WHAT REGT : RANK : WAR RECORD ?

[percy]

This picture can confidently be dated 1917.

Can any make out what Regiment this man was in ?

Can anyone say for sure whether he has two, or three, (rank) stripes.  That is,  is he a corporal -- or a sergeant ?

Lastly I have been unable to make any sense of , or get anywhere with , World War I  records.  To find this chap at all let alone what medals he had .  I know from his letters that he saw active service on the continent -- this picture being taken on a short home leave before returning to the front 1917.

His name is SYDNEY REGINALD SANDYS : born 1st 1/4 1879 at ROYSTON, HERTS.

At the outbreak of the War he was 35 years old : He almost certainly volunteered as soon as possible ----- and is known to have survived the War , and emigrated to Taranaki, New Zealand.

Answers  will be gratefully acknowledged by  Yours,    Percy.

[Little Nell]

Hi Percy,

Can I ask what seems like a daft question - how do you know for 100% certain that this photo was taken in 1917?

Presumably he lived in Britain and served in a British regiment during the war?  In which case, you should be able to search out his war medal record at the National Archives site.  But there is a Sydney Sandys of the Border regiment and the Loyal North Lancashire regiment, but only a private.  Neither of those regiments seem to make sense for a man born in Hertfordshire, but there again my Granddad, born Middlesex, served in the Sherwood Foresters!

Every British soldier who served in the war and survived received a medal or some description, so he ought to be there.  Hence my question.

Also, his companion's hemline and style of dress seem wrong for 1917 - the hemline is too short.  I would have put the photo more into the 1920s, but that's a personal opinion.

Nell

[Jane Taubman]

if you have the original photo,  i suggest rescanning at a higher resolution concentrating on the head to get a better look at the cap badge.

I would agree with Little Nell thats a very risqué dress for 1917.

Check his letters carefully for clues,  the postcards I have from WW1 occasionally show regiment or army number, especially when providing a new postal address as happened when divisions were posted abroad.

BTW looks like 3 stripes to me,  a bit wide for 2

[Arquebus]

The cap badge looks like the London Rifle Brigade 5th Battallion.....if you can indeed get a better scan, I should be able to confirm it...I have access to images of virtually every Regiment cap badge from around WW1.

[Hackstaple]

He has two stripes so he is a corporal. The badge is indistinct but it is of the shape of a Royal Artillery badge but I cannnot identify it positively. 

[Arquebus]

Sorry, It definitely isn't Royal Artillery.....if I can figure out how to attach images....... because until right now I haven't been able to....correction, done it Yippee!

It appears to have diagonal crossing elements (Royal Artillery is a cannon in profile).

London Regt 5th Battn Rifle Brigade or Kings Own Yorkshire Yeomanry seem to match at this resolution, but I think we will all be guessing until the image is clearer.

Al

[mickgall]

Hi percy
his cap badge could be the Machine Gun Corps. Try this link to the old comrades association.
http://www.mgcorps.ndirect.co.uk/

Mick

[Arquebus]

I don't think it is the MG Corps....the diagonals on't seem to be at the same angles...image attached hopefully, togetherwith the Army Cylists Corps which was disbanded prior to 1917 if I recall correctly....Not that I was in them or anything!

Al.

[percy]

WOW !!   Thanks for your replies everyone.     The delay has been my trying to post  composite altenate pictures.

NELL :  I feel sure the picture is 1917 because of a letter of SYDNEY's to his sister Mabel(Sandys) Hewitt, which refers to the homeleave spent with her on which it was taken.     The girl next to him is his niece (my late aunt) Eileen (born October 1901) then aged 15 going on 16 .    On the other side of him (when the picture was taken )   was Eileen's sister, my late mother Monica (born Feb 1905).   Hence the short skirts.   I will try to post a picture of Sydney's sister (their mother) taken 1915-1916. together with one of her known to be 1912.

JANE ; AL ; MICK ; and HACK :    I did my feeble best to improve the 1.5 inch x 2 inch  blurred original on Microsoft Picture-It -- before posting last time.   
I have had another go using the 600dpi which is the highest definition my scanner will do.  UNFORTUNATELY  it then comes out at more than  500 KB  -- and so won't post.

In order to  reduce the KB I have cut out all the background and reduced the size, and will try to post the result with this.
In working on them it has become clear that he has definitely got THREE stripes and is thus a Sergeant.     Still not able to improve the Badge image though.

As for National Archives WW1 records  I own myself completely baffled as to HOW to get  ANY information from the site at all .   I have simply been unable to get anywhere with it.

Thanks again everyone.  Please don't give up on Sydney.

Percy