asanewt Posted 16 October , 2016 Share Posted 16 October , 2016 This was bought at a sale of items belonging to a local keen photographer/collector. All observations appreciated. Ruthin annotated is North Wales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_hughes Posted 16 October , 2016 Share Posted 16 October , 2016 Most of the RWF Territorial Force battalions were sent to the Northampton area once mobilised in 1914. Ruthin came within the 4th (Denbighshire) battalion area. The 1/4th battn. was taken from the 53rd Welsh Division however, and sent to France in November 1914 to 3rd Brigade 1st Division, becoming the 47th Division's Pioneer battalion from Sept. 1915 for the rest of the war. None of these men seems to be wearing the Imperial Service tablet (overseas volunteers) so maybe they aren't First Line troops? The fact that the caption has "1914-18" written suggests it was added a while after the original image was taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asanewt Posted 17 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 17 October , 2016 Thanks Clive. I am tantalised by the men wearing lanyards to the right. I read somewhere that they were worn to the left generally until post war except for mounted troops. Maybe theses are ASC Ruthin men that joined in for the photo. Irritatingly no caps and the shoulder titles obscured. I like the bear sitting on an RWF badged cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 17 October , 2016 Share Posted 17 October , 2016 Lanyards were not an issued item for infantry so if a man obtained one, there was no regulated way of wearing it. Until the RSM saw it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_hughes Posted 18 October , 2016 Share Posted 18 October , 2016 As I think Muerrisch would agree, they aren't ASC personnel: the titles (in so far as they can be distinguished at all) look more like the tall Territorial infantry ones of T/4/(grenade symbol)/RWF, than the shorter T/ASC/NorthWales (bottom part wider and crescentic). Also I think ASC counted as "Mounted troops" and might have worn breeches & spurs? It was quite a diverse corps however, and I'm happy to be corrected if all elements of it weren't outfitted in the same way! The 2/4th Battn. RWF was at Northampton briefly during Nov.-Dec. 1914 and also April-July 1915. Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 18 October , 2016 Share Posted 18 October , 2016 I cannot disagree. The non-mounted men of the ASC [such as MT] did not adopt much of the mounted artefacts except the bandolier on occasion .......... I am not very knowledgeable on ASC but my grandfather was ASC MT and his uniform comes across as straightforward Foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asanewt Posted 18 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 18 October , 2016 Thanks again all. I get the visible shoulder titles Clive just irrritating no sign of titles on lanyard wearers and difficult, for me, to see winding direction of puttees Am I right thinking a group of local men are more likely 1/4th Denbigh rather than more dispersed 2/4th, 3/4th ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_hughes Posted 22 October , 2016 Share Posted 22 October , 2016 If in Northampton, then they should be either 1/4th or 2/4th men. Some of the former were passed to the latter if they couldn't be persuaded to accept the Imperial Service obligation. There should have been a lot more more Ruthin town men in the 1/4th than this group (it was at pre-war company strength); so either they are just some of the Ruthin guys, or maybe just those "originals" who wouldn't accept the ISO and were passed to the 2/4th? (just a guess - but the total absence of ISO badges might be significant). As you say, within 2/4th the locality of the companies probably wasn't so relevant. Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asanewt Posted 23 October , 2016 Author Share Posted 23 October , 2016 Thanks again Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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