Henry Hill, photographer, New Brompton, Kent

[johnfilmer]

I have a photograph by Henry Hill, with no subject names. One of them could be Harold Smitherman b1891 in Chatham, Kent, who was in the Royal Engineers in Malta 1911. He served in Mesopotamia then India in WW1, then the Indian Army from 1920ish.
The set for the photo looks quite elaborate for a studio, does it match any other known Henry Hill photgraphs? His studio was probably at 123 High Street, New Brompton - now Gillingham - and was of relatively small size.
Can the uniforms give any clues as to the date or rank, regiment of those portrayed?

[FROGSMILE]

Unfortunately there’s absolutely no insignia visible, so there’s little to go on regarding the part of the Army the soldiers shown were with.  However, the style of uniform and tropical helmet (known as a ‘Foreign Service Helmet’) in particular, does give a clue as to the period.  I would date the photo to the time spanning the 2nd Anglo/Boer War 1899-1902.  Their general appearance suggests that they are from one of the dismounted combat arms, either artillery, engineers, or infantry.