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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: George. on Saturday 12 August 17 16:51 BST (UK)
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Attached is a photograph of Ernest Parfitt b1888 in Manchester in army uniform. The photograph was taken in Bangalore (printed on reverse).
I would assume that he joined the Manchester Regiment but have no evidence. Cannot find him in any army lists (assumed amongst those destroyed).
Any help in identifying Regt from limited visible information would be grately appreciated.
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Good evening,
Unfortunately the uniform gives us no information at all. I would say early 1900s pre WW1.
No doubt the experts will be along soon to look him up on different records to narrow down a regt. Not always simple as there could be several men with that name recorded.
John915
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Sorry to disagree but those shorts date it to no earlier than WW1.
Also he wearing a wristwatch which was not often worn by men before WW1.
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The uniform is for a hot weather climate. Several battalions of the Manchesters were in India at the outbreak of WW1. They ended up joining the Egyption garrison in Palestine. It looks like an early WW1 jacket with pockets on the outside.
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George - you have already discovered that there are no Ernest Parfitts with records containing family information that could identify him. Ernest Parfitts do turn up on medal rolls for 1914-1918 but none of the Manchester Regiment. Problem with identifying someone with no record and a uniform with no distinguishing marks is that there were any number of regiments and corps in addition to infantry that were in Bangalore pre-war in which men from Manchester are just as likely to have been serving. As John915 is indicating, which one is him cannot be determined unless the family have other clues?
MaxD
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Thank you for your comments, gentlemen. It was a long-shot as I appreciated without any sort of insignia on display.
Unfortunately it will have to remain a mystery as there is only one daughter (90) remaining alive and she has no information to add.
Thank you again.
George
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Unfortunately the only insignia in the picture is on the side of the Foreign Service Helmet. There is a patch on the side and it is a shame that the FSH is not side on. The use of these patches was quite common by the TF Battalions in India and would rule out some regiments who did not wear such a patch but there are still lots of options.
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One final possible clue; my wife, Ernest Parfitt's granddaughter, says that she vaguely remembers one of her grandads saying something about 'being in Russia' when in the army. Her other granddad was in the Manchesters early on and then transferred to the Monmoutnshire Regt in Jan 1916, and there is nothing on his army record about Russia.
She was a very young girl at the time and cannot be certain that the memory is accurate or not, but it's something else to consider.
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I Googled British tropical uniforms WWI/1920 (images) and there were several just like your example, no badges and either with socks and puttees or just socks. This looks like the former. I think it's safe to assume this is WWI.
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Also he wearing a wristwatch which was not often worn by men before WW1.
Quoting from Wikipedia:
Wristwatches were first worn by military men towards the end of the nineteenth century, when the importance of synchronizing maneuvres during war without potentially revealing the plan to the enemy through signalling was increasingly recognized. It was clear that using pocket watches while in the heat of battle or while mounted on a horse was impractical, so officers began to strap the watches to their wrist.
Clearly, a market for men's wristwatches was coming into being at the time. Officers in the British Army began using wristwatches during colonial military campaigns in the 1880s, such as during the Anglo-Burma War of 1885.
The impact of the First World War dramatically shifted public perceptions on the propriety of the man's wristwatch, and opened up a mass market in the post-war era.
The company H. Williamson Ltd., based in Coventry, was one of the first to capitalize on this opportunity. During the company's 1916 AGM it was noted that "...the public is buying the practical things of life. Nobody can truthfully contend that the watch is a luxury. It is said that one soldier in every four wears a wristlet watch, and the other three mean to get one as soon as they can." By the end of the War, almost all enlisted men wore a wristwatch.