RootsChat.Com
General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: EVG on Monday 18 December 06 11:48 GMT (UK)
-
I wonder if anyone can help with identifying the regiment on this photo please.Eileen
-
l believe the photo,is of a Kings own Scottish Borderer.From the first world war.Hope this this is of some help to you. ;D
-
Thank you very much. Eileen :)
-
Hi Eileen :)
Your man is in the Gordon Highlanders. He's wearing officer's service dress, and the photo was taken well after the first World War.
The indications are the very faint lines of the Gordon kilt and the high up on the right side kilt pin, and the low, long collar dog.
Note: KOSB's are non-kilted with the exception of pipers.
I hope this helps.
Atom
-
Thanks ever so much. That's a great description and a big help. I thought he may have been an officer.
Once againm, Thanks and Happy New Year.
Eileen :)
-
8)
Glad to be of help Eileen. Do you know anything else about the photo, ie, the time/date the photo was taken! Or is there any of your relatives in the photo.
Perhaps you should post it into the photo restoration section of this site, as it is a lovely photo.
Happy New Year
-
Hi Eileen
I think I've found out some more info for you on your couple and will pm you shortly on some findings.
-
That sounds interesting. I look forward to that. Thank you. :)
Eileen
-
Hi Eileen
I am almost sure I can identify your couple, therefore it would be nice if I could claim some kudos for it too, and post it here, rather than just personal messages, as you have already made the photo and call for identity public by posting it here, as well as it being elsewhere with my additions but without attribution.
-
Well of course you can, and of course you derserve the acclaim. The person who has the photo in their possession will be delighted. I'll let them know where the information came from and they will no doubt come on here. I just like mysteries and will be very pleased to see what you have found. Thank you Anne.
Eileen.
-
Well Eileen
Here goes with the information you provided. It would have been ideal to see if the writing on the back of the photo was written by the same person and particularly written in a continental-style hand.
Still, I hope that this is your couple, as this man died on the date provided and at Valliere (St-Valery-en-Caux). The Highland Division surrendered after their 60 mile fighting retreat that enabled the BEF and the French army to be evacuated at Dunkirk. The date of surrender was the 12th June, 1940 - how sad, as your man died the day before that.
Having checked the records and with your information, there was only one Gordon Highlander officer killed that day (and none the previous days before). So I am fairly sure this is the family:
Name: COLVILLE, FREDERICK JAMES
Initials: F J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Gordon Highlanders
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 27
Date of Death: 11/06/1940
Service No: 50797
Additional information: Son of Admiral the Hon. Sir Stanley Colville, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., and of Lady Adelaide Colville (nee Meade), of Crawley Down, Sussex; husband of Dorothy Loisa Colville, of Paddington, London.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: C, 7.
Cemetery: ST. VALERY-EN-CAUX FRANCO-BRITISH CEMETERY
-
What an amazing job you have done Anne. Thank you so much. I already emailed Tricia the link to this page. I'm sure she will get in touch with the holder of the photograph as soon as possible. This is very exciting.
Once again, many thanks.
Regards Eileen.
-
Hi Eileen ;)
Glad you liked the information. Forgot to mention that prior to being with the Gordons, your officer was with the London Scottish.
His home church commenorates him - some nice photos of the church, but not convinced they were married in this particular church:
allsaints.crawleydownvillage.co.uk/roll_honour.php
All the Best for 2007
-
Hello Anne. I've just had email from Tricia, and she was absolutely delighted with your find. She hopes to get in touch with the owner of photo tonight. She's sure he will come on here to thank you himself.
Once again, thanks for everything.
A very Happy New Year to you.
Eileen
-
Hi Ann, thank you so much for your research into the history behind the wedding photo, it has been very much appreciated by me and I have now contacted the owner this evening, who I know is wanting to reunite this photo with its rightful family after all these years.
I am not sure if you know the story behind this photo, but it was taken off the dead body by a German soldier who held onto the photo wondering how he could reunite it. Cam's mother was given the photo by this person when she visited Germany as he thought that she would be more able to research it. Her son Cam now holds this photo.
