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Remembered Today:

Help to identify a uniform please


Lynspain

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post-120469-0-23591900-1424509185_thumb.

This picture was sent by a cousin, we think it is George Vizard who was killed in Varrenes in WW1.

He was with The South Midlands Field Company, Royal Engineers. Does his uniform add up ?

Thanks

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No. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission the man that was killed at Varennes was 19 years old at the time - this image probably predates his death by about 15 years. It can't possibly be the same man.

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I would second RGH.

The Regimental Museum has an example around the turn of the century which looks very similar. Unless the Corps of Hussars had a generic

uniform which each unit added their own unique identification.

Grumpy will know for sure

I second that as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Troop Sergeant Major, Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and with various skill at arms proficiency prize badges, including musketry and swordsmanship on his left cuff.

post-599-0-69643100-1425387317_thumb.jpg

post-599-0-21898100-1425387323_thumb.jpg

post-599-0-66645000-1425387391_thumb.jpg

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The exact definitions of his skill-at-arms badges are date-sensitive, but I see them as crossed rifles and crown, crossed swords and crown.

If c. 1900, he is the top soldier of his regiment in both skills.

I wonder what the pale circle is on his upper left arm? It looks too symmetrical to be a blemish.

It seems unlikely to be the stretcher bearer badge [and certainly not the RAMC Red Cross], or Brigade Supply Detachment, or Special Service Section, all of which were more or less circular but none of which were to be worn as seen.

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I wonder what the pale circle is on his upper left arm? It looks too symmetrical to be a blemish.

It seems unlikely to be the stretcher bearer badge [and certainly not the RAMC Red Cross], or Brigade Supply Detachment, or Special Service Section, all of which were more or less circular but none of which were to be worn as seen.

Is it my eyes or does the center look slightly darker? with a lighter outer ring? Here it is with the contrast tweaked

post-14525-0-21481900-1425397227_thumb.j

No idea if that helps but it does look to me like the inner is darker with a lighter outer ring

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Thank you: that fits Stretcher Bearer but I cannot help thinking he would be much better employed killing the foes than succouring the friends!

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I understand that the stretcher bearer badge at that time was also a way of marking the men who had been trained in battlefield first aid. It did not necessarily mean that the wearer was to be employed as a stretcher bearer.

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Thanks for posting the photographs Frogsmile - shows the particular shade of blue, described as Badminton or Beaufort blue, worn by the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

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Thanks for posting the photographs Frogsmile - shows the particular shade of blue, described as Badminton or Beaufort blue, worn by the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

Always glad to help.

I do love to see the Victorian and Edwardian uniforms and a colour picture always paints a thousand words.

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Thanks so much all. Sorry not been around as I have been away. I now need to trawl through all the rellies and find someone who fits the bill. My husbands cousin has the original photo. So it was prob abt 1900 ?

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Thanks so much all. Sorry not been around as I have been away. I now need to trawl through all the rellies and find someone who fits the bill. My husbands cousin has the original photo. So it was prob abt 1900 ?

Yes I believe that 1900 is about right.
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  • 4 months later...

Any of these ?

Trooper VIZARD, page 224 or Sgt. VIZARD, page 252 of

The Yeomanry Cavalry of Gloucestershire and Monmouth

by W.H. Wyndham Quin MP [1898]

Sgt. George Frank VIZARD of Marshfield, Gloucester.Number 5621 , RGH (Imperial Yeomanry), Queens South Africa Medal lists.

Sergeant A. VIZARD Feb. 1905 THE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL

This medal was issued for the first time in 1905. It was awarded for 10 years’ service in the

Yeomanry........

Vizard Leonard Edwin of Brook Street, Chipping Sodbury enlisted with second line RGHY 14th April 1915, transferred to 1/1RGHY at Alexandria December 1916

I will e-mail your picture to the committee for comment if you think this would be helpful?

Regards,

Larry

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Is it my eyes or does the center look slightly darker? with a lighter outer ring? Here it is with the contrast tweaked

contrast.jpg

No idea if that helps but it does look to me like the inner is darker with a lighter outer ring

Seeing this again it has occurred to me that the badge might also be that of a wheelwright.

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  • 5 years later...
On 27/07/2015 at 23:07, rghya said:

Any of these ?

Trooper VIZARD, page 224 or Sgt. VIZARD, page 252 of

The Yeomanry Cavalry of Gloucestershire and Monmouth

by W.H. Wyndham Quin MP [1898]

Sgt. George Frank VIZARD of Marshfield, Gloucester.Number 5621 , RGH (Imperial Yeomanry), Queens South Africa Medal lists.

Sergeant A. VIZARD Feb. 1905 THE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL

This medal was issued for the first time in 1905. It was awarded for 10 years’ service in the

Yeomanry........

Vizard Leonard Edwin of Brook Street, Chipping Sodbury enlisted with second line RGHY 14th April 1915, transferred to 1/1RGHY at Alexandria December 1916

I will e-mail your picture to the committee for comment if you think this would be helpful?

Regards,

Larry

George Frank Vizard was a Freemason of the Bulawayo Lodge, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at the time) and of Gihon Lodge in London. See more at : https://www.masonicgreatwarproject.org.uk/legend.php?id=4043  From the original question surrounding the image. Is the image of Sergeant Vizard, assuming that the "cousin" was a relative of his rather than of the submitter?

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It seems the cousin was the relative of the submitter and the general agreement was that the man in the image was not Vizard, as neither his age nor unit matched.  The auxiliary soldier shown was a sergeant major of Yeomanry cavalry, a type of unit that recruited locally, in his case around Gloucestershire, and to have reached that rank it seems likely that he was there quite some time.

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Thank you Frogsmile. The original comment was that because this might be Vizard (the younger) who perished in WW1, and then understood that this isn't him who died at Varennes. But, this image showing the uniform of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and that the image is posted by a relative, could this now be Sergeant George Francis Vizard of Chipping Sodbury who was born in 1857 and is the subject of the conversation deeper in the thread (the one that rghya mentions specifically?) 

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1 hour ago, MGWP said:

Thank you Frogsmile. The original comment was that because this might be Vizard (the younger) who perished in WW1, and then understood that this isn't him who died at Varennes. But, this image showing the uniform of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and that the image is posted by a relative, could this now be Sergeant George Francis Vizard of Chipping Sodbury who was born in 1857 and is the subject of the conversation deeper in the thread (the one that rghya mentions specifically?) 


That date of birth and home town would certainly be entirely commensurate with his apparent age and the style of his uniform, yes.

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Sadly, as the OP appears not to have visited the Forum for a little shy of six years, it may well all be a little academic.

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