Help locating a Photograph of my WW1 Soldier

[Dogsey]

I am new to the forum and am seeking help.  My Great, Great Uncle was killed in WW1, his name was PTE 3585 William Quinn, he was killed on 29th June 1915 in Gallipoli the Dardanelles. and was part of the Border Regiment.  I am trying to locate a photograph of him, our family know all about him but have never seen his face.  I know it is virtually impossible to find a photo if one does not exist in the family but I keep searching and wondered if any collectors out there may have a photo of him.  Your advice and help would be greatly appreciated.

[jacks]

hello

You might be lucky and find a photo of him in the local newspaper of the time. Where was he living?

Jacks

[Dogsey]

Hi Jacks

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my post.  He lived in Whitehaven in Cumbria, I have looked through some of the Whitehaven News archives on the dates around his death and I did find an article about his Parents being informed of his death, but so far I've not found any photo.  I know that he was part of the 1st Border Regiment and he enlisted at Brackenber Moor near Appleby before the war broke out.  He was called up at the beginning of the war and performed active service in France before being invalided home with frostbite and was in hospital in Newcastle for about 3 weeks then he came home to Whitehaven, once recovered he was despatched to Shoeburyness and from there went in the first draft to the Dardanelles in May 1915.  William died of wounds on 29th June 1915, it is likely he suffered the fatal wounds in the battle of Gully Ravine on the 28th.  Maybe i need to do more research in the papers around him being sent home with frostbite, i'll check that out further.  Thanks again for your advice, it is much appreciated.

[temptage]

Its worth checking in the local newspapers at the beginning of the war, as when I checked through my local papers I found many more photos of men who had 'joined up' than obviously died throughout the war. I even found a photo of my own grandfather in uniform, something which my own father had never seen.

[PRC]

On 20/11/2023 at 00:06, Dogsey said:

I am trying to locate a photograph of him, our family know all about him but have never seen his face. 

In my experience there are both less photo's out there than people imagine, (as in correctly named, digitised and online) and more than people know

Large numbers of newspapers that are online contain images that are poorly identified. Bear in mind they were entirely dependant on reader submitted images and the captions show it. An image, if one exists, can appear at any point, not just enlistment or death, but home on leave, in connection with a letter home published in the same paper, a wounding or sickness, a medal award, as part of a family group, (and not just his own, the number of times I've seen a photogallery with a parent claiming to have x sons serving and and on investigation some of them turn out to be son-in-laws), men who have gone \ died from a street \ social group \ workplace,  end of war tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, etc, etc.

My "favourite" example is one from a Norfolk newspaper with the caption "Private Smith is home on leave" without a single reference anywhere in the local war news of a Private Smith who was home on leave. I will probably never know who he is.

However to wade through pages of online newspapers or scroll through miles of microfilm at a county archive looking for one individual is a thankless task with no guarantee of success. And not all titles have survived or have been donated to a public archive - again bear in mind family \ friends were likely to submit pictures to the newspapers they read which may not be the ones you expect.

At the end of the day, to have a picture taken was a matter of personal choice. There simply may not be one to find.

It's also worth looking for small social group pictures for his regiment - both formal studio ones and impromptu snaps. In so many of these at best only one individual is known but you may spot a potential family resemblance amongst the others.

Good luck with your search,
Peter

[Dogsey]

9 hours ago, temptage said:

Its worth checking in the local newspapers at the beginning of the war, as when I checked through my local papers I found many more photos of men who had 'joined up' than obviously died throughout the war. I even found a photo of my own grandfather in uniform, something which my own father had never seen.

Thank you, I didn't think to look at the start of the war or that there might be a joining up article.  Thank you for the tip, I will certainly do this.

[Dogsey]

8 hours ago, PRC said:

In my experience there are both less photo's out there than people imagine, (as in correctly named, digitised and online) and more than people know

Large numbers of newspapers that are online contain images that are poorly identified. Bear in mind they were entirely dependant on reader submitted images and the captions show it. An image, if one exists, can appear at any point, not just enlistment or death, but home on leave, in connection with a letter home published in the same paper, a wounding or sickness, a medal award, as part of a family group, (and not just his own, the number of times I've seen a photogallery with a parent claiming to have x sons serving and and on investigation some of them turn out to be son-in-laws), men who have gone \ died from a street \ social group \ workplace,  end of war tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, etc, etc.

My "favourite" example is one from a Norfolk newspaper with the caption "Private Smith is home on leave" without a single reference anywhere in the local war news of a Private Smith who was home on leave. I will probably never know who he is.

However to wade through pages of online newspapers or scroll through miles of microfilm at a county archive looking for one individual is a thankless task with no guarantee of success. And not all titles have survived or have been donated to a public archive - again bear in mind family \ friends were likely to submit pictures to the newspapers they read which may not be the ones you expect.

At the end of the day, to have a picture taken was a matter of personal choice. There simply may not be one to find.

It's also worth looking for small social group pictures for his regiment - both formal studio ones and impromptu snaps. In so many of these at best only one individual is known but you may spot a potential family resemblance amongst the others.

Good luck with your search,
Peter

Thank you Peter.