AdamCHall Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 My mother passed away a couple of months ago and I found this picture of my Grandfather amongst her things. I had met the man in the late 1970's when I was about 10 years old. At that time he was an old man and I never knew a picture of him young existed, let alone in uniform. I don't know anything about his service during WWI other than he was involved in some way. I know pretty much nothing about uniforms from back then so any help in shedding some light on this picture would be really appreciated. I noticed the riding crop, I am guessing he was riding a horse in some sort of Calvary? Like my mother, his nationality was Australian. His name was John Speirs. Regards, Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie962 Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 Welcome Adam, The Australian War Memorial has good records and an initial search for John Speirs and WW1 gives the following hits. Could one of these be your GF ? Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 (edited) He is dressed as a specialised horse transport ‘driver’. He wears collar badges that suggest Australian Army Service Corps (AASC). Together with his spurs he wears the famous gaiters with distinctive, spiral leather securing straps, known by the trade name ‘Stohwasser’. The Australian government had a contract with Stohwasser that must have been lucrative given that the company’s owners became very wealthy as a result of various orders (not just by Australia) made during WW1. “The AASC saw service in WW1 at Gallipoli, in Europe with the British Expeditionary Force, Egypt and with the ANZAC Divisions in France. In all areas men of the MSC provided an invaluable service to the fighting troops and the Corps was well commended for its efforts. Out of a total of 331,781 men of the AIF who embarked in Australia for overseas, 9,735 were AASC personnel. A total of three officers and 38 other ranks were killed in action, four officers and 57 other ranks died of wounds and a further 16 officers and 593 other ranks were wounded in action, 34 were gassed”. Edited 16 July , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporalPunishment Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 His collar badges have a scroll below the star and look very much like the pre-war pattern worn by the Australian Engineers. I would say he was a mounted Sapper. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 (edited) 27 minutes ago, CorporalPunishment said: His collar badges have a scroll below the star and look very much like the pre-war pattern worn by the Australian Engineers. I would say he was a mounted Sapper. Pete. Enlarging the image as much as I can on my phone I’ve no doubt that you are correct, Pete. Good spot! Australian Army Engineer driver he is. Ostensibly that badge was only worn until 1912, and then replaced with insignia more like the British Army RE, but I think you’re right that some units were still using the old insignia. You can just about make out his curved ‘AUSTRALIA’ shoulder title. For Adam - you can read about the Australian expeditionary forces Engineer effort here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_Army_engineer_units_in_World_War_I Edited 16 July , 2019 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamCHall Posted 16 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 16 July , 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, charlie962 said: Welcome Adam, The Australian War Memorial has good records and an initial search for John Speirs and WW1 gives the following hits. Could one of these be your GF ? Charlie Thanks Charlie for that link! I am not sure, I am looking through them now. I suspect this one his him, but not sure yet. http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=8090038 Edited 16 July , 2019 by AdamCHall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 (edited) 20 minutes ago, AdamCHall said: Thanks Charlie for that link! I suspect this could be him, but not sure yet. Its the only John Speirs I could find that was an engineer... http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=8090040 Possibly not. He looks to have died in 1969. Edited 16 July , 2019 by IPT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamCHall Posted 16 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 16 July , 2019 41 minutes ago, IPT said: Possibly not. He looks to have died in 1969. Yes , I pasted the wrong one. I meant this one: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=8090038 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 (edited) 32 minutes ago, AdamCHall said: Yes , I pasted the wrong one. I meant this one: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=8090038 http://www.illawarraremembers.com.au/node/799 https://documents.uow.edu.au/~morgan/jackspeirs.htm Edited 16 July , 2019 by IPT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 16 July , 2019 Share Posted 16 July , 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, CorporalPunishment said: I would say he was a mounted Sapper. Pete. At the risk of sounding pedantic he was a driver in the transport section of the 9th Field Company Engineers. The collar badges are a bit at odds with his service records which show his militia forces service with the 37th Infantry regiment. I have seen photographs of engineers early in the war wearing the pre-war engineers collar badges, but they had served with militia units. Scott Edited 17 July , 2019 by Waddell Added more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamCHall Posted 17 July , 2019 Author Share Posted 17 July , 2019 2 hours ago, IPT said: http://www.illawarraremembers.com.au/node/799 https://documents.uow.edu.au/~morgan/jackspeirs.htm Wow. Thanks for those links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarke Posted 17 July , 2019 Share Posted 17 July , 2019 Sapper Charles Sargent, 4thTunnelling Co, AIF. The photo was also taken in early 1916 and Charles lists no pre-war service. I have seen other similar photos, my guess is that a number of soldiers of engineer units used these badges to identify themselves-apart from the other AIF units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 17 July , 2019 Share Posted 17 July , 2019 1 hour ago, clarke said: Sapper Charles Sargent, 4thTunnelling Co, AIF. The photo was also taken in early 1916 and Charles lists no pre-war service. I have seen other similar photos, my guess is that a number of soldiers of engineer units used these badges to identify themselves-apart from the other AIF units. You could well be right. Bear in mind as well that their brass shoulder titles identified them as engineers before the purple shoulder patches. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporalPunishment Posted 17 July , 2019 Share Posted 17 July , 2019 8 hours ago, Waddell said: At the risk of sounding pedantic he was a driver in the transport section of the 9th Field Company Engineers. The collar badges are a bit at odds with his service records which show his militia forces service with the 37th Infantry regiment. I have seen photographs of engineers early in the war wearing the pre-war engineers collar badges, but they had served with militia units. Scott I made a simple observation. Australian Engineers collar badges + bandolier + riding crop + leather gaiters + spurs = mounted soldier. Okay, I said Sapper, not Driver but you can't win 'em all. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 17 July , 2019 Share Posted 17 July , 2019 Sorry if I offended you Pete. Just clarifying for the poster that driver was a different role than that of a sapper in a Field Company. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporalPunishment Posted 17 July , 2019 Share Posted 17 July , 2019 1 hour ago, Waddell said: Sorry if I offended you Pete. Just clarifying for the poster that driver was a different role than that of a sapper in a Field Company. Scott Scott, no offence taken at all. It's almost impossible to offend someone who lives in Dunstable so long as you don't ask them to go into Luton.. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarke Posted 18 July , 2019 Share Posted 18 July , 2019 Didn't mention this before Adam, but you have an excellent photo there. It's always nice to have that family connection. Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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