Now here is a story awaiting the post.
I think I know where we are and I have a good idea of the date but all will be confirmed when the original picture postcard arrives.
And here I have to own up to the fact that it won’t be coming to our house. It was bought by my old friend David Harrop who has an extensive collection of memorabilia from both world wars and the history of the Post Office.
I first got know him when I was beginning to hunt around for material for the book on Manchester and the Great War, and it is fair to say that once I had met David I needed to look nowhere else.
All of which I have written about before so I shall return to the postcard.
Like me David is quite excited about its arrival which if we are lucky will have a message on the back and gone through the post which will yield a date and perhaps a bit of a story.
Of course a post date will not always give us an idea of when the picture was taken but it is a start, and the manufacturer and distributor may be on the back which will allow us to go looking for a catalogue and that might give us the date the photograph was registered with the firm.
All of which just leaves that message which at best may be an enigmatic and terse comment but on the other hand might well offer up a fascinating little tale.
And if there is a name and address then the search is really on.
Added to which I bet there will be an expert who can talk with authority about the uniforms and in particular the caps.
And then lastly there are those houses which may have escaped the developers.
So I will be returning to picture postcard of Woolwich.
Location; Woolwich, London
Picture; Army Service Corps Horse Artillery, date unknown, courtesy of David Harrop
And here I have to own up to the fact that it won’t be coming to our house. It was bought by my old friend David Harrop who has an extensive collection of memorabilia from both world wars and the history of the Post Office.
I first got know him when I was beginning to hunt around for material for the book on Manchester and the Great War, and it is fair to say that once I had met David I needed to look nowhere else.
Like me David is quite excited about its arrival which if we are lucky will have a message on the back and gone through the post which will yield a date and perhaps a bit of a story.
Of course a post date will not always give us an idea of when the picture was taken but it is a start, and the manufacturer and distributor may be on the back which will allow us to go looking for a catalogue and that might give us the date the photograph was registered with the firm.
All of which just leaves that message which at best may be an enigmatic and terse comment but on the other hand might well offer up a fascinating little tale.
Added to which I bet there will be an expert who can talk with authority about the uniforms and in particular the caps.
And then lastly there are those houses which may have escaped the developers.
So I will be returning to picture postcard of Woolwich.
Location; Woolwich, London
Picture; Army Service Corps Horse Artillery, date unknown, courtesy of David Harrop
really excited to see this picture. my father was stationed in Woolwich with the Royal Artillery before WW2. he drove a limber[gun carriage]he went on through el alamein up through Italy until wars end at padua Italy. he was a desert rat.RIP
ReplyDeleteThe cap worn by the warrant officer is a round forage cap for officers, warrant officers and staff sergeants between 1880 and 1902. It was phased out and replaced by the type of peaked cap seen today from 1905. The other men are wearing a type of peakless forage cap nicknames the Brodrick cap after the then Secretary of State for War, who got the blame for its unpopular introduction. In reality it was most likely King Edward VII who influenced its adoption. The men’s uniform is the then new drab (a brownish khaki) serge service dress introduced at the end of the 2nd Boer War in 1902. From these factors we can narrow down the photo as probably being taken in 1904.
ReplyDeleteThe cap worn by the warrant officer is a round forage cap for officers, warrant officers and staff sergeants between 1880 and 1902. It was phased out and replaced by the type of peaked cap seen today from 1905. The other men are wearing a type of peakless forage cap nicknames the Brodrick cap after the then Secretary of State for War, who got the blame for its unpopular introduction. In reality it was most likely King Edward VII who influenced its adoption. The men’s uniform is the then new drab (a brownish khaki) serge service dress introduced at the end of the 2nd Boer War in 1902. From these factors we can narrow down the photo as probably being taken in 1904.
ReplyDelete