Help With Identity Comparison of William Wilson

[Elizajb]

Thanks very much indeed everyone, that's very encouraging, I thought maybe I was 'seeing things'.

Not quite sure where I go from here, having exhausted most avenues that have previously been suggested or I have thought of, to trace him. I drag him out of my records and dust him off periodically when I think of something else to look for.

In fact, this photo had been sitting on my computer for a little bit, before I decide to re-look at it.

I suppose we all have these elusive characters who dodge detection despite our best efforts.

It's good to have the objective views of others, so helpful, thankyou.

Regards Eliza.

[Cas (stallc)]

Would love to know what it says on his hat! CLUE!

[Elizajb]

Hi Cas,

Very good point. I've had a dig around but don't really know what would have been written on the hat. The words are unreadable and when I search for other images of similar hats, I can see that the wording varies as sometimes it's a long word and sometimes not.

I don't know if it refers to the ship the seaman is assigned to, his unit, or even his name.

I'll have another go at it.

Regards Eliza.

[Cas (stallc)]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_cap

Maybe of interest

Cas

[Elizajb]

Hi Cas,

That's very useful thankyou and explains why the wording on the hats looked to be different in different photos. Many of them seem to be the name of the ship etc.

I had googled sailors' uniforms, but didn't think of just sailors' hats.

Ta very much.

Regards Eliza.

[Ruskie]

Sorry everyone - I don't think it is the same man.

I think lips in the last photo are fuller, ears are flatter to the head and longer. WW1 ears are quite protruding and high set. I also don't think there is very much difference in ages between the WW1 and WW2 man. (there is a fairly large window when all photos may have been taken). Sadly, no chin showing on WW2 man to see if he has a dimple.  I realise angles photos were taken are different, but still think there are differences between the two men.

Is the first chap army and the second chap navy? Is that likely? (the folks on the Armed Forces boards will probably be able to date the first photo and comment on the change between army in WW1 to navy in WW2).

Having said that, I also see some similarities such as face shape and nose - might the WW2 chap be related to WW1 chap? 

[Elizajb]

Hi Ruskie,

Food for thought, some valid points - I did wonder about the age, whether the crewman could even be the age I would expect William to be in WW2, but with the photo not being close up enough, I wasn't sure.

They couldn't be related, so if it was not William he would be someone else entirely.

There were 34 men in the crew with an age variation of 17-71.

In the case of William, it is possible that he could have served during WW2 at sea, as he went to sea in 1927. That's partly the reason I was looking at this photo after I found a William Wilson  in the crewlist. Such a common name though,  that there's no way really of knowing whether he is any of the many William Wilsons I have found in different crewlists.

However, he may have to go 'back in the drawer' for a while.

Thanks for balancing my thinking.

Regards Eliza.

[Billiegirl]

Hi Eliza, have you thought of getting this moved to the War section? Perhaps someone might recognise the sailor and you may be able to confirm/discount him this way before you put him back in the drawer.

Best of luck, Billiegirl 

[Elizajb]

Mmmm, I've been mulling that over Billiegirl. After looking at the crew photo again with Ruskie's points in mind though, I think he may be right.

The ears of the crewman do look a little longer and my William and the crewlist William would be 55 years old. I think the chap in the crew photo probably doesn't really look that old.

I'll mull it over a bit more.

Regards Eliza.