , 2013 The collar badges on the service dress jacket make the photo highly likely to be post Great War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainfleet Posted 12 July , 2013 Share Posted 12 July , 2013 Certain aspects of the jacket's cut place it as made not later than 1918, and the hooking of the collar flaps is also typical of the period. It was unusual for ORs to wear collar badges 14-18 but not unknown, and some of the fusilier regiments definitely did this. Private purchase boots, which these might be, were frequently worn. The sepia tone is typical of wartime photos. Absence of puttees is unusual but not unknown. The only slightly postwar looking thing to me is his hairstyle but that's very tentative. On balance, I believe this is likely to be a wartime photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill24chev Posted 12 July , 2013 Share Posted 12 July , 2013 I am no expert on WW1 uniforms but think the two lanyards may be significant for dating picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest exuser1 Posted 12 July , 2013 Share Posted 12 July , 2013 I know things can get confused in families ? and it's stated that the lad in question was born in 1894 so lets say he looks around 20? as you say the whole thing looks post Great War , are we sure that the photograph is of the man in question ? he just does not look right as a solider of 1914? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Stewart Posted 12 July , 2013 Share Posted 12 July , 2013 Certainly more post-War than wartime from the general appearance and what is also interesting is the wearing of two lanyards, as pointed out - white one on the left shoulder and dark one on the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 13 July , 2013 Share Posted 13 July , 2013 Is there a photographers name and address on the back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 14 July , 2013 Author Share Posted 14 July , 2013 N Is there a photographers name and address on the back? Nothing. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sapper Posted 14 July , 2013 Share Posted 14 July , 2013 2 lanyards is odd? (As an ex Sapper - we used to wear a dark blue RA lanyard on the right shoulder (the opposite shoulder to RA) as a sign of disrespect for them after some 'friendly fire mistake' by the Artillery at some earlier stage in history? Or perhaps just another Army Rumour? But I had to laugh at this particular spate of posts from their forum) - http://www.arrse.co.uk/sappers/114071-why-we-wear-blue-lanyard.html Apologies for going off topic here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted 14 July , 2013 Share Posted 14 July , 2013 RA lanyard is white! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Bailey Posted 1 August , 2013 Share Posted 1 August , 2013 I think the collar badges came in about 1921 / 22. I have a photo of Sappers marching through Folkestone with fixed Bayonets. They have collar badges but no medal ribbons, so I date the photo to 1921 or just before the WW1 Medals were issued. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 1 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 1 August , 2013 Cheers John Has a look online for a photo of Sgt Thomas Caldwell VC RSF who won the VC on 31st October 1918 and had it LG'd in January 1919, the only photo I could find was a head and shoulders shot and no Collar Dogs were visible, but the photo is undated. I'm off tomorrow and might take a trip to the HLI museum in Glasgow and see if they have anything difinitive or even photos from that period. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 1 August , 2013 Share Posted 1 August , 2013 Very much a long shot, but could the right-arm lanyard be the fourragere (sp?) of the Croix de Guerre, denoting an RA unit thus honoured in the GW? As i said, very much a long shot, so do be gentle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted 1 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 1 August , 2013 Very much a long shot, but could the right-arm lanyard be the fourragere (sp?) of the Croix de Guerre, denoting an RA unit thus honoured in the GW? As i said, very much a long shot, so do be gentle. Not sure Steve, I can cofirm though the Collar Dogs are 100% RSF, it's not discernable from the scanned photo, but on the original, with a Mk 1 eyeball and a magnifying glass, the silver thistle on the brass bomb of the collar dog is clear. Hopefully the Museum maybe able to help with the reason for the 2 lanyards, I'll post the results. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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