HERITAGE PLUS Posted 28 April , 2019 Share Posted 28 April , 2019 I would appreciate comments as to the likely date of the attached photo of two CR men. Thanks Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools mckenna Posted 28 April , 2019 Share Posted 28 April , 2019 Simplified SD jackets say 1914-15 to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 28 April , 2019 Share Posted 28 April , 2019 I agree with Jools, and on balance would suggest 1915 as the more likely year when the photograph was taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 29 April , 2019 Author Share Posted 29 April , 2019 Thanks Gents, could you advise as to what the armbands might be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Hall Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 The cap badge on the SD cap in the photo looks like Royal Engineers to me. I wonder if the armbands are white over blue, suggesting members of an RE Signals company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 29 April , 2019 Author Share Posted 29 April , 2019 Thanks Gunner looks a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoon Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 I agree with Gunner Hall on the RE cap badge, the armbands don't appear to have two colours split on them, they just look white? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) I suspect that they are stretcher bearer arm bands and agree that the cap badge is RE. Edited 29 April , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoon Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 What do you think the significance of the Connaught Rangers badge is? Two RE stretcher bearers attached to the CR's? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Dragoon said: What do you think the significance of the Connaught Rangers badge is? Two RE stretcher bearers attached to the CR's? Chris I’m unclear Chris, the Connaught Rangers Badge seems to have been associated with the photo by the original poster, Dave. Also the SB arm band was generally worn on the left arm, although not in every case. Edited 29 April , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 29 April , 2019 Author Share Posted 29 April , 2019 Hi Gents The photo is not mine but a friends whose grandfather served with the CR and is one of the men, hence the superimposed CR badge. He has no knowledge of any RE service so possibilly its not the right man. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 It might be that he was transferred to the RE at some stage. If we could have a name it might help to confirm or rule out that idea. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 29 April , 2019 Author Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) My friends grandfather on the left is John Holmes (SN 7614) with James Gorman on the right. Thanks for the ongoing interest. Dave Edited 29 April , 2019 by HERITAGE PLUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoon Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 MIC indicates only CR, the cap might simply be the chap on the rights, who could be a friend or a relative in the RE's. So the chap on the left could well be CR's. FROGSMILE may help on this one, but did the CR's wear black rifles buttons? May be wrong there. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) 57 minutes ago, HERITAGE PLUS said: My friends grandfather on the left is John Holmes (SN 7614) with James Gorman on the right. Thanks for the ongoing interest. Dave His mic shows only one regiment. He went overseas with the 2nd Battalion on 14.8.14 and was discharged on 23 January 1916. TR Edited 29 April , 2019 by Terry_Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Dragoon said: MIC indicates only CR, the cap might simply be the chap on the rights, who could be a friend or a relative in the RE's. So the chap on the left could well be CR's. FROGSMILE may help on this one, but did the CR's wear black rifles buttons? May be wrong there. Chris No the Connaught Rangers didn’t wear black buttons, Chris, although I understand where you might have got that reference from. The Royal Irish Rangers, who were created from the residual Irish Regiments after 1922, adopted them as a historical thread of continuity from the Royal Irish/Ulster Rifles. 19 minutes ago, Terry_Reeves said: His mic shows only one regiment. He went overseas with the 2nd Battalion and was discharged on 23 January 1916. TR Perhaps it was the other fellow, James Gorman, who was RE and thus whose cap it was. Edited 29 April , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 That's my thought as well. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoon Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said: No the Connaught Rangers didn’t wear black buttons, Chris, although I understand where you might have got that reference from. The Royal Irish Rangers, who were created from the residual Irish Regiments after 1922, adopted them as a historical thread of continuity from the Royal Irish/Ulster Rifles. Cheers FROGSMILE, that was my train of thought RIR, every day is a school day🙂 Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 The odds are surely on Signals armbands .... there seems to be a faint horizontal striation, and blue can show as almost white on contemporary ortho film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Muerrisch said: The odds are surely on Signals armbands .... there seems to be a faint horizontal striation, and blue can show as almost white on contemporary ortho film. Ordinarily I would tend to agree, but both men’s arm bands appear predominantly white and if we compare with similar images showing signallers (plural) such a consistent bias of shading is only rarely apparent. Edited 29 April , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 When I suggested 1915 for a simplified SD jacket in another topic, I was shot down in flames by a couple of very knowledgeable forum pals who stated that these jackets continued to be issued long after 1915 even as late as 1918. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) 18 hours ago, Gardenerbill said: When I suggested 1915 for a simplified SD jacket in another topic, I was shot down in flames by a couple of very knowledgeable forum pals who stated that these jackets continued to be issued long after 1915 even as late as 1918. Yes they did turn up occasionally later in the war, usually if old stock, or reconditioned items, but rarely in great numbers as they were a stop gap measure. In this case, two together, when combined with a first pattern SD cap, on balance suggests the early issue of the simplified garments, late 1914 through to Summer 1915 from memory. Edited 30 April , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 In my opinion a simplified jacket can only be confidently dated as "later than ..........] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 29 April , 2019 Share Posted 29 April , 2019 (edited) 30 minutes ago, Muerrisch said: In my opinion a simplified jacket can only be confidently dated as "later than ..........] Yes, I think you’re right. One can make an approximation after the date we know that the jackets began to be issued, but it can be no more than speculative. In this case I’m putting some weight on the presence of an early pattern cap. Edited 29 April , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 16 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2019 Thanks everyone. I can now confirm that my friends grandfather re-enlisted in RE IWT after discharge from the Connaught Rangers. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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