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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Unknown Soldier in Uniform & Cap - Country?


TheAmateur

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Hi everyone,

I have a large picture of what I presume to be a WWI soldier (or pre-WWI). I've done some research but I've been unable to determine what country he served with or rank or anything really. The picture was found in Canada so I'm thinking it's probable that he served in the Canadian or British forces. Judging by the uniform possibly Belgium?? A stamp on the back of the picture says Made in Canada so it's most likely he served with the Canadian forces. The buttons on both sides seem to be consistent with an officer? He looks so young.....

I had one person tell me that he believed the badge on his cap looked like a cannon ball or grenade with a flame and that it was likely an army uniform. Personally I find the cap badge to be very obscure and unclear and impossible to really make out. I've taken some pictures for you to see. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!post-121666-0-96583800-1429125041_thumb.post-121666-0-56084700-1429125055_thumb.post-121666-0-68498600-1429125066_thumb.post-121666-0-00603200-1429125078_thumb.post-121666-0-91470100-1429125093_thumb.post-121666-0-80619200-1429125110_thumb.

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My first thought too.

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Cap and boot style is Slavonic - maybe Russian but possibly Bulgarian or some Balkan country. Certainly not Belgian - or Canadian !

The style of wearing the cap cocked to one side is typically Slav too.

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Very interesting. Even more interesting that the photo is stamped on the back with "Made in Canada". Perhaps the picture was taken elsewhere and developed in Canada. Or the picture was transferred to the large paper board which itself was made in Canada. The other thing I noticed when I was researching is that all the coats with the same design with buttons down both sides always seem to have 6 buttons on each side where as this one has 5.

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The photograph (plates/film) may have been acquired by a Canadian Soldier participating in the 1919 Russian/Siberian operations.

Sepoy

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If it's any help, Canada has 1.3 million citizens of Ukrainian descent.

Does that raise the possibility of its being someone from the short lived Ukrainian Sate of 1918? Can identify the symbols on the sides of the photo?

RM.

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Does that raise the possibility of its being someone from the short lived Ukrainian Sate of 1918? Can identify the symbols on the sides of the photo?

RM.

I'm not sure that there is any significance to the shapes on the sides of the photo as they look to be mirror images of each other and are uniform in the same places. I think it's just the light and shadow effect from the flash. I could be wrong. I really can't say what the symbols or shapes would be though they do look like crosses.

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Possibly a photo of a relative of someone of Ukranian descent who moved to Canada or family brought it over? maybe the owner himself came to Canada. Interesting photo in any case.

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The double breasted tunic suggests a cavalry regiment.

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