Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 7 August , 2003 Share Posted 7 August , 2003 A colleague of mine brought in a photo of her great-great-uncle in his WW1 uniform this morning and asked for me for some advice as to unit etc. Now the unit was easy - General Service badge plus LC shoulder titles. I then asked her if she had any documents or medals from which we could extract his number. She said that to her knowledge he did not go to France, but stayed in England as he was in his 40s. However I am a bit sceptical about this because in the photo he is carrying his gas mask and it struck me that Home Service men would hardly be walking around like this! My question is therefore, is my reasoning correct or did HS men have to carry their respirators? I should add that the photo is typical of the types I have in my collection which were taken in France - man standing next to a pillar and a lousy backdrop which looks like a sheet. One problem is that the photo has been stuck to a card at some time so I can just look at the flipside. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Burns Posted 7 August , 2003 Share Posted 7 August , 2003 Hi Ian, I know nothing about World War I photographs but that certainly isn't going to stop me! Is it possible the Gas Mask is a photographers Studio Prop? Maybe gas masks were issued due to fear of German use of gas in Zeppelin raids? Take care, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted 7 August , 2003 Share Posted 7 August , 2003 Ian, Is he wearing any other items of kit / webbing that perhaps a soldier might not wear whilst serving at home? Could he have put all his kit on for the photo ? Just a thought. Roger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 7 August , 2003 Share Posted 7 August , 2003 Many soldiers in the UK seemingly had Box Respirators issued to them before proceeding overseas. I have quite a few photos of men in the UK with their gas masks... remember they would have had gas training before proceeding overseas. But I must say the description of the card you have given sounds like it was taken overseas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 7 August , 2003 Share Posted 7 August , 2003 Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure about gas attacks from Zeppelins (there was an interesting article touching on this short of warfare in a recent edition of Stand To). Labour Corps men were unarmed so I would not expect him to have much kit. As Paul says the picture is 'typically' not British taken - I will see if she has it with her tomorrow and will try to post it. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 8 August , 2003 Share Posted 8 August , 2003 Case solved! My colleague decided to remove the backing off the photo last night and the studio name was clear as was a date: Paris October 1917! Now of course the mystery deepens as the said soldier was not thought to have gone overseas! This is what I love about researching WW1 soldiers - no sooner do you think you have the answer but another question pops up Ian PS will hopefully post scan later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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