Any Ideas On Identity Of Regiment For Soldier Ww1

[eightroots]

Just wondered if anyone has an idea which regiment this soldier may have belonged to?

There's nothing written on back of photo, taken in a studio and came from my grandma's in Sheffield.

All I know is he's a cousin. Unfortunately have no name but family names circa WW1 are Godfrey/ McGarry and Robinson/Southwick.

Looking at two chevrons on his sleeve I presume he would have been a corporal?

Sorry photo has some reflection on it as it was behind glass and I had to take a quick snap with phone camera!

[Bayleaf]

Unfortunately the cap badge and buttons, which are usually a help, are indistict. However, our member Beery is pretty hot on uniforms and webbing, so he might be able to add something. We do like a mystery on here!

[Beery]

Hi folks,

The cap badge looks to be the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (I believe the KOYLI badge was the smallest badge used by the British Army at that time). The uniform suggests early war - 1914 to 1916 (although there's no way to be absolutely certain). The leather equipment suggests a Kitchener unit. He does appear to be a corporal.

He also seems to be wearing a medal ribbon - knowing how photographs at the time made yellow look very dark, this might be the Queen's South Africa Medal ribbon. Assuming this is the case, you'd be looking at someone who was born in the late 1870s or early 1880s. He would be around 35 years old when this photo was taken.

If you have any other info, please let us know. And if you can get the photo out from behind the glass and get a good scan of it, I might be able to get more info from the image.

[Bayleaf]

Hi Beery, hoped you'd be along! One thing that struck me was the belt buckle. is this a standard pattern?

[Beery]

Hi Beery, hoped you'd be along! One thing that struck me was the belt buckle. is this a standard pattern?

Yes. This is the standard belt buckle for the pattern 1914 leather equipment. The clasp is a snake. The leather equipment was designed when it became clear that the webbing manufacturers would not be able to meet the demand caused by the Kitchener recruitment programs. However, the leather equipment was not popular, as it was uncomfortable (being based on a Victorian pattern), it stayed wet, became mouldy and tended to fall apart under trench conditions. Some units switched over to web equipment as it became available later in the war.

The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry seems to have been based in Wakefield and Doncaster. All the Territorial Force battalions were formed in these towns. The New Army formations tended to be formed in Pontefract, though the 11th was formed in Hull, the 12th in Leeds, and the 13th in Ripon.

[Beery]

Oh, and thanks, Bayleaf, for the kind introduction. Always glad to be of service - and to get the chance to use all this generally useless info that I keep in my head.

[Beery]

I've been looking on Ancestry.com for the last names mentioned. There are some possibilities, but without knowing the first name or a definite last name, or a definite birthplace, there's no way to sort them out. There was a Walter Earnshaw Godfrey from Heeley who appears in the service records and may have been a Boer War veteran, but the medal rolls suggest he was only in the York and Lancaster Regiment. Seven KOYLI Godfreys appear in the rolls, but only one rose above private - a Sergeant Wilfred Godfrey. McGarry apparently has no KOYLI soldiers. There are 177 Robinsons with a KOYLI affiliation showing up in the medal rolls. Only one Southwick with KOYLI affiliation is in the medal rolls - William Southwick.

Another issue is that medal rolls only exist for soldiers that went overseas. So if your relative served only in England, he won't have any WW1 medals and no medal roll listing. Then there's the issue of the burnt records: 3/4 of all WW1 service records (which did record home service) were destroyed in a WW2 bombing raid.

Unfortunately, although the KOYLI cap badge tells us a lot, it may be misleading, as service records may only mention the regiment the soldier joined up with in England, while medal rolls may only indicate the regiments the soldier served with overseas, and many times the regiment affiliation changed as soldiers were transferred. My granddad was transferred a total of four times to four different regiments. He started out in the Durham Light Infantry, went to France with the West Yorkshires, was transferred to the Labour Corps and finished the war with the North Staffords.

[RichardB]

Your useless information is most welcomed here, as is everyone else's - a constant reminder that what one person finds impossible, another takes of matter of fact. The stuff in my head is mainly there to stop my head caving in - a sort of mental padding.

... and to get the chance to use all this generally useless info that I keep in my head.

[vox]

Indeed Richard - Wonderful stuff Beery.

[Beery]

If he's a cousin, I would take a hard look at each of your grandmother's uncles, great uncles, and their sons. The possibility that he's a Boer War veteran may force you to look deeper into the family tree, but it may also make things easier when you find the relatives that were born around that time. Luckily, the British census and birth records are second to none, so finding relatives from the 1880s should be fairly easy as long as you can track the family back through the 20th Century to get back to the 1901 and 1891 census records. A big clue may be the lack of 1901 record, since a person serving in South Africa in 1901 or 1902 would probably not have been in England, or if he was, he would have been in an Army barracks.

[eightroots]

Beery, Bayleaf and everyone thanks for your help.

I'll be back - hopefully with a scan of the original photo or a better quality photo!

Hasta la vista

[eightroots]

On closer inspection the original photo quality is not very good. The photo is an enlargement about 2ft in length.

Have taken some more snaps so if anyone can find any further clues to regiment that would be great!

Also presuming he is from Grandads side of family Robinson/Southwick as my Grandma would have known all her side and written down his name.

What would he have had in small bag at hip?