Mission Impossible I think!

[Rossdal3]

Dear All,

I'm hoping that someone among you may have the technology that may help to decipher this writing on the back of an unidentified photo of a soldier and his men.

The large writing is easy to decipher, but on closer inspection there is some fainter, smaller writing down closer to the right hand corner. I think that this may contain the name of my relative.

The name I think I see under a magnifying glass is "Edwin", but I'm not at all objective, as that is what I really want to see. I think I can also make out the word "with" in very tiny writing.  The writing is done in with a grey lead pencil.

I am including a scan of the whole back of the post card and then a scan just of the writing in the corner and keeping my fingers crossed that better minds than mine might come together to solve the mystery!

Please can someone have a guess no matter how tenuous?

Kind regards,
Jill 

[PrueM]

Hi Jill

The name looks to be "Eddie" I think.

[Rossdal3]

Even better Prue!  Thanks! 

I was contacted by someone from the Royal Field Artillery, doing a research piece on the Battle of Loos and he has chosen one soldier at random to research in depth, in this case my Dad's Uncle Edwin.  He found my family tree on-line and contacted me hoping I would have a photo.  I was sure I did, but many of my old photos remain unidentified, although we can pin down to a particular family.  It's been difficult to decided which Brother was who until I found this undecipherable scrawl.  The larger writing does match his signature on his army records and on the his marriage banns, so the name is really the clincher.  He was known to the family as "Eddie".

Thanks as always for taking the trouble to help!  It is always appreciated and in this case I can safely send his photo to my contact, knowing it's not his Brother who served in the same regiment and was killed in France.

Kind regards,
Jill

[PrueM]

No worries at all Jill - it's always a pleasure    Glad Eddie has his name back again 

What a great story, it's so nice to be able to identify people in photos and how great that someone is researching your rellie   

[Rossdal3]

I know Prue, what are the odds of him picking one person from that battle at random and it being my Dad's Uncle?  I used to be a very rational human being, but since being involved with family research I find myself amazed and spooked often, at how these folks who are long gone, seem to help us get the answers in unbelievable ways!!!