Brogan M Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 My mother has a (bad copy of) a photograph of her grandfather John. It seems to be a formal portrait, his wife Lizzie had one too. I've tried to do some research already, and have only seen soldiers with the jacket he's wearing only wearing kilts, not trousers as he's shown. Noticed he's not wearing a belt, but has a foreign service chevron on his sleeve. I believe he went to Canada for the war? He's also wearing his lanyard round his shoulder. The photos sadly aren't dated but his coat does look a bit roughed up. I also know that soldiers had different uniforms for different events so maybe the trousers were for official purposes? His name was John MacKie/McKay and he was from Glasgow, Scotland. Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 (edited) On 13/06/2023 at 22:25, Brogan M said: My mother has a (bad copy of) a photograph of her grandfather John. It seems to be a formal portrait, his wife Lizzie had one too. I've tried to do some research already, and have only seen soldiers with the jacket he's wearing only wearing kilts, not trousers as he's shown. Noticed he's not wearing a belt, but has a foreign service chevron on his sleeve. I believe he went to Canada for the war? He's also wearing his lanyard round his shoulder. The photos sadly aren't dated but his coat does look a bit roughed up. I also know that soldiers had different uniforms for different events so maybe the trousers were for official purposes? His name was John MacKie/McKay and he was from Glasgow, Scotland. Any help would be appreciated. I think he might be from the Cameronian’s (Scottish Rifles) as he appears to have black buttons. As a lowland regiment the Cameronian’s wore trews and not a kilt. The army’s infantry depot in Glasgow was one of several that supported two regiments, rather than the more common single regiment. The depot there was shared by the Cameronian’s with the Highland Light Infantry and so Glaswegians were especially common in both regiments. Edited 31 July , 2023 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle of loos Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 good evening, the unit are no kilting. I have find : John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 275298 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers, Labour Corps 37673, 5074 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers, Labour Corps 37725, 5075 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers, Royal Engineers, Royal Engineers 28394, 308538, Wr/28105 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers, Labour Corps 37800, 5076 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers, Labour Corps 38283, 5638 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 6826, 240110 John McKay King's Own Scottish Borderers 7891, 201049 John McKay King's Own Scottish Borderers 16741 John McKay King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Highland Light Infantry 28044, 42319 John McKay King's Own Scottish Borderers 17746 John McKay King's Own Scottish Borderers 8407 John McKay Cameronian (Scottish Rifles), Highland Light Infantry 26088, 41014 John McKay Cameronian (Scottish Rifles) 43221 John McKay 4th Royal Scots Fusiliers, Northumberland Fusiliers 8248, 311344 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 402835 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 8023 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 7595, 408244 John McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 7618, 200334 John McKay Highland Light Infantry, Labour Corps 29898, 401348 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 3993, 241492 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 36045 John McKay Highland Light Infantry, Labour Corps 30738, 374361 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 19816 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 5522, 282553 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 10791 John McKay Highland Light Infantry, Army Ordnance Corps 1650, T1358 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 8130 John McKay Cameronian (Scottish Rifles), Highland Light Infantry 3645, 42066 John McKay Seaforth Highlanders, Highland Light Infantry S/15902, 27634 John McKay Seaforth Highlanders, Gordon Highlanders, Royal Defence Corps, Highland Light Infantry S/19550, 14, 2229, 35980 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 51506 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 25795 John McKay Highland Light Infantry, Cameronian (Scottish Rifles) 11801, 45119 John McKay Highland Light Infantry 23260 John L McKay Highland Light Infantry, Royal Scots Fusiliers 30249, 40711 John Neil McKay Cameronian (Scottish Rifles) 38410 John W McKay Highland Light Infantry, Labour Corps 3734, 634852 J McKay Highland Light Infantry 22637 Thomas J McKay Highland Light Infantry, Machine Gun Corps 3334, 83318 J McKay Hli 3rd 39296 J McKay High Li 11th 19549 J McKay Highland Light Infantry 1451, 280084 J McKay Royal Scots Fusiliers 250044, 1046 Edward J McKay Highland Light Infantry 12346 Regarding the buttons, I will lean more for General Service button painted black. Thing already seen on the ground example this ASC button michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 (edited) I don’t think that general service buttons were painted black on a large scale. Official policy was to simply not polish them when in the line. The type of gilding metal used was specifically designed to grow dull within days. It’s not impossible but it’s less likely than the use of the generic rifles pattern buttons. Edited 13 June , 2023 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle of loos Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 on the TAM it seems to me to see the lower part of the cap badge of the Royal Scot Fusilier michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, battle of loos said: on the TAM it seems to me to see the lower part of the cap badge of the Royal Scot Fusilier michel Unfortunately insufficient clarity to recognise the badge I think. Edited 13 June , 2023 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battle of loos Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 7 minutes ago, battle of loos said: michel That small reflection could be any Scottish badge really, it remains insufficiently clear to identify with anything more than an unsubstantiated guess unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporalPunishment Posted 13 June , 2023 Share Posted 13 June , 2023 He certainly looks to be Cameronians to me and being a Glaswegian fits with the regiment. He appears to be wearing a 1914 Overseas Service Chevron below the others as well. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 14 June , 2023 Share Posted 14 June , 2023 Pete, can you highlight the chevrons? I can’t see 1 let alone 2. I’m on a phone screen but all I see is a sleeve. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporalPunishment Posted 14 June , 2023 Share Posted 14 June , 2023 7 hours ago, mancpal said: Pete, can you highlight the chevrons? I can’t see 1 let alone 2. I’m on a phone screen but all I see is a sleeve. Simon Simon, lower right sleeve, at least that's what I see, unless it's a convincing and realistic looking mark on the photo. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 14 June , 2023 Admin Share Posted 14 June , 2023 An obser 16 hours ago, Brogan M said: Any help would be appreciated. An observation, before looking at military service it often helps to do basic genealogical research. How old was he? He was married, when was he married? Are there military particulars on the marriage certificate. Did he survive the war? Was he wounded? What was his occupation? Where did he live? is there an Absent Voters List for the address? John Mackay/Mackie in Glasgow might just as well be John Smith in London. What else do you know about him? How was he related to your mother - maternal line? Any brothers (great uncles? 1921 Census Once we know who we are looking for then we can try to establish his military service. Until then we rely on a few uniform clues and an indistinguishable cap badge. We always recommend you take a look at the Long Long Trail website for hints on how to research a soldier of the Great War link top left of this pager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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