I have sent him your details.
Thank you very much for your help.
Happy New Year
-
:) Tricia
Thanks you for your comments, and I truly hope our search will be fruitful for Cam and he can at last get a resolution to his quest.
Happy New Year
Anne
-
Anne, I hope we will all find out soon!
I should have also said thank you to my friend Eileen, who is also interested in this story and without whom the photo would not have been exposed to so many very helpful researchers in this forum.
Thank you
Tricia
-
Good morning Anne.
We are still amazed at your research results.
Tricia received an email from the gentleman who owns the photo at present ,and he is delighted. Here is an extract from his email to Tricia.
"An actual name... amazing! I'm going to contact Ann and also have a contact for
the Regiment, so will write to them presently. "
My personal thanks to you Anne. I'm off to find another mystery, this time in my own family tree! :) ;) Eileen
-
8) Cool
The search has been a pleasure, I look forward to hearing from Cam with hopefully more news. I've been family-treeing it too today, but I'm pretty hopeless at that side, I keep going off in a tangent and get nowhere. ???
Anne
-
I'll have to send you an army photo of my father-in-law to identify. Got a feeling it's the same regiment at the Captain.
-
Hi Eileen
That would be good to see the photo. If I can't help you, there will be others on here who can. ;)
-
Well here it is then Anne. David gorman was born in 1894. It would be interesting to know if he served in 1914/18.
-
::)
Hi
If the photo is your father-in-law it depicts an Argyll and Sutherland Highlander, in what looks like brand new issue uniform for the time.
There is a medal card for David Gorman in WW1, see link below. The medal card tells you David was a Private soldier in the Argylls, Regimental No 5420. Then later he was a Lance Corporal in the Labour Corp where he has two numbers. The first number 446667 and the second is 16684. You can download the medal card document for £3.50
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=2542023&queryType=1&resultcount=1
-
Thanks Anne. That is very interesting. There's not many of the family left and nobody seems to know anything. I'll go to that site and download the medal card. That's another story for my family book. I'll have to put some more pages in. ha ha.
Thanks again.....you're a treasure. ;D
-
Hi Eileen
If you get the medal card, it would be good if you share the contents with us, only if you wish to, of course.
-
Only too pleased to Anne. At the moment I'm having trouble with the site.
I'll let you know when I manage to get it.
Eileen
-
It took me a while to sort it all out Anne but finally managed to down-load document.
There were 6 on the page, so here's what I could make out for the regiment you found him in.
David Gorman A & S High. Pte. 5420
Lab. corps. L/C 446667
Medal Roll Remarks.
Victory L/C101 C1 "Z" 11/2/19
British --DO--
Star L/C91
Theatre of war first served in France
Date of entry therein. 19-9-15
Written in hand before the printed word Star was the number 15.
I can't say that I know what it all means, but nice to see.
Thanks very much for your help in this Anne.
Eileen
-
1914/15 Star
Authorised in 1918, the 1914/15 Star was awarded to those individuals who saw service in France and Flanders from 23 November 1914 to 31 December 1915, and to those individuals who saw service in any other operational theatre from 5 August 1914 to 31 December 1915.
British War Medal
The British War Medal 1914-1920, authorised in 1919, was awarded to eligible service personnel and civilians alike. Qualification for the award varied slightly according to service. The basic requirement for army personnel and civilians was that they either entered a theatre of war, or rendered approved service overseas between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. Service in Russia in 1919 and 1920 also qualified for the award.
Victory Medal
The Victory Medal 1914-1919 was also authorised in 1919 and was awarded to all eligible personnel who served on the establishment of a unit in an operational theatre.
I thought it might be interesting to put exactly what the medals are for. I can't quite figure out how to get pictures of all 3 medals on here though.
Eileen
-
Great stuff Eileen
Your father-in-law survived a long war!!!
what a triumph. You'll be delving into the battles he fought in next. Thanks for listing all the details and descriptions of the medals
Don't suppose his actual medals are still around?
Also forgot to mention that his is a great photo, a very smart, well turned out soldier. :D