I am looking to identify this young man by his regiment. It's a long shot. He may just have served with my grandfather, but it may also be an unexpected link to a significant brick wall. Thank you.
The shoulder badge says Shropshire, and the regiment's badge appears to be a hunting horn, as here. There seem to be a variety of versions, with and without wording or letters attached to the horn. Most of the images I found had the horn pointing the other way; I don't know if that makes this one unusual and easier to pin down to a particular date or battalion etc.
Thank you, @arthurk . The mystery deepens. I have no Shropshires in my family to date - but it's as good an excuse as any to visit Shrewsbury Castle (and the regimental museum) when we escape our lockdown hobbles. What period would you say? I'm inclined to date it as WW1?
This Shropshire badge in euryalus's album, is very similar and shows the centre clearer, but the horn is facing the opposite way The Shropshire Light Infantry | Genealogy Specialists (genealogy-specialists.com)
I think there was two badges in a set, one for each shoulder - I have seen pictures. If they were put on the "wrong shoulder", the horn would point the other way. Does that make sense?
I had wondered if the horns might be different for left and right shoulder, but so few of them were the same way as ours that it made me think it might have some significance. As for dating, the sepia tone and vignette style (fading towards the edges) strike me as more WW1 era than WW2. I'm not an expert on uniforms, but I'm sure I read something about the tunics changing part way through WW1, and possibly the pocket flaps being different. Something to look into, perhaps?
Yes it does make sense since they are for wearing on shoulders and I imagine as "Collar Dogs" on the collars of dress uniforms, the one shown in euryalus's album points the way the cap badge points.
A follow-up to this one. Sadly not the jigsaw piece I was looking for to bring closure but interesting nonetheless. Arthur's identification re. the Shropshires threw me as I don't have any family members that served with that particular regiment in WWI. However, at the end of WWII my mother served in the Land Army and stayed working on the farm right up until she met my father - and that farm was on the Welsh border with Shropshire. Mum's writing career took off when she was at the farm - and in recent days I've been sorting through and boxing some of her early articles, mostly about farm life, and one of the characters that featured heavily was a farm labourer called 'Old Tom'. Given that he would have been of an age to serve in 1914-18, I think there's a high chance it was him.
I wonder if - hoping not too cheeky - you could share some of your Mum's writings, if not too large, on a special page. Similar has been done before & enjoyed by many.
I think I might do that, Wendy. Yesterday I was reading through some rough drafts of a book she was planning about her early life which she didn't finish - and I realised what a damn good writer she was. I never told her that. Her peers did, I didn't. I am expecting the old photo above to materialise in print somewhere as I keep sifting through. I am realising that many of the really old photos mixed in with family ones aren't my family at all but in connection with Mum's writing interests. Old folk frequently gave her pictures, it seems.
