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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs => Topic started by: kob3203 on Thursday 07 October 21 03:20 BST (UK)

Title: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: kob3203 on Thursday 07 October 21 03:20 BST (UK)
No restoration required.

No idea who the three chaps are.

We're mainly trying to identify where this photo was taken, and the unusual clothing would seem to be a major clue - if only we could tell where it was from !
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: kob3203 on Thursday 07 October 21 10:37 BST (UK)
While waiting for the post to be approved I think I've found the answer using a combination of educated guesswork, luck, and google  :) - but I'll wait a day or so to see if anybody else comes up with something.
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: Skoosh on Thursday 07 October 21 11:25 BST (UK)
Maybe Serbia?

Skoosh.
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: brigidmac on Thursday 07 October 21 12:19 BST (UK)
My thought was Greece
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: raonull4 on Thursday 07 October 21 16:28 BST (UK)
Balkans war 1912
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: John915 on Thursday 07 October 21 18:54 BST (UK)
Good evening,

The men on the left and right are wearing British army battledress. The one in the middle is in dress that could be around the Balkan region. So I would go with that as the most likely.

John915
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: kob3203 on Friday 08 October 21 17:40 BST (UK)
It's encouraging that everybody so far has pointed at the Balkans, which matches the conclusion I'd come to - he was probably a Serbian partisan.

I was googling images for various WWI British mounted units (I've posted another part of this photo as a separate topic - Can anybody throw any light on this unidentified mounted (WWI?) soldier (https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=853969.0)) when I noticed a photo including a chap in a vaguely similar shirt, hat and waistcoat
 (I've attached a crop of that photo for comparison). The photo's the fifth one down on this page - http://www.levantineheritage.com/salonicamap.htm (http://www.levantineheritage.com/salonicamap.htm) with the title "Some of the Comitadjis who worked for the British in the Struma Valley". So I googled comitadji (anti-Ottoman partisans in the Balkans) and Struma Valley (the Struma is a river in Bulgaria and Greece) and found a photo from the Library Of Congress (with no known restrictions on publication) of Serbian comitadji prisoners (https://www.flickr.com/photos/8623220@N02/6851807539), from which I've also attached a crop for comparison.

I've also attached the chap from the original photo. I think that's fairly conclusive, don't you ?
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: kob3203 on Friday 08 October 21 17:55 BST (UK)
I'd already started a separate topic to try and identify the regiment of the horseman (who's been cropped out of the picture I posted here) - Can anybody throw any light on this unidentified mounted (WWI?) soldier ? (https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=853969.0)

I think that we can now be fairly sure that this photo was taken during the Salonika Campaign (https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/salonika-campaign)
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: John915 on Friday 08 October 21 18:25 BST (UK)
Good evening,

If the link works ok these are the yeomanry units at Salonica.

https://salonikacampaignsociety.org.uk/bsf/army-headquarters/mounted-brigades/

John915
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: Skoosh on Friday 08 October 21 19:26 BST (UK)
Check also the photographs of the Scottish Women's Hospitals units in Serbia, Salonika campaign etc!

Bests,
Skoosh.
Title: Re: Unusual, perhaps ethnic/regional clothing in a WWI photo - where was it taken?
Post by: kob3203 on Wednesday 13 October 21 04:14 BST (UK)
After much discussion on the other forum Can anybody throw any light on this unidentified mounted (WWI?) soldier ? (https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=853969.0) We now think that the middle standing chap may actually be from a British or allied (e.g. Australian) mounted unit, in working clothes of vest/waistcoat and (possibly) forage cap - specifically see the photos referred to in replies #17 (#post_17) and #31 (https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=853969.msg7221783#msg7221783).