TonyH Posted 15 February , 2020 Share Posted 15 February , 2020 Hi there, I'm helping a friend track her Great Uncle Marius Walker's participation in World War I - and she has given me this photo of him in Uniform. I'd appreciate any help you could give me on this - I'm assuming he is a Fusilier from the cap badge, and perhaps RF on the shoulder patch? It also looks like 4 years on the overseas service chevrons, but would that have been possible in 1917? Perhaps this photo is later than 1917? Also he seems to have a Marksman badge on his left sleeve. The question is whether it's possible to identify which specific regiment he was from, and also his rank - is that Lieutenant? Any help gratefully received! All the best Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 15 February , 2020 Share Posted 15 February , 2020 6 minutes ago, TonyH said: and also his rank - is that Lieutenant? Not in this image, no. He has no rank chevrons , making him a Private. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporalPunishment Posted 15 February , 2020 Share Posted 15 February , 2020 Royal Fusiliers. The object above the RF on his shoulder is a grenade badge, part of the shoulder title. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted 15 February , 2020 Author Share Posted 15 February , 2020 Ah yes - the shoulder badges didn't look to me like Lieutenant pips - so thank you for pointing that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 15 February , 2020 Share Posted 15 February , 2020 (edited) Here are the badges that he was wearing. He appears to have overseas service 1915-16-17-18. Edited 15 February , 2020 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted 16 February , 2020 Author Share Posted 16 February , 2020 Thank you Frogsmile, that is very useful! - It means it has to be a photo from 1918 or later, rather than 1917 (was the 1914 OS chevron red in any case?)... Even my creaky maths was wondering how he could have got 4 years OS by 1917... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark holden Posted 16 February , 2020 Share Posted 16 February , 2020 I surmise that this is an end of hostilities picture his grateful mother has her hand on his in a sign of gratitude and relief. I also reflect that this is a young Infantryman who served overseas for 4 years and came through physical unscathed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 16 February , 2020 Share Posted 16 February , 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, TonyH said: Thank you Frogsmile, that is very useful! - It means it has to be a photo from 1918 or later, rather than 1917 (was the 1914 OS chevron red in any case?)... Even my creaky maths was wondering how he could have got 4 years OS by 1917... Yes, the 1914 chevron was red. I agree with Mark that the image has all the hallmarks of what I call a ‘survivor’s photograph’, i.e. one that projects a palpable sense of gratitude to have made it through unscathed (literally in this case as there are no wound stripes). Some men were just lucky! Edited 16 February , 2020 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 16 February , 2020 Share Posted 16 February , 2020 Interesting he's positioned his left arm and cap so the Marksman's badge (I assume) can be seen, but we can't see if he has a Good Conduct badge, which might be expected. I wonder if he'd been a naughty boy at some point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovetown Posted 16 February , 2020 Share Posted 16 February , 2020 16 hours ago, TonyH said: Thank you Frogsmile, that is very useful! - It means it has to be a photo from 1918 or later, rather than 1917 (was the 1914 OS chevron red in any case?)... Even my creaky maths was wondering how he could have got 4 years OS by 1917... Overseas chevrons instituted December 1917, so always a good indicator of 'not before' in a photo. His minimum service would have been 36 months and a day - you were entitled to your first chevron on your first day in theatre, then another every aggregate 12 months after that. Eligibility continued to May 1920, to encompass those on convoys and in North Russia. Assuming he didn't serve much past the spring of 1919, he would have qualified for the 1914-1915 Star - and the lack of ribbon for which would make this photo prior to December 1918. Cheers, GT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted 17 February , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 February , 2020 Thank you all for the assessment - it is truly incredible what you all are able to winkle out from this photo. Now, I may go through my grandfathers photos from King Edwards Horse and post them up, as I'm getting the feeling that there is a lot more buried in those photos than I realise. Thank you all once again! T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